Philosophy and Focus: Ms. Gaffney has been a professional costume designer, costume technician, and educator
for 30 years. As a costume designer the most important aspect of her work is that
it helps to tell the story and supports what the performers have to do on stage. Ms.
Gaffney enjoys reimagining the plays of William Shakespeare as part of a collaborative
artistic team.
Background: As an undergraduate student Ms. Gaffney began working as a work study student in
the costume shop building costumes for the Theatre Departments productions. As a
freshman her favorite courses were art history and psychology, slowly over the course
of her sophomore year she realized that costume design was a wonderful way to combine
her interests in sewing, theatre, art history, and psychology.
Teaching: Ms. Gaffney aims to empower her students to be as hands on as humanly possible with
the theatrical productions produced here at 91制片厂. In her courses she
teaches a variety of skills and lays out clear expectations so that her students can
succeed both in the classroom and when applying their knowledge to productions or
professional work outside the classroom.
Research/Scholarship/Creative Work: Ms. Gaffney has designed costumes for over eighty theatrical productions for a variety
of Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and Regional Theatre companies. Favorite credits
include costume designs for Cabaret, Next to Normal and Fun Home for the Mill Mountain
Theatre in Roanoke, VA. In addition to theatre Ms. Gaffney has served as costume
designer and/or production designer for several award-winning film projects, having
most recently designed the video Decades of Fashion for Reeds Jewelers.