Jennifer K. Matthews has been a professional costume designer for 28 years in theatre and dance, based at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN, where she lives with her family, six cats, and one dog.
Her design interests include sustainable design and practices in the costume studio. In her design work, she incorporates second hand materials whenever feasible, and teaches her students to reuse and recycle in their designs. Her students have partnered with a local charity thrift shop to create an upcycled fashion show for 4 years, showcasing upcycled fashion and curating 2nd hand clothes from the store. She is also currently exploring ethically foraged natural elements to dye fabrics.
Believing in the transformative power of theatre for good, Jennifer has spent the last 3 years studying and practicing devised, site-specific and community engaged theatre in rural Tennessee, working with students and community members to create performances based on anything from historical events and legends to current community concerns.
At Sewanee, she has designed costumes for The Revolutionists, Hamlet, Cabaret, The Threepenny Opera, The Importance of Being Ernest, Pirandello’s Henry IV (with Stuart Margolin), Dark of the Moon and others. She has also designed scenery for Love’s Labours Lost, Lysistrata and Lear: or the Great Stage of Fools. At the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, she has designed shows such as The Reluctant Dragon, How I Became a Pirate, Junie B. Jones: Jingle Bells Batman Smells, Aladdin, Goodnight Moon and others. Jennifer designed costumes for the premiere of Dancing Fools by Laddy Sartin on WTVI in Charlotte, NC. As well as her work with choreographer Courtney World, she has collaborated with Bill Evans, Madia Cooper-Ashirifi and Leanne Rinelli. In Tennessee she has designed costumes for Mockingbird Public Theatre and Chattanooga Theatre Centre. Jennifer has also designed for The Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte, innovative Theatre (iT), Central Piedmont Summer Theatre, The Blowing Rock Stage Company, The New Stage Ensemble, Renaissance Theatre, Winthrop University and other theatres in Alabama, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina. She has a BCA from University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Theatre and a MFA from University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Sceneography, where she studied with Tony Award Winner Desmond Heeley.
Her design interests include sustainable design and practices in the costume studio. In her design work, she incorporates second hand materials whenever feasible, and teaches her students to reuse and recycle in their designs. Her students have partnered with a local charity thrift shop to create an upcycled fashion show for 4 years, showcasing upcycled fashion and curating 2nd hand clothes from the store. She is also currently exploring ethically foraged natural elements to dye fabrics.
Believing in the transformative power of theatre for good, Jennifer has spent the last 3 years studying and practicing devised, site-specific and community engaged theatre in rural Tennessee, working with students and community members to create performances based on anything from historical events and legends to current community concerns.
At Sewanee, she has designed costumes for The Revolutionists, Hamlet, Cabaret, The Threepenny Opera, The Importance of Being Ernest, Pirandello’s Henry IV (with Stuart Margolin), Dark of the Moon and others. She has also designed scenery for Love’s Labours Lost, Lysistrata and Lear: or the Great Stage of Fools. At the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, she has designed shows such as The Reluctant Dragon, How I Became a Pirate, Junie B. Jones: Jingle Bells Batman Smells, Aladdin, Goodnight Moon and others. Jennifer designed costumes for the premiere of Dancing Fools by Laddy Sartin on WTVI in Charlotte, NC. As well as her work with choreographer Courtney World, she has collaborated with Bill Evans, Madia Cooper-Ashirifi and Leanne Rinelli. In Tennessee she has designed costumes for Mockingbird Public Theatre and Chattanooga Theatre Centre. Jennifer has also designed for The Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte, innovative Theatre (iT), Central Piedmont Summer Theatre, The Blowing Rock Stage Company, The New Stage Ensemble, Renaissance Theatre, Winthrop University and other theatres in Alabama, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina. She has a BCA from University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Theatre and a MFA from University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Sceneography, where she studied with Tony Award Winner Desmond Heeley.
Recent Press:
Moment By Moment at the Altamont Inn
https://stories.sewanee.edu/moment-by-moment-in-the-altamont-inn/
Tennessee Comes Back to Sewanee
https://stories.sewanee.edu/tennessee-comes-back-to-sewanee/index.html
Saying Yes (and Yes and Yes) to the Dress
https://stories.sewanee.edu/saying-yes-and-yes-and-yes-to-the-dress/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1DTpf8kPuq8lNBJ47wyZCwF7dPVJHqUgkfsTn8rQVbpfj6wCrzBR8x6Xs
Moment By Moment at the Altamont Inn
https://stories.sewanee.edu/moment-by-moment-in-the-altamont-inn/
Tennessee Comes Back to Sewanee
https://stories.sewanee.edu/tennessee-comes-back-to-sewanee/index.html
Saying Yes (and Yes and Yes) to the Dress
https://stories.sewanee.edu/saying-yes-and-yes-and-yes-to-the-dress/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1DTpf8kPuq8lNBJ47wyZCwF7dPVJHqUgkfsTn8rQVbpfj6wCrzBR8x6Xs