Painting a Picture

So this morning I traveled again to Grand Central Station. This time to catch the 7:43 train to Cornwall, NY. It was about an hour and a half train ride and then Scenic Art Studios sent someone out to pick me up and from there it was about 15 minutes to the Studio.

I met with Joe Forbes and Laurie Cohen, both scenic artists at SAS. This was by far my most favorite interview. We just sat around this table and talked but it was so comfortable and they were the nicest people ever. Joe runs a class, its a 3 year program and everyone who has stayed the 3 years has been able to pass the Union exam and begin work as a Union artist. The classes run every Saturday for 5 hours and while you are in school you are also working during the week in non-union venues. This sounds so awesome, they teach you everything you need to know and he said he can teach anyone basically, haha.

A non-union painter at the lowest pay will earn around $15/hour and a union painter will earn, when starting out, $47/hour. So that is quite a difference right there. He suggested living in NY in close proximity to the 5 boroughs. That is where the most work is and you have to have the ability to take mass transit.

He said that you have to apply for the program but in 5 years they haven’t turned anyone down. He told me this story about when he was first starting out and interviewed at a different studio and then years later ended up working for the same guy and looked up his file and it said “knows nothing, needs everything,” haha so I think he understands all different levels of beginners. And now he owns his own very successful studio.

Everyone I have met have stressed how much fun it is to work on movies, and you can get into that from the Union too. Being in the Union is your contact to the best artists and designers in the world. They say you are treated as an artist and a professional as opposed to non-union where sometimes you won’t even be paid and have to break your neck to make $30,000/year. There is an availibility list when you are in the Union and out of work that the big studios look at for hire, and he said that sometimes the list is at 100% employment! That means every Union artist is currently employed…insane.

The downside to all of this is that it is around $18,000/semester. So $36,000/year and $108,000/all 3 years, not including rent and etc. But they said that they are making sure you have non-union work so you can pay but that just seems to out of my reach its scary.  Okay I lied.  I just looked up the information on their website and its only $1800/semester! So $3600/year and $10,800/for three years.  Wow, that is much much more doable, that isn’t even Mary Wash for one year… 

This trip has given me a lot to think about.

This morning I went to Long Island City to meet with Bill Riley.  When I got there at 9:30am he said we could either sit down and he would tell me what to do or we could travel around while he went on meetings and so obviously I said I would do the latter.  So we traveled around Manhattan for around 3 hours! 

At first his project manager came along and that guy, Elliot, was really intense.  He kept asking me all these questions one right after the other and I felt like I was being judged or interviewed or something.  When I said I was thinking of looking around D.C. for work he was like “Why aren’t you moving straight here?!” and he was angry about it!  I think its just his personality that is really strong and probably something you have to be used to but I was so nervous every time he would talk.

Bill Riley was amazing.  He was just so nice and awesome to hang out with all day.  First we went to an armory where they have a job coming up and I got to see them work with the contractor-type person to see exactly what he wanted.  Showman does so many things, theatre, tv, film, interiors, art shows, window displays, basically everything you see that could possibly use paint or even what you wouldn’t think, they do.  So that was really cool.

Then we went to a new condominium building where his workers were installing a mural in a kids play room.  The mural was a park scene with bushes and trees and a fountain and a fence and it was absolutely awesome.  That is something I am really interested in, it seems so fun to paint for interiors.  

Bill had a lot to say and he was one of the first people to basically say “Do it THIS way” without just telling me how he did it.  He says I should do summer stock asap and check into this place he gave me the name of that is in Norfolk.  They really pushed continuing education in art and form.  I need to get practical experience  before I can ever hope to be in the Union.  And if I ever want to work in New York City I pretty much have to join the Union.  

He got my e-mail and is having this woman e-mail me with a bunch of non-union places I could work.  He also wants me to keep in touch and if I have a piece I paint and want criticism he would be glad to look at it.  They want me to let them know what I decide and end up doing.  They also said I was the first one who had ever contacted them asking for this kind of information.  They have had people contact them about jobs and things but never just straight research. 

Great day!

Yesterday we got to choose our own matinee to go see.  Latera and I went to see Mary Poppins and it was incredible.  Even if the show had been terrible, and it wasn’t, it would have been worth it just to see the set.  The set changed so many ways and there was so much flying in and moving back and in and out of wings I don’t know how big that theatre is!  The props crew must have had a blast because the “magic” in the show was awesome.  The entire kitchen broke and then reassembled itself!  She also had a magic bag she could pull huge things out of and she magically turned a blanket into a bed!  “Step in Time” was a wonderful tap dancing number with the entire cast and they were just all so talented.  Bert actually walks up and upside down on the PROSCENIUM!  The show was very fun, its nice sometimes to just see a happy show you know?

Last night we saw August: Osage County and it was amazing as well.  The show was 3 hours and 20 minutes including two 10 minute intermissions.  But, as long as it was, it was not excruciating to get through, in fact I loved it.  It is not often enough that you find a truly great “dramady”straight play on Broadway.  The family dynamic was just so interesting to watch and so relateable for me since I have such a large and close knit family.  There were some very well developed characters played by very well accomplished actors and that obviously came together quite well.  In fact, Jeff Perry who plays Thatcher Grey on Grey’s Anatomy was in it!  That means that I have seen both Meredith’s mother and father on Broadway this week!  Yay!

This morning I visited with Margot Therre, assistant to the Scenic Charge at the Metropolitan Opera House.

The Opera is so crazy, the theatre is SO BIG. They have about a 65 ft x 50 ft stage with 60 ft fly space and 50×60 ft wings. They have 7 elevators on stage that will raise up so they can set scenery up at different levels. They have a place in the building called “Sea Level” where they store sets from past shows, one I saw had been in storage for 30 years.

Margot got into the business through an art background. She started out working after college because she didn’t want to teach and her mother actually rented an apartment from a scenic artist who recommended she take the USA test. She started out in TV, then went into movies, and finally into Opera.

They are different from the Broadway theatres in that they make their own scenery in house whereas Broadway hires out from the scenic shops. What she said is that when they make a show it has to last for 30 years so they build them a lot stronger and steadfast. They also have a much bigger space than any Broadway theatre, theatres just dont have the space to make them. She also said that the painters tend to stay on staff for years, which is much different than the scenic studios. Very cool meeting.

Yesterday I met with David Fry who was the Scenic Charge at NYU Tisch. He was really cool and down to earth. He started out after graduating from the University of Cincinnati with a fine arts degree. He started out paintings scenery for a place that did cruise lines and theme parks. When he decided he wanted to get into theatre it took him around a year to get his first job painting at the University of Cincinnati. He came to NYU and he basically created his position, before him they were hiring out for painters and it was just too expensive.

One thing interesting he told me was that he actually painted for commercials a few times. He says its the simplest tasks, like a solid bathroom color with trim and you get paid like crazy. He made $300/day and for a painter just starting out that is incredible. What I am getting from my interviews is that there is so much out there to get into, you can paint for SNL or Letterman! Its really encouraging, because although I ultimately want to paint for th theatre, I am not above getting easy jobs for good money, haha. I mean I have to make a living right?

He is the first I have met with that is not in USA. He is actually in a teaching union, but he said if he weren’t at NYU he would join the Union, he has a steady job so it isn’t really necessary to find extra work. Tisch has surprisingly small theatre spaces. Their main theatre is about the same size as Mary Wash’s but with no fly space and no wings! Its insane, he said that space is just so hard to come by in NYC. Its insane because you’d think NYU would have this huge amazing space, I can just imagine the challenges those grad students face designing for the limited space.

He said to me “I love my job because it changes each time I do a show.” He doesn’t have to get into a rut and has something interesting to do each time. I can’t wait.

Tisch

Yesterday morning I went to view the Frick Collection off of 5th Ave. I chose that museum because I have to paint a portrait for my senior project of She Stoops to Conquer and the actual original portrait is at the Frick! Its called “Miss Edwards” and its painted by Hogarth. I found it in the second or third room of the house and I literally stood in front of it for about a half hour. I think the curator person in that room thought I was crazy because I was just stepping closer or further away and jotting down pages of notes and then I barely looked at the rest of the room. It was really awesome to be able to see the original of what I have to reproduce…I only hope I can do it justice.

There was a wonderful little atrium at the Frick. It had a long fountain and a lot of plants and a gorgeous skylight and marble benches. I just sat on a bench for 10-15 minutes and sank it all in. Very tranquil.

Later I hid from the rain in the Drama Book Shop which was nice. They had a really comfy couch upstairs and I just sat there for a while resting and relaxing in the wonderful vicinity of plays. Its so crazy that there is a store for just plays, I wish they were more abundant. I was able to find my favorite playwright, Neil LaBute, pretty easily and I was delighted to see there were a few plays I have yet to read!

So it was a very tranquil day…until…

After my meeting at Tisch (separate blog post) I took what I thought was the same exact subway train going the opposite direction so that I could meet the rest of the class to travel to Brooklyn to see Macbeth. After a little while I noticed that we had never stopped at 42nd Street Bryant Park but were in numbers I didn’t recognize and could not find on my map. I got off the subway and on another one going in the opposite direction, but then that was even stranger, and I got off and on another, I got on and off so many that I was completely and utterly lost as to where I was. Eventually I was in Queens, had missed the class meeting time, and was a bit freaked out. So I got off once again and onto a Manhattan bound train which eventually took me where I needed to go. But, my phone was dead and I didn’t know where the theatre was in Brooklyn so I had to go all the way back to the hotel to look up directions on the internet and then travel there by myself. I made it a little into the first act. Although my experience was scary and there was a time I wanted to absolutely freak out and cry, I didn’t, I knew it wouldn’t help me so I just rationally figured out my way back to the hotel and then to the theatre. Yay.

MacBeth with Patrick Stewart was intense. It was probably the most affecting Shakespeare I have seen. The sound and lighting was insane, it would get soooooo loud and everyone in the audience jumped several times. They projected images onto the walls on the set and made it looks like a movie theatre screen. The most powerful scene was when they had blood spilling out onto the walls with this music building up and then Duncan covered in blood ran out and onto the dinner table and there was this piercing scream and then lights out. Intense.

Yesterday morning I traveled to Yonkers on the train to meet with Grace Brandt, the Scenic Charge at Hudson Scenic Studios.  It was amazing.  First she gave me a tour of the facilities and let me have full run of the studio later to take pictures.  It was pretty informal and I just took a lot of notes which I think I’m going to have to type up in a word document before I forget what my abbreviations and things mean.  She was super nice and I learned a lot.  Basically if you are going to work in New York you have got to be in the Union.  That is really the only way you are guaranteed work and a real amount of money.  A new thing I learned was that painters put their names on the USA availability list and that is how they get work.  A scenic studio hires the amount of people it needs and then as soon as they don’t need you anymore you get laid off.  But it is not as bad as that sounds in the business world because you just put your name on the availability list again and if you have a good reputation and word of mouth you will be hired again fairly soon.  So there is a lot more bouncing around between jobs than I originally anticipated.

The hours are regulated by the Union so they have a fairly normal, 7 hour workday with designated breaks and lunches.  On average Hudson employs about 25 painters on a constantly fluctuating basis.  The Charge Painter divvies up the work so you could be working for a few hours on mixing, or texturing, or actually painting.  

When a show goes up on Broadway, Hudson has a record of all the paint used and how everything was made.  There is this awesome storage room with all the shows currently on Broadway.  When a show has been around a few years it needs touching up, but not in the traditional sense, because they replace the entire piece.  They recreate entire huge scenic drops, like for  Phantom of the Opera which they worked on and which is the longest running Broadway show.

Grace also referred me to Grace, the intern.  She was  28 and had actually just recently completed the USA apprenticeship program.  First she graduated with a BA in art and then she attended Cobalt Studios which is the place I am really interested in in upstate New York.  She had only praise for the school and suggested I start e-mailing the director and seeing about spots.  She said its easier to get into Cobalt than the USA apprenticeship program and that it is really a learning process.  She chose the schooling and apprenticeship route so that once she was in the working world, all the things employers would expect her to know she would know fairly well.  It is really all a matter of time and learning in this world.  She gave me her contact info and she is going to e-mail me the studio that some of her friends have worked which is in Virginia, I am also going to MySpace her  

Well so that is the sum of that trip, it was absolutely amazing and I look forward to all the rest I still have to go on.

So, I, like many others I know, have a great fear of the phone.   It’s weird because when I was little my older brother hated talking to strangers and I never seemed to have any problem with it.  But now that I’m older I never want to call anybody that I don’t know, I dread having to order in take-out because of the phone conversation.

I just overcame part of that fear when I called a representative at United Scenic Artists.  I had e-mailed her twice and received a voice mail a week and a half ago but not further contact after that because she wasn’t at her desk when I called.  But I called again and talked to her and shes going to see if there is anyone she can find to talk to me, she seemed really nice but a little doubtful of the contacts she could make for me… I think though that I will be able to make some contacts through the Scenic Studios I am going to this week.  I am definitely going to visit the 3 largest studios and Union painters are going to be working at each of them…so maybe the people I talk to can put me into contact with some of them, and I think some of them might live in Manhattan….I suppose we will just have to see

So I was just googling some of my contacts and I typed in “Nancy Orr” and “paint” and much to my surprise I see her mentioned in a book.  No wait, not just any book, the giant “SCENIC ART FOR THE THEATRE” book that was currently sitting on the floor next to me.

So I looked her up in the index and there I see “An Interview with Nancy Orr, Charge Painter of Showman Fabricators.”  I’ve read through about half of it so far and its so interesting.  She is answering a lot of my questions in this interview and I haven’t even met her yet!  On the one hand, I’m going to sound like I know her better but on the other hand it makes it harder to formulate questions.  Should I still ask her the questions that she answered through the text?  Hmm…

This is why I should have already read this whole book by now…

Okay so a quick update.

I have a definite appointment with David Fry-Scenic Charge at NYU.  I have a definite appointment with Grace Brandt-Scenic Charge at Hudson Scenic Inc.  Im working out an appointment with Nancy Orr and Bill Riley at Showman Fabricators.  I am calling Laurie Cohen the Monday we are in NYC to set up an appointment with Scenic Art Studios.  I am trying to re-establish contact with Elaine Cooper of USA to find maybe more than one source from the Union.  I have sent out e-mails to NYTW and The Public Theatre and am awaiting reply.

I am really excited to meet with all these people.  They are my dream contacts.