I have always had a passion for the performing arts, and being able to work with Center Theatre Group’s August Wilson Monologue Competition for a second time was a great experience.
The project began with a workshop that helped local teenagers design their own costume based off of characters in August Wilson’s plays. August Wilson is a world renown African America playwright who’s work tackles the African American experience. It was great to see how talented and innovative the teenagers were when coming up with design, color, and composition. I enjoyed this part because it was nice to see teenagers interested in August Wilson’s mature work.
After the workshop was finished, I designed graphic bitmoji style illustrations based on the teenagers’ drawings. Designing the bitmojis was a smooth process considering how great the teens’ drawings were already to begin with. After I completed the design of the bitmoji it was placed onto buttons that were to be given out at the competition.
The August Wilson Monologue Competition was an amazing event, organized for maximum impact. The 12 finalist each had to recite a scene from one of August Wilson’s plays, and the winner elected by the judges would go to the regional finals in New York. It was fascinating to see such teenagers reenact a mature body of work so precisely and emotionally. Each finalist had their own acting style, and their own unique voice that they put into their character. At the end of the performance the winners were selected and everyone congratulated one another. It was nice to see my designs on the teenagers, and to see how happy they were to see the characters that they studied on buttons. Overall, it was a great experience that taught me the importance of exposing art to teenagers and the impact that could have on their lives.
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Grace Haynes is a Los Angeles based Painter / Illustrator / Designer currently attending the ArtCenter College of Design. To learn more about Grace and her work click here.