John Saari is Professor of the Design and Technical Theatre Emphasis Program and teaches courses in Stage Design, Stage Craft, Lighting Design, Theatre History, Scene Painting, Play Production, Special Topics courses in Properties, Plastics, Intelligent Lighting, Advanced Design, Rendering Methods and Seminars (Portfolio Preparation).

After receiving his M.F.A., John was both Assistant to the Designer and Designer at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville as well as head Scenic Artist for this nationally known Regional Theatre.

He has over 400 Scenic Design credits and several hundred Lighting Design credits. He has also done Star touring productions for artists such as Donny and Marie Osmond, Children’s productions for PBS and Stage One. Mr. Saari has numerous world premieres to his credit including two shows that toured nationally before opening at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

John moved his family to Greensboro, N.C. in mid 1987 when he accepted the position as Scene/ Lighting Designer for the Greensboro City Arts Drama Program which produced a host of Musicals and Children’s Theatre productions during his tenure there.

Since 1987 he has consulted and overseen 5 major renovations of Performing Arts spaces in the Greensboro area, most recently completing a multimillion dollar project at Greensboro College.

In addition to his Theatre work, Professor Saari also does Industrial Shows and Tradeshow booths for the Textile Industry. His designs have won “Best of Show” in an international venue for the past decade.

John has also done a score of video, film and tele-visual productions. Most recently he did the sets for 8 shows for the TCT networks and the studios of WXLI TV. In April 2000 he did the stage decoration for MTV’s “Wanna Be a VJ 3” search which featured JayZee and Korn in Spencer, N.C..

Currently John is the Master Class Mentor for USITT-SE where he has served on the executive committee for a decade, he also has been a sustaining sponsor of the organization for as long. He is also active in the North Carolina Theatre Conference and Southeastern Theatre Conference. He has served as Technical Director for the American College Theatre Festival Regional Competition when it was held at Greensboro College several years ago.

Mr. Saari is committed to the education and advancement of Theatre Students and to that end he and his wife’s company, sponsors the graduate and undergraduate Scene Design competition at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Theatre Conference.

Through Sculptural Arts Coating, Inc. John is known around the United States and some of the world as the creator of the following scenic products:
• Sculpt Or Coat - the versatile construction tool
• Artist’s Choice - Saturated Scenic Paints
Sculptural Arts Plastic Varnishes
Tough’N White Primers.

Sculpt or Coat was named as one of the top ten new products of the 1990’s.
He has been featured in numerous Theatre magazines and articles, and is referenced in a number of Theatre Texts related to the product creation.

He has presented workshops locally, statewide, regionally and nationally with numerous groups and institutions such as: Yale University, The Studio School of Design in New Jersey, National Costumer’s of American, National Puppeteers of America, Pace University in Lower Manhattan, North Carolina Theatre Conference, United States Institute of Theatre Technology – Southeast Region, Ohio Region, Midwest Section and USITT – National, Southeastern Theatre Conference as well as workshops for various theatrical dealers around the country and impromptu workshops backstage at Disney Studios in Orlando, Florida.

Theatre Department

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