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Andrea Varga

MFA Costume Design/Florida State Univ., BFA Theatre Arts and BS History with an emphasis in Women's History/Utah State Univ.

Associate Professor
Department: Theatre Arts
Office: PT 125
Phone: (845) 257-3902
E-mail: vargaa@newpaltz.edu

Career History & Promotions/Job Changes

After graduating from FSU Andrea moved to New York City where she started work at Barbara Matera Costumes, from there she moved on to work as an assistant to several costume designers including most notably, Zack Brown, Gregg Barnes, Bob Perdziola and David Woolard. In addition she worked as a freelance costume designer, designing regionally, on small shows in the city, and on commercials and TV. Most notably Andrea works with the award winning Off-Broadway Mint Theatre Company and was a Drama Desk costume design nominee in 2015 for the Mint's production of George Kelly's "The Fatal Weakness". In 2017 she designed an evening of Teresa Deevey's plays for The Mint Theatre entitled "The Suitcase Under the Bed", in 2018 Lillian Hellman's "Days to Come", and in 2019 Michael McLaireamore's "The Mountains Look Different". She also designed Tennessee Williams plays in 2018 and 2019 for The Art & Historical Society of Key West and the Tennessee Williams Museum. Andrea is committed to supporting local and regional artistic efforts and opportunities and has worked closely with Historic Huguenot Street and is a member of the advisory board of the New York City Children's Theatre (NYCCT), and works on projects to raise awareness about sustainability with the Broadway Green Alliance. Andrea is happy to continue professionally working as a costume designer in NYC while teaching at New Paltz.
At New Paltz, Andrea is particularly proud of her work with students and allies on campus that are focused on interdisciplinary education, and creating bridges between academic theatre and professional industries. Her students have gone on to graduate studies at prominent Theatre programs such as University of Illinois Urbana/Champagne, Florida State University, Cal Arts, and others, have been accepted into Professional Apprenticeships at Regional Theaters, and won national awards such as the Design Expo at USITT and The TCG Willa Kim Costume Design Scholarship. She is happy to be a member of The Honors Council, The Evolutionary Studies program, The Sustainability Committee, The Sustainability Faculty Fellows Community, Academic Senate and many other sustainability education and efforts to build a stronger campus and support our students.

Teaching Interests

Introduction to Sustainability, Ethical Fashion, Costume Design, History of Fashion, World Dress, Costume Crafts, Drawing and Painting

Committee Memberships & Professional Organizations

Member of United Scenic Artists Local 829, The United States Institute for Theatre Technology, and The Costume Society of America