Jessica Greenberg | Design

My work as a designer has taken me to many venues in New York, Utah and around the country, with diverse projects in theatre, dance, opera, and site specific work. Lighting Design is my primary area, though I also do Sound Design and Projection Design. New York designs include productions with La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, 59E59, A.R.T New York Theatres, HERE Arts Center, Flux Theatre Ensemble, New Opera NYC, Adjusted Realists, Red Fern Theatre, Castillo Theatre, Dixon Place, The Exchange / Orchard Project, and Epic Theatre Ensemble Education Programs. I’m a company member with Adjusted Realists Theatre Company in NYC. In Utah, I often design with SB Dance, Ririe-Woodbury Dance, Salt Lake Acting Company and the Utah Shakespeare Festival. I’ve worked as an assistant or associate designer at Hartford Stage, Westport Country Playhouse, and Barrington Stage Company. I’ve also served as a lecturer or guest designer at Hampshire College, Endicott College, Amherst College, Smith College and Yale University. 

I’ve presented my work domestically and internationally. I was an invited symposium speaker at the CrisisART festival in Arezzo, Italy, (2014 and 2016) to discuss theatre and social change from a designer’s point of view. I was a lighting symposium panelist at the Prague Quadrennial in the Czech Republic (2015). a panelist at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education in Montreal (2015). I traveled to Taipei, Taiwan, to present my sound design work at the World Stage Design Conference (2017), and was a presenter in the lighting design poster session at the United States Institute for Theatre Technology conference (2018 & 2023). I was a speaker at TEDx Ogden : Illumination (2018), and a keynote speaker at the International Seminar on Innovation and Creativity of the Arts, at The Art institute of Surakarta, Indonesia (2019). I have presented at the Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education Conference (2021), EduLearn in Spain (2022), World Stage Design Conference in Calgary, CA (2022).

Awards and honors include:

• University Resident Theatre Association (URTA) Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Training - Lighting Design (2024)

• Ambrose Amos Endowed Chair for Faculty Research (2024)

• WSU Presidential Teaching Excellence Award (2023)

• “40 Under 40” Lighting Designers award from the Light Collective (2022)

• Honors Eccles Fellowship (2021)

• Browning Center for Design Fellowship (2019)

• Lindquist Creative Fellowship (2018 & 2020)

• Weber State George & Beth Lowe Innovative Teaching (2018)

• Weber State Outstanding Mentor Award for the College of Arts and Humanities (2016 & 2019)

• Design Arts Utah Juror’s Award (2016)

• New York State Decentralization of the Arts Award (2008) for my theatre work in underserved rural communities

In the past six years, I’ve written or co-written over $600,000 worth of successful grants from university and private sources for research, travel, and new technology for my design programs. 

When I’m not turning lights on and off in the dark, I love exploring the outdoors with my husband Justin and my dog Dozer.

My design students have received university, regional and national recognition. 

Student Awards include:

Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival

• National Award for Excellence in Lighting Design, 1st Place. Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Sweeney Todd - Lighting Design by Marley Keith. (2023) Marley won 1st place in Region 8, and then went on to win First Place at the National Competition in Washington DC.

• KCACTF Region 8, Lighting Design, 1st Place.  The House of Edgar Allen Poe - Lighting Design by Daniel Garner. (2020) Daniel went on to present at the National Competition and came in 2nd place.

• National Award for Excellence in Lighting Design, 1st Place. 9 Circles - Lighting Design by William Peterson. (2016) William won 1st place in Region 8, and then went on to win the National Competition in DC.

• KCACTF Region 8, Sound Design, 1st Place.  Almost Maine- Sound Design by Lydia Pearce Oliverson (2015) Lydia went on to compete at the National Competition in DC where she received an Honorable Mention. 

• KCACTF Region 8, Sound Design, 1st Place.  W;T- Sound Design by Alex Thedell. (2014) Alex  went on to compete at the National Competition in DC. 

United States Institute for Theatre Technology

• USITT Elite Training Projection Design Scholarship. William Peterson was a Recipient Summer 2016, and Tiffany Campbell was a recipient Summer 2017. 

• USITT Elite Training Sound Design Scholarship. Alex Thedell and Lydia Pearce Oliverson were both Recipients Summer 2015, and Micah Maxson a recipient Summer 2017. 

• USITT Gateway Mentorship Diversity Initiative Program. Nominated and Mentored sound design student Lydia Pearce Oliverson on her successful application. Spring 2015. Lydia was one of 8 selected students in the country for a full USITT scholarship for attendance at the annual conference. 

• USITT Elite Training Projection Design Scholarship. Alex Thedell was a Recipient Summer 2014. 

Weber State University

• 9 Circles- Lighting Design by William Peterson also won best Undergraduate Research in the College of Arts & Humanities Spring 2016.

• W;T- Sound Design by Alex Thedell also won best Undergraduate Research in the College of Arts & Humanities Spring 2015.