College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) Dean bruce d. mcclung has announced the appointment of Maranda DeBusk as Assistant Professor of Lighting Design in CVPA’s School of Theatre.

DeBusk holds an MFA in Lighting Design and Digital Media from the University of Tennessee, and a BA in Theatre Arts from Furman University. She is a member of the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) and the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT).

DeBusk is an artist and educator specializing in lighting and media designs. She says the core of her work is her belief in the power of the dramatic arts to create positive change in our communities and that the greatest work is that which when let out into the world, improves it.

DeBusk comes to CVPA from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. She has also held teaching appointments at the University of Georgia and Converse College.

DeBusk is the recipient of the SETC John Spiegel Theatrical Artist Award, the Barbizon Lighting Award, and the USITT Rising Star Award. Her work has been shared internationally as an Emerging Artist at the World Stage Design Expo in 2017 in Taipei, Taiwan; and as a Featured Emerging Artist at the Prague Quadrennial in 2019 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Select Regional Design Credits include The Heath (Lighting/Media; Warehouse Theatre), Matilda (Lighting/Media; Virginia Stage Company), The Passion of Teresa Rae (Lighting; Triad Stage), Return to Sender (Media; Nashville Children’s Theatre), Death of a Salesman (Assoc. Lighting; Trinity Rep), and Sweeney Todd (Assoc. Lighting; Denver Center for the Performing Arts).

Please join us in welcoming Maranda DeBusk to the CVPA family!