Janet Swenson

From College of Fine Arts and Communications

Professor Janet L. Swenson served as the Associate Chair, Chair of Design & Technology and resident Costume Designer for BYU's Department of Theatre & Media Arts. During her 30 years at BYU, she has designed over 250 productions, including musicals, operas, Shakespeare and film. For the past 15 years she has also designed for BYU's international touring group, The Young Ambassadors. Professionally, Janet served 15 years as Resident Designer at Robert Redford's Sundance Theatre and has designed at the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespearean Festival for the past 15 seasons. Other professional credits include work at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, PTTP at the University of Wisconsin, the Tuacahn Center for the Performing Arts and the Skylight Opera Theatre in Milwaukee. She has also designed many summer seasons in Wyoming at both the Pink Garter Theatre and Jackson Hole Playhouse.

Professor Swenson teaches courses in costume design as well as supervising and teaching in the department's extensive makeup program. She is the recipient of many awards, including the prestigious Karl G. Maeser Award for Creativity in 1996. Her most challenging project was designing and supervising construction of 2,500 costumes for the LDS Church's production of Light of the World, which played to sold-out houses in the 21,000 seat Conference Center throughout the 2002 Olympics. She is a member of IATSE, AFTRA, USITT and the Utah Council of the Arts, and is the National Archivist for Theta Alpha Phi.