The BYU Scene Shop Gives Students the Opportunity to Develop Both Practical and Artistic Skills
Sparks fly in the Department of Theatre and Media Arts’ (TMA) scene shop as students weld, build and paint sets for BYU’s theatre productions. Comprised of wood, metal and paint shops, the scene shop houses various tools and equipment for students to work with steel, wood, plastic and foam.
“In TMA we do a lot of experiential learning with the students. One unique area that we have is the shops we run in order to support the theatre work — the scene shop, the costume shop, the makeup shops, the lighting labs,” said Megan Sanborn Jones, chair of the Department of Theatre and Media Arts. “The scene shop is a place where students, both in our majors and in other majors, can learn practical skills and the artistic processes necessary to put a show on stage.”
Whether a student signs up to work as a welder or not, they will eventually be involved in the metal shop in some form or another. “Primarily, we work with MIG [metal inert gas] welding,” said technical director Travis Coyne. “It's the easiest for our students to learn and produces the best results for us. We weld everything from small prop items all the way up to large scenic units.”
Welding was a crucial part of the scenic design for BYU’s 2023 production of “The Secret Garden.” The scene shop built set pieces such as wall units and a garden arch that “sat on one of the turntables that housed the doors into the secret garden,” said Coyne. Not only was the scene shop responsible for building the framework of the arch, but they also worked on more decorative elements such as the steel scroll work.
The hands-on experience students gain in the scene shop also benefits them in their future careers. “The scene shop gives students a greater understanding of how behind the scenes theatre works because they can see design elements and learn how to build those elements with construction skills,” said Coyne. “It makes them more marketable and more profitable leaving BYU because they'll have a strong skill base combined with real-time working experiences that will take them far into their chosen profession, whether they are a designer, actor or technician. Ultimately, it's a win-win for the student.”
