Robert Pickering has worked as a Scenic and Lighting Designer, Scenic Artist, and
Theatre Technician for nearly four decades. His work has been featured across the U.S
including the Santa Fe Opera, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Sarasota, and Fort
Worth Operas, and numerous Opera, Musical, and Gala productions with the University
of Kentucky Opera Theatre. For eleven years he was the Studio Manager and staff
Scenic and Lighting Designer for the Kentucky Educational Television Network (KET).
Each year (for over 25 years!) he takes on the role of Scenic Designer and Construction
Supervisor for the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre’s It’s a Grand Night for Singing!

Robert holds an MFA in Cinema and Photography from Southern Illinois University
where he also taught Film Appreciation and Film Production classes and received the
Richard M. Blumenburg Screenwriting Award for his original feature-length screenplay –
“Trailer Park”. He has completed a Film Production Certificate from the Film and
Television Academy (FAMU) in Prague, Czech Republic and earned his Bachelor of Arts
Degree in Theatre Arts from California State University, Chico. Upon graduation from
CSU, Chico, he was hired as the Department of Theatre and Dance’s Publicist, and
then as its full-time Scenic Artist.

Previous academic area work includes being a Designer, Technical Director, and
Professor of Theatre and Film courses at Georgetown College (Kentucky); he has
taught Design, Costume Craft, and Stagecraft classes at his alma mater, CSU, Chico,
and Technical Theatre and Design Courses at Butte College in Oroville CA. His most
recent work includes being the Resident Designer and Technical Director for the historic
Woodland Opera House in Woodland CA, the Guest Designer and Full-Season
Production Contractor for the San Jose Stage Company, and the Scenic Designer for
numerous shows at the Redwood Curtain Theatre in Eureka, CA. Robert is humbled for
the amazing and never-ending flow of creative projects that have come his way and is
grateful and inspired for the numerous and ongoing opportunities that allow him to work
with students in both academic and professional settings.