United Scenic Artists, Local 829

In 1982, I entered the first apprentice class of United Scenic Artists, Local 829. USA 829 has been around for over 100 years. It is a union that supports theatrical and film artists and craftspeople, including all design catagories. Scenic Artists are the men and women who do all the work on the canvas and plywood in theatre, dance, opera, tv and film. A set is built, and Scenic Artists do the rest; paint drops, carve sculpture, add texture, aging, wallpaper, casting, silk screen, sign work, and any other artwork of any kind that is part of the production. They need to adjust their techniques for different purposes. For example, wood grain in opera needs to be seen on a huge stage at the back of the Metropolitan Opera house. I have done wood grain with “texture” and a garden rake for the Met. Broadway is still a big stage, but it is a more intimate house and it is more about value and pattern that can be seen under theatrical lights from a modest distance. For HD you need to do trompe l’oeil wood grain with layers of glazes to give visual depth as if it were a seasoned piece of mahogany paneling instead of a piece of plywood.

Scenics will work with designers to implement their designs from small renderings or models. Sometimes we are given a few paint swatches and random pieces of research, sometimes there are fully rendered designs in 3/8 or 1/2 inch scale to blow up to scenery that is 40x60 feet. It is the scenic’s job to figure out how to do it; what materials to use, and steps to take to get to the finished product. I painted scenery for Broadway (Cats, Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, Mamma Mia and Lion King among countless others), feature films (Cotton Club, Prizzi’s Honor, Money Pit, and all Spike Lee Joints from Do The Right Thing to Crooklyn), NYC Ballet and American Ballet Theater, the Metropolitan Opera, TV and Commercials.