Award winners will receive:

• A complimentary full conference registration for the 2025 Annual Conference & Stage Expo
• $1000 Cash Award
• Commemorative Certificate
• Invitation to an award luncheon, which includes a chance to meet other award winners as well as the award sponsor.

Nominees must be a current graduate student or an early career professional (two years after graduation).

Nominees must have a current individual type (e.g. student, individual) membership at the time of submission.

An individual may self-nominate OR be nominated by faculty or another non-student professional who is a current USITT member.

Awards are open to all ages and recognize promising newcomers in each award area.

Award will be presented at the Annual Conference.

The 2025 Annual Conference will take place from March 5-8 in Columbus. Award Presentations are scheduled for Thursday, March 6 at 9 AM.

Nominations Open: September 3, 2024

Nominations Close: October 31, 2024 (11:59 PM EDT)

Review Period: November - December 2024

Award Notifications: January 2025

Award Presentation: March 6, 2025

The entry fee for each nomination is $25 (US Currency).

This fee must be paid by credit card by the nominee at the time of form submission.

All entry fees are non-refundable.

Read all guidelines carefully before submitting your application.

This award recognizes exceptional costume makers. For costume designers, please apply to the Zelma H. Weisfeld Costume Design & Technology Award

All applications must be submitted via the USITT Awards Portal to be considered.

Nominators must begin the nomination by filling out a brief nomination form. Nominees may self-nominate or be nominated by a faculty or professional. Nominator must be a current USITT member.

Upon receipt of a complete nomination form, USITT will email the nominee a link to complete their submission.

Required information:

• Nominee Contact Information: Name, email address, mailing address
• Nominee’s school attended or currently attending
• Graduation date (or anticipated graduation date)

Submission Materials:

• Resume (PDF Format)
• Letter of recommendation from a faculty member or a non-student professional
• The faculty member could include an instructor or supervisor in the costume shop, acting and history professors, department chairs, and other faculty mentors.
• The non-student professional could include a costume director or designer from employment outside the university.
• Nominee will provide recommender’s name and email address. The recommender will receive instructions via email to upload their letter directly into the submission portal. Nominee will not be able to upload or view the letter.
• Letter of Support
• Letter of Support may come from fellow collaborators, directors, choreographers, production team members, faculty members, or others in the entertainment industry.
• Personal Artistic Statement (Max. 300 words)
• The personal artistic statement articulates nominee’s creative work philosophy and personal approach to costume making. .
• Five (5) digital image plates showcasing the nominee’s expertise in an area of costume making.
• A Plate refers to a single image or a collage of images, much like one page in a portfolio.
• Maximum size and resolution is 18 x 24 inches, 300dpi, 20MB.
• All plates must be in PDF format.
• Event/play/piece title, scene and character clearly labeled with an appropriately sized and colored, easy-to-read, well-placed font.
• The five (5) plates should include a minimum of three (3) realized productions. There is no limit to the number of realized productions.
• There should be one (1) show/project per plate; however, multiple shows or projects may be placed on a single plate with proper organization.
• One (1) production/project may be represented on multiple plates.
• The plates should be organized so that the process is shown in a clear, concise, and thoughtful manner. The plates should be organized to communicate the process of costume creation. The emphasis should be on the work of the maker and so if designer-created images are used, please indicate this clearly.
• Organizational paperwork should be legible, labeled, and reflect the process.
• Content may include (but not limited to):.
• Costume designer’s sketches, drawings, renderings, working drawings.
• Maker’s process of costume creation. This may include documentation of patternmaking and/or draping, test samples, ¼ scale mock-ups, full sized mock-ups, etc.
• Process photographs of fittings and subsequent alterations, craft or costume production “in-progress”
• Production photographs of character(s) onstage and under stage lighting
• Mid-range and close-up photographs of costume pieces on a mannequin, dress form, or actor
• Mid-range and close-up photographs of inside or underside of items showing construction details.
• In the case of project management, paperwork showing budget breakdown, shopping sources, personnel assignments, run crew instructions, maintenance schedules showing the organization of the production.
• A statement articulating the collaborative process for each of the five (5) plates. (Max 400 words)
• Statements might include the collaboration process with the costume designer and actor and/or director interaction.
• Statement of your interaction with the costume shop staff and with others on the production/design team, including run crew.
• As the costume maker, a statement of how your research and development process contributed to the realization of the work illustrated on the plate.
• Costume shop managers could explain their contribution to the flow of the production from conception to realization.
• Three (3) optional plates
• May include projects from areas outside the area of expertise of the nominee.
• This work may be produced or classroom projects, realized or conceptual, and would showcase the range of the nominee.
 

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All USITT award nominees are required to submit a Professional Conduct Disclosure Form. This form will not be visible to the award jury and will only be reviewed by the USITT Ethics Officer.

This form is part of the submission and your submission will not be considered complete if it has not been submitted.

For more information, please review the USITT Honors and Awards Policy.

All nominations for the Young Designers’, Managers’, and Technicians’ Award will be reviewed by selected members of the USITT Commissions.

No current USITT staff member may serve as a juror. Any reviewer with a conflict of interest is required to recuse themselves.

All submissions will be scored on a scale of 1-10 using the following criteria:

• Content and organization of plates and photographs (image size & quantity, labeling, legibility, and clarity)
• Illustration and explanation of process: research through development, development to fitting, fitting to completed costume piece.
• Demonstration of complex patternmaking, draping, tailoring, millinery, dyeing, or construction execution
• Demonstration of organization for a production including paperwork relating to the management of a production from conception to strike.
• Written materials: clarity, articulation, and thoughtfulness

Judging process is overseen by the USITT Awards Committee and results are approved by the Board of Directors.

Nominees will be notified in early 2025 of the outcome of their requests via email after the Board of Directors has approved the results.

Award winners will be required to submit additional information via the submissions portal, including a W9 form and RSVP to any Conference events. Failure to submit this information promptly may delay award processing.

USITT will publicize award winners utilizing official channels including (but not limited to): website, social media, weekly newsletter, Technically Speaking podcast. Winners may be contacted for additional information for publicity .