Judy Ryerson (pictured), who designed more than 1,600 costumes for 64 PCPA productions, recently donated three boxes of costume-design sketches to Allan Hancock College. Laid out end to end, the sketches span almost three football fields, Ryerson said in a release from the college.
After 30 years designing for PCPA productions, Ryerson felt like it was time to give back the canvases that made many characters come to life, the release said.
She worked at PCPA from 1989 to 2005 before becoming head of costume design at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Ryerson recently came back to the Central Coast to deliver her sketches and see them come to life during the opening weekend of Beauty and the Beast.
“They were sitting in my file cabinet,” Ryerson said in the press release. “Now, they are back where they belong and can be appreciated by theater lovers.”
Hancock Superintendent/President Kevin G. Walthers said the sketches were a “unique and generous donation.”
“The college’s Art on Campus Committee will make sure the sketches are hung on campus to share with as many people as possible,” Walthers said in the release.
Ryerson hopes the sketches will “inspire other designers and artists to donate some of their collections to further continue the legacy of PCPA.”
According to the release, the college plans to exhibit the artwork in the near future.
This article appears in Jun 29 – Jul 6, 2017.