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Elizabeth Wislar: Teaching and Artistic Philosophy

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Academic Statement:

At its most distilled, theatre is the art of communication: listening, questioning, and collaborating. Theatre spaces hold so much potential for increased empathy, honest conversation, and exposure to a deeper understanding of human nature and the world around us.

In 2015, as I sat in dress tech for a musical I was designing for the 5th time, while also working full-time running my private build shop, I realized I had reached the height of my career in Chicago. I knew I was in the way of new voices contributing to visual storytelling in Chicago. When I first arrived all those years ago, I was very frustrated seeing the same five names designing all of the shows in town. Now, that was me. I no longer needed to send my resume in, or show my portfolio, or call directors asking them to take a chance on me.

I decided it was finally time to ‘graduate’ from this chapter of life, and start teaching. Being an instructor was my goal all along. It’s why I went to graduate school, having been advised I would need an MFA to get a university job. I went to Chicago to get some practical experience so I would ‘have something to talk about’ when I started teaching. Fifteen years later, I realized the time had come. Sure, I had something to say, but I had also matured enough to listen, to care, to advocate, and to fight for change. I finally knew the difference between ‘work ethic’ and ‘ethical working.’ I knew how to speak from the scar, and not the wound.

I aspire to train and develop new artistic collaborators and technicians, preparing them for a multitude of diverse opportunities. As a theatre arts instructor, I embed de-colonization, policies of necessary intimacy and mutual respect, hands-on history, global perspectives, universal design, environmental impact and sustainability, and a broad passion for working in the performing arts into my pedagogical practices, class discussions & activities, and backstage professional working environments.

As an experienced and talented costume creator and technician, I try to model professional workplace practices, safety, accessibility, and passing on advanced skill sets. My continued work outside of the University allows me to foster connections to industry leaders for student job opportunities, while also asking the industry to be better by dismantling harmful systems, practices, and policies that participate in excluding those who do not have foundational wealth or financial assistance. I am hopeful to see the end of wage suppression for feminized labor in my lifetime.

I am very honest about my early career and the hard work that goes into being a freelance designer and small business owner. I own my rejections and failures as much as my success; I speak openly about them and how I learned along the way.

I have a deep and un-abiding faith in humanity. I believe that if you are truly open, others will let you in, trust you with their stories, and welcome you to the table.

I have done, and continue to do the work I expect my students to do. I try to lead by example.

There are many people who helped me out along the way, through taking me on as an assistant, or giving my name to a director when they could not take the design. Although I love the work, and still approach each project with the energy and enthusiasm needed to create something new, I have had my turn. If a student shows talent, or asks to design the costumes, I encourage them to step forward (with the approval of the department) and I mentor them through the process. I frequently take on the role of Assistant to the Designer, and guide the students through the process, just as I was helped early on in my schooling and career.

I am deeply committed to understanding the sensitivity and professional etiquette required in fittings, measurements, dressing rooms, and other backstage locations and activities that places us in close contact with other people. I teach what it means in dress tech week to enter into the trusted spaces developed throughout the rehearsal process. As a designer and technician, I love to talk with the performers about their character(s), personal comfort, cultural needs that will be respected, and how they see their character(s) identifying through clothing.

 

Personal Statement:

We need to acknowledge that our current society is built on celebrating and rewarding a gross mis-interpretation of The Hunter. The Hunter takes. The Hunter kills. 

The Hunter accumulates: wealth, greed, promotion, power, bodies, skins, stories, personas, land, air, and water. The Hunter abuses all of these. 

We are trained to be The Hunter or to live in awe and fear of The Hunter. 

We internationalize and believe that we cannot exist without The Hunter. 

The immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their* settlements 

and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible. 

It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.  

-George Washington, 1779

We need to acknowledge that our current society is built on the destruction, mutilation, and denigration of The Gatherer.    

Ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.

The Gatherer collects. The Gatherer cultivates.

The Gatherer cares for: the nourishment of people, the histories, the elders, the children, the traditions, the stories, the spirit(s), the plants, the food, the art, the land, the air, and the water. 

We need to collect and listen. We need to cultivate and amplify. 

We need to care and convene: however, and whenever possible.

We need to return to and embody The Gatherer. 

There is a rich, grounded history in the Black and Indigenous cultures of piecework, known as quilts. In this practice, scraps are saved, and one makes due with what one has; creating in the end an object that took time, consideration, and practiced skill. The care for, careful examination of, and handling of the textiles is part of the process. In handling the scraps that were once a shirt worn by a loved one, we remember and honor them. In handling the scraps that were once a scarf worn by someone in our family or community that abused us, we examine that relationship, cut it up, and stitch it into our story. The piecework can happen in solitary, or in gatherings. Imperfections in the piecework are expected as part of the learning process and growing experience. Laying out a quilt is like planting a garden. The end result provides warmth, healing, comfort, and protection.

Let us Gather, collect, cultivate, and then stitch together (however possible), using what we have accumulated: a society that provides the much-needed warmth, healing, comfort, and protection our community needs. Creating a healthy community is also like planting a garden. 

We have been called to the town center and stand on sacred ground; we can no longer live as The Hunter. It is neither healthy nor sustainable.  

Acknowledging and dismantling the systems of oppression, racism, and exclusion is our task as The Gatherer. We need to return to the soil of knowledge, cultivate the land through apology and the promise of betterment, and plant the seeds of change, health, well-being, inclusion, celebration of difference, and justice.

 

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The above quote was taken from a letter. George Washington, 31 May 1779  

*their: the Six Nations - Seneca, Oneida, Mohawk, Cayuga, Tuscarora, and Onondaga

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-20-02-0661

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