Donyale Werle is a
scenic designer from
Nashville, Tennessee.
Biography
Werle obtained her
BFA in
painting from the
University of New Mexico and her
MFA in set design from the
Tisch School of the Arts at
New York University. She has designed for multiple
Broadway shows, including ''
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson''
for which she received a 2011
Tony nomination. Her design for ''
Peter and the Starcatcher'' won her the 2012 Tony award.
She has also received 2011
Obie
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
for Sustained Excellence of Set Design.
Werle's designs focus on sustainability. She uses found objects, thrift shop finds, and many other materials she purchases second hand. She is the co-chair of the pre/post production committee for the Broadway Green Alliance. Her set design for the 2009 production of ''
Broke-ology'' at the
Lincoln Center featured a set built and decorated from products purchased at Habitat for Humanity's ReStores.
In 2017 Werle began studying horticulture and pursuing a Certificate in Horticulture through the
Brooklyn Botanic Garden. In response to the COVID-19 shutdown of theatrical productions nationwide in 2020, Werle and her husband launched Theater/Gardens*NYC, a garden design and installation company.
In June 2020 students and alumni from the Department of Design for Stage & Film issued a letter to NYU demanding greater diversity within the department. Noting that while 50% of the students in the department are students of color, or international, over 90% of the faculty are white. In response to the letter, Werle resigned from her position as Adjunct Professor at the
Tisch School of the Arts at
New York University in solidarity with Andromache Chalfant. The resignations were designed to make room for BIPOC faculty to take their place.
Personal life
Werle's studio and home is in
Brooklyn,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, where she lives with her husband Paul Jepson, a stagehand at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...
.
Awards and nominations for theater
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Werle, Donyale
American scenic designers
Tony Award winners
Obie Award recipients
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Women scenic designers
People from Nashville, Tennessee
University of New Mexico alumni
Tisch School of the Arts alumni