The Scenic Painting Shops: The UProd Theatrical Shops at Work

Transformation is the name of the game in the scenic painting shops, where artists use an array of tricks and techniques to achieve special effects on backdrops and built scenery. They change foam into stone, turn wood into steel, and make flat objects three-dimensional. Depending on the production, the result might be realistic or impressionistic, colorful or dreary, contemporary or historical – whatever is needed to complete the illusion of the world being created onstage.

There are two scenic painting shops, one in the Power Center, managed by Beth Sandmaier, and one in the Walgreen Drama Center, managed by Madi Stinemetz.

Power Center Scenic Painting Shop

Over the course of a few days during the winter 2025 semester, staff and students in the paint shops were busily working on projects for several different productions. In the vast Power Center Scenic Painting Shop, students were painting a large canvas to look like an eerie moon for The Turn of the Screw (the canvas would later be placed over the moon box that the lighting shop had wired with custom lighting). They prepped foam tombstones to be painted so they would look like aging, crumbling stone. For Titanic, they mixed colors to paint a scrim – a sheer fabric backdrop that is opaque when lit from the front but translucent when lit from behind – showing a cross-section of the ship. They had also been painting a ghostly scrim for The Turn of the Screw to complete the production’s haunting atmosphere. Recently, they had expertly painted the judge’s bench for A Few Good Men to make it look like high-quality oak instead of inexpensive building materials – a finishing process that created an illusion and saved money.

Walgreen Scenic Painting Shop

The Walgreen Scenic Painting Shop is smaller than that of the Power Center, and it shares space with the Walgreen scene shop, necessitating careful planning between Stinemetz and Rich Lindsay, head of the Walgreen scene shop. The proximity of the two shops makes for a more integrated experience for students, who could be painting one day and doing carpentry or metalworking another. Over a few days in late February, much of the floor space was taken up by large foam pieces being painted to look like concrete pillars for Our Oz – and to match exactly the color of the back wall of the Arthur Miller Theatre. Elsewhere in the shop, students were prepping metal bars they would be cutting the next day.

The professionals who work in the shops have deep education and years of varied experience that enable them to do their own part in creating the technical side of productions. For John Proctor Is the Villain, for example, Stinemetz painted the Masonite floor to look like typical school linoleum flooring. The staff have worked in theatre, film, theme parks, museums, and on retail displays. They acknowledge, though, that the learning goes both ways. Stinemetz related that one of the students working in the shop “is a practical, trained oil painter, and it’s really beautiful to see his approach and be like, I’ve never thought of doing that before.” And she noted that Martha Sprout and Michael Russell, both Stamps students, “have helped me sculpt and do things on different shows, whether it’s making different fabric, or carving trees out of foam.”

While their work undoubtedly poses challenges, the professionals in the scenic painting shops appreciate the variety of their projects and the ability to blend teaching and training with the work they love. “Painting and painting together with others are my two favorite things,” Sandmaier said. “We’re really lucky. It’s the best place to be.”

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