A&O announces costume designer Ruth E. Carter as spring speaker
Kirk McKoy/Los Angeles Times/TNS
Costume designer Ruth E. Carter will feature in A&O Productions’ Spring Speaker event.
April 19, 2022
A&O Productions announced it will host costume designer Ruth E. Carter as its spring speaker this Saturday.
Carter has worked on more than 60 film and television projects across various genres. In 2019, she won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work in “Black Panther,” becoming the first Black woman to win the award.
“Carter’s deep understanding of character, combined with her nuanced use of color and texture, has made her an essential storyteller committed to sharing the past, present and future of Black culture,” A&O wrote in a press release.
While Carter initially pursued acting, her experience working in the wardrobe department at historically Black college Hampton University led her to discover costume design. She then apprenticed at the Santa Fe Opera before designing costumes for stage productions and dance studios in Los Angeles.
Director Spike Lee recruited Carter to design the costumes for his film “School Daze” in 1988. Since then, she has worked with Lee on 14 films. Carter has also worked with several other acclaimed directors, including Lee Daniels, Ava DuVernay and Steven Spielberg.
The same year she won her Academy Award, Carter was featured in the Netflix documentary series “Abstract: The Art of Design,” which highlights artists working in design, and she received a Career Achievement Award from the Costume Designers Guild.
Past spring speakers have included Ramy Youssef, Jonathan Van Ness and John Mulaney.
The Spring Speaker event is free for students and will take place in Harris 107. It will include a screening of Black Panther at 3 p.m. followed by a discussion with Carter moderated by Communication Prof. Miriam Petty at 5:15 p.m.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @carolinelbrew
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