Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1992 - 33

rhearre. If rhe objecrives of rhis exposirion
as srared ar irs inceprion are indeed (and I
again quore): "idenrifying, recognizing,
and exposing rhe produced works by
designers of scenery, cosrumes and lighring wirhin rhearre, relevision, film and
rheme parks in norrh America," rhen ler
us sadly recognize rhar we are "idenrifying" and "recognizing" wirh grade "A"
abiliries, bur wirhour rhe rour we rare a
much lower grade in "exposing."
Of course rhese are hard economic
rimes for all, especially for rhose of us in
whar my friend and colleague, rhe film
cosrume designer Donfeld, refers (Q as
"This Business of Show." The Exposirion
is forrunare ro have as rhe currenr coordinaror Bruce Brockman, who recognizes
rhe porenrial for where rhis exhibir should
be going wirhour crearing a drain on rhe
Insrirure. Hopefully, rhe Board and membership will help him realize his goals for
rhe furure of rhis imporranr USITT proJecr.
In conclusion, and in Srephen G.
Hild's own words regarding rhe biennial
exposirions: "Our dream has nor jusr
appeared, ir has been a labor of love for
many of us and sri II has much room (Q
grow before ir accomplishes all rhar we
hope for if. However, a good srarr has
been made."
In memory of Srephen, please enjoy
rhis Sevenrh Biennial Exposirion.
Thank you.

Charles Berliner is tile Western Regional

Representative of United Scenic Artists
Lom1829. These remarks were presented
on 4 March 1992 at the opening of the
1992 USfTT Design E\position.
Endnotes
I

The Seventh Biennial Design Exposition is dedicated
10

lhe memory of S«phen G. HiJd who died 1 OClOber

1991. I am honored [Q ha\"e been asked b" liSITT
President-decI Sarah :\'ash Gates and (he l~s(i(U[e (0
speak about Stephen. and the role he played in the
dcwlopmcnt of this exhibit which has been in existence
for 13 years. I am gr::ucful [0 Presidcm Elman \Vebb
and the Executive B03rd of United Scenic Artists Local
829 for their support of my appearing on their behalf
to recognize [his occasion and the importance of this

continuing singularly impressive biennial display of
Theatrical Design from the \'aried arenas of the Per·
forming Ans. I speak bmh from m~' position as \X'CStern Region.)1 Representative of the Union of Theatrical
Designers in the Unitcd States. and as .1 friend. who
greatly admired the passion t hat Stephen held for [his

panicnlar USITT project.
Stephen's sister Carol Goulden has been most helpful
in supplying information which. in retrospect. providcs
us with an overview of the career foundation and
accomplishments th.Jt Stephen brought to the development of these Biennial E.xpositions.

Stanley Abbott, who organized the First .md econd
Biennial Expositions Jt the L'SITT Conferences in
Kansas Cily (1980) and Den\"cr (1982) respecli\"e1\' has
been most hdpful and generous in providing informa·
tion conce:rning the: C.lrly years of this Exposition and
Stephen's commiucd involvement.

STEPHEN G. HILD - 1941-1991
Stephen G. Hild was born in Hutchinson, KS on 19 September 1941, the son of John and Bessie Hild.
His 1963 BA in Theatre was from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville; his 1964 Educational Certification from University of Arkansas at Fayetteville; his 1964 Educational Certification was from the
University of Wichita, KS; his 1969 MA in Technical Theatre was from the University of Missouri,
Columbia; as was his 1972 PhD in Theatre, with Minors: Interior Design, Oral Interpretation and Film.
His dissertation, United States Patents Pertaining to Theatre 1916·1945, if in title only, bespeaks of an
individual with agih for organization!
Highlights of Stephen's varied professional background include:
* 1965-1972, Lebonon Missouri Senior High School; teacher of English and all theatre debate
courses.
* 1972-1981, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff; Assistant Professor of Theatre and
Designer/Technicol Director, teaching all courses in this area as well as courses in Theatre History
Orollnterpretation and Readers Theatre. Stephen was Chair of the Theatre Program from 1974 to
1975 as well as from 1978 to 1980.
* In 1981, Stephen became the Project Cansultant and Coordinator for the Hollywood office of
George Thomas Howard and Associates. He was responsible far projects involving educational
facilities, interior design co·ordination, scenic and costume shops, stage machinery, theatrical and
interior lighting control systems, as well as lighting design.
* For the last few years, Stephen had worked at Paramount Studios as an assistant to Vice President
Phil Murphy, helping to evaluate budgetary expenditures, using those aforementioned organiza·
tional abilities which were apparent in his dissertation of 20 years ago and for which we are honoring his memory today.
Stephen died of cancer on 1October 1991 in Sedona, AI. at the age of 50.

NATIONAL DESIGN ARCHIVES FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Following his success with the usm Design Expo, Stephen went on to attempt afulltime effort dose to
his heart. Quoting his words from the Fourth Biennial catalog: UFor the past several months, Ihave
worked with others to determine the feasibility of establishing a National Design Archives for the Performing Arts. At present, it does seem possible if necessary funds are made available. I hope to be
able to devote full time in the future to this related and worthwhile praject."
Thanks to some very generous grants, Stephen was able to pursue his dream. Unfortunately, his
ill health eventually caused a roadblock to the realization of this endeavor.
What Stephen envisioned was a repository where the designers of all entertainment industry
venues could leave their life's work for posterity. This would be an acknowledged place of either one or
a few locations in the United States; attempting to consolidate the collection of such material into a
central repository.
Given the history of Stephen's passion for the artform and the activities related to theatrical
design awareness of that moment in time, his desire was understandable. We who had participated
and seen the United States entry to the 1987 Prague Quadrennial "win the Gold" (to use a "sparts"
term), returned to this country-ond to a disinterested American press. Iremember at the time,
Stephen asked me one day in frustratian; "What do we have to do to gain media attention for the next
Prague Quadrennial in 1991?" Isimply answered; "Send over a boseballteam!" Luckily, no one listened to me! Concurrent with this exhibit, we are able to view Mozart in America, the 1991 Prague
Quadrennial United States exhibit which won the Gold Medal for the Special Thematic Section this past
summer.
As Stephen ohen noted, any exhibition is "for the moment." But a Natlonal Design Archives for
the Performing Arts would be foreverl As Iunderstand, Stephen's family is forwarding his files regarding the National Design Archives to usm. The idea of a central repository for entertainment industry
design art is worthy of becoming a reality. Perhaps with this designated donation, Stephen hoped to
encourage the USITT Board and membership to parallel the efforts of over a decade of theatrical
design exposition excellence with an "archival" commitment to posterity.
-(.B.

TD&T

1992 SPRING

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1992