Production designer Thomas A. Walsh has been elected president of the Art Directors Guild (ADG) for a two-year term by the general membership of ADG, effective January 1.
At the same time Jim Bissell was elected vice president for a two-year term. Also elected for two-year terms were Tom Taylor, formerly ADG vice president, to the office of secretary, while Michael Baugh and Bill Creber were re-elected ADG treasurer and administrator, respectively. Outgoing president Jack De Govia opted not to run for re-election after serving two terms as president.
Walsh's career has embraced production design work for feature films, Imax/Omnimax, television, documentaries as well as Broadway and regional theatre. He has been a member of the Guild's executive board for two years, chairman of its Film Society for the past three and a member of the board of directors of the recently-formed Center for Film & Television, a non-profit organization with a mission to preserve outstanding design achievements and engage in numerous ancillary design activities.
Further ADG elections are now underway to select five from among six members to serve two-year terms on the Guild's executive board. Continuing as trustees are Jan Scott (with two years to serve) and Dahl Delu (with one year to serve). Other continuing board members with one year left in their terms are Cate Bangs, Rick Carter, Jim Newport and Vickie Paul. Serving on the Guild's nominating committee were Paul Peters, Christa Munro, Dan Lomino, Chris Burian-Mohr and Michael Corenblith. Scott Roth is executive director of ADG.
President-elect Walsh won a prime-time Emmy and an ADG Award nomination for Buddy Faro in 1998. Walsh is a leader in designing for Imax and two of his projects received Documentary Academy Award nominations (for The Living Sea, 1995; and Dolphins, 2001). He served as Tony Walton's associate designer for several years on Broadway, working on such Tony-winning shows as I'm Not Rappaport, The Real Thing, and My One and Only. Walsh is a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts.