Maranda DeBusk
Assistant Professor of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts
she/he/they
482 Theatre, Film, and Media Arts Building
1923 College Road
Columbus, OH 43210
Areas of Expertise
- Lighting Design
- Media Design
- Arts and Community Engagement
- Design for Found Spaces/Outdoors
Education
- MFA University of Tennessee
- BA Furman University
Maranda DeBusk is an artist, educator, and storyteller specializing in lighting and media designs. Her work has been seen across the United States including at Playmakers Repertory Company, Virginia Stage Company, Triad Stage, Warehouse Theatre, Music Theatre Wichita, and Actors Express. She has travelled as an associate designer to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Trinity Repertory Company, and the Repertory Company of St. Louis.
Her lighting design work has been exhibited internationally across two continents. At the 2023 Prague Quadrennial, her design for LIZZIE (2022) was featured as part of the USA National Pavillion, and her design for K2 (2019) was featured as part of the USA Emerging Artists Pavillion. Her design for Roméo et Juliette (2016) was featured in the USA Emerging Artists Pavillion at the 2019 Prague Quadrennial as well. In 2017, her design for A Lesson Before Dying (2016) was selected as one of fifteen designs by emerging artists worldwide to be featured at the 2017 World Stage Design Expo in Taipei, Taiwan.
She is the proud recipient of USITT’s Rising Star Award sponsored by LDI/Live Design (2019), USITT’s Barbizon Lighting Company Jonathan Reznik Lighting Design Award (2017), and SETC’s John Spiegel Theatrical Artist Award (2017).
At the core of all of her work is her belief in the power of the dramatic arts to create positive change in our communities. The greatest work is that which when let out into the world, improves it.
When not in the theatre, DeBusk can be found playing video games, watching Jeopardy, or trying a new hobby she will likely not be doing six months from now and loving every minute of it.