State of the Shop 2015: Focusing Today's Arts Resources to Anticipate Tomorrow's Emerging Technologies

In order to understand the unique challenges facing technical directors at colleges and universities across the nation, a survey was distributed to technical directors, production managers, and shop foremen managing scene shops at over 200 higher education institutions. This survey solicited information about their programs and productions focusing on the resources and technology the departments and scene shops rely on to build a production and mount a season. The data collected revealed the equipment and tools essential to scenic construction in shops both large and small. Other trends in data shed light on safety practices and procedures, materials and construction methods, and emerging technologies of interest to collegiate scene shops. The following report serves as a snapshot of acadeimic theater departments and their accompanying scene shops in 2015. As further iterations of this survey carry out, ideally every 3-5 years, comparative data from years prior will allow for the extrapolation of patterns in growth and development of shops.