Hartford Stage

Hartford, CT, February 15, 2017 – Cloud 9 Set Designer, Artist Nick Vaughan, will discuss 50 States, an ongoing 50-part series of installations examining LGBTQ histories across the country, at Real Art Ways on Tuesday, February 21, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The discussion, which is free to the public, will be moderated by Fiona Kyle, Hartford Stage Dramaturg for Cloud 9.

The Houston-based artist and his husband, Jake Margolin, created the 50 States installations in response to pre-stonewall LGBTQ histories from each state.

Says Vaughan of the installation, “Equal parts visual art and social action, 50 States is an undertaking that we believe is vitally important in this time, when society's views of gender and sexuality are both progressing at an astonishing pace and provoking deeply-troubling social and legislative backlashes.”

Vaughan created the scenic art for Hartford Stage’s production of Cloud 9, which runs from Thursday, February 23, through Sunday, March 19.

Vaughan and Margolin’s installation 50 States: Texas, Oklahoma & Colorado premiered last September at New York City’s Invisible Dog Art Center. Other solo shows include Where the Ranch Actually Was (Devin Borden Gallery, Houston) and A Marriage: 2 (WEST-ER) (Invisible Dog Art Center, NYC). Vaughan and Margolin are recipients of a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship (2014), a MAPFund Grant (2013), and an Idea Fund Grant (2016). Their work can be found at http://www.nickandjakestudio.com/.

Vaughan’s discussion at Real Art Ways is free to the public and will begin at 7:30 p.m. Real Art Ways is located at 56 Arbor Street in Hartford. For more information, contact Real Art Ways at 860-232-1006.

50 States: Wyoming. Photo by Janice Rubin

Hose Piece, Nick and Jake. Photo by Ayumi Sakamoto

Nick Vaughan. Photo by Jeremy Charles.

HARTFORD STAGE

Now in our 53rd year, Hartford Stage is under the leadership of Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak and Managing Director Michael Stotts. One of the nation’s leading resident theatres, Hartford Stage is known for producing innovative revivals of classics and provocative new plays and musicals, including 73 world and American premieres, as well as offering a distinguished education program, which reaches close to 20,000 students annually.

Since Tresnjak’s appointment in 2011 the theatre has presented the world premieres of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder on Broadway, winner of four 2014 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical by Tresnjak; Rear Window with Kevin Bacon; the new musical Anastasia by Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens; Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Water by the Spoonful, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama; Breath & Imagination by Daniel Beaty; Big Dance Theatre’s Man in a Case with Mikhail Baryshnikov; and Reverberation by Matthew Lopez.

Hartford Stage has earned many of the nation’s most prestigious awards, including the 1989 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Other national honors include Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, OBIE, and New York Critics Circle awards. Hartford Stage has produced nationally renowned titles, including the New York transfers of Enchanted April; The Orphans' Home Cycle; Resurrection (later retitled Through the Night); The Carpetbagger's Children; and Tea at Five.

The leading provider of theatre education programs in Connecticut, Hartford Stage’s offerings include student matinees, in-school theatre residencies, teen performance opportunities, theatre classes for students (ages 3-18) and adults, afterschool programs and professional development courses.

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Cloud 9 Set Designer, Artist Nick Vaughan, to Speak at Real Art Ways

Vaughan will discuss 50 States – an examination of LGBTQ history in the United States