Hi, I’m Abby!
Abby Bilson (she/her) is a third-year M.F.A. candidate in scenic design at Indiana University (IU) from Buffalo, NY. She graduated from Baldwin Wallace University with a B.M.E. in Music Education, and has taught music, theatre and dance at the middle school and high school level. She is the recipient of the Inaugural Cobalt Studios Scholarship and Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Applied Theatre Award of Excellence in Scenic Design. Some of her previous credits include: Sanctuary City (IU, Scenic Designer), Reefer Madness (IU, Scenic Charge), Vox Pop! (IU, Scenic Charge), Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (Interlochen, Scenic Designer), Everybody (BW, Scenic Designer), South Pacific, Funny Girl, White Christmas, and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (MSMT, Scenic Charge) and she recently completed a paint apprenticeship with the Santa Fe Opera.
When she’s not painting or designing, you can find her swing dancing to live jazz bands and line dancing anywhere there’s country music. She loves exploring national parks, visiting local coffee shops and singing opera.
Scenic Design Philosophy
My goal as a scenic designer is to set the stage for sparking social change, create engaging worlds that encourage audience curiosity, and infuse spaces with the practice of applied theatre. I am inspired by the intersection of aesthetics in music, dance and art history. By blurring the lines between these disciplines in my design, the resulting spaces are liminal and filled with movement, imagination and whimsy. My design process involves thorough dramaturgical research and interdisciplinary collaboration. This allows my designed spaces to be grounded in the heart of story and take on a life of their own that impacts audiences beyond the walls of the theatre.
Teaching Philosophy
Through creating theatre, I challenge students to see the world through windows and mirrors; Windows allow students to experience stories, cultures and identities that are not their own, and mirrors allow students to see their own identities and experiences reflected. I create a welcoming and accepting classroom-community through strong preventative classroom management and develop curriculum through holistic lesson planning that prioritizes the development of both fundamental technical skills and artistic expression. I encourage student to explore various materials and techniques while scaffolding skills to build on prior learning. I encourage students to experiment through promoting an atmosphere of creativity and open dialogue.