Jack A. Smith
Jack holds degrees from Eastern Illinois University and
Southern Illinois University, and had been working as a
Costume Designer for the last eighteen years. His career has
taken him from Chicago to Central Florida and from North
Carolina to the mountains of Colorado. Here at Elon, Jack
teaches Costume Design, Introduction to Theatre, Costume
Construction, Theatre History and Literature, Theatrical
Make-Up and Global Studies.
His passion has always been the physiology of dress —
why we humans chose to cover our bodies in the fashion that
we do. This passion extends to historical dress as well, with
a devotion to middle class American clothing of the 19th
century. He maintains an extensive collection of antique
textiles from this period from which he teaches the history
of dress. He also uses this collection to mount museum
exhibits around the country, and hopes to someday turn all of
this into a book about the history of middle class
dress.
Jack has worked professional as a Costume Designer for many
years, most recently in Central Florida for the Orlando
Shakespeare Festival. He also worked for The Mad Cow Theater,
The University of Central Florida and Disney Productions. His
work has also been exhibited at the Prague Quadrennial in
Prague Czechoslovakia, an international theatrical design
competition.
His design work here at Elon University includes costumes
for Anything Goes!, When you coming back, Red
Rider?, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Tom
Jones.
