2022 Diversity In Design Scholarship Recipient: Isaac Castillo

Isaac Castillo is a rising senior at SUNY Purchase, where he is currently working towards his BFA in Theatre Design/Technology with a concentration in lighting design. He has spent his past year working on a designing for dance and working as an electrician, to serving as the lighting intern on A Strange Loop, the 2022 Tony Award-winning Best Musical. He is currently a member of the 2022 cohort of ETC’s Fred Foster Student Mentorship Program.

Castillo sees a performance space as a sanctuary that allows for the deep exploration of the human experience. He hopes to pursue a career as a lighting designer for theatre, dance, and live entertainment.

He spoke to Live Design about his hopes for the industry, his career goals, and what the scholarship means to him.

Live Design: Why did you apply for the Pat MacKay Diversity In Design Scholarship?

Isaac Castillo: There are so few scholarships out there that cater towards those entering the entertainment and design industry. When I came across the Pat Mackay Diversity in Design Scholarship, I knew I had to apply. Not only was it aimed towards supporting those pursuing a career in entertainment design, but it was aimed specifically towards those underrepresented in the industry. It felt really nice to come across a scholarship that was created for someone like me, and I’m quite lucky to be a recipient this year!

LD: What made you interested in the fields of lighting design?

IC: I kind of stumbled across theatre in middle school, and really fell in love with lighting design while I was in high school. I was asked to design the lights for our musical my sophomore year, and although I had no idea what I was doing, I thoroughly enjoyed the process. I remember working on a production of Eurydice my junior year, and while I had such a simple design, I noticed how effective it was as a part of the whole. Getting to create some beautiful, living art with my friends is what made me realize I enjoyed this too much to ever abandon it. Finding out that I could make a career out of designing is what ultimately led me to pursue a career in lighting design.

LD: What are some of your career goals?

IC: There are so many things I’d like to do that I’ve started to wonder if it’s all even possible! I strongly believe that live theatre serves as a ground for exploration of the human experience, and would like to make a career out of designing for modern and contemporary plays and musicals. I’ve lately become quite enamored with dance, and would really like to form relationships with dance companies that not only push art to new boundaries, but expect that from their collaborators. I’ve been really eager to start learning more about live entertainment, and would really like to work on big events like the Super Bowl Halftime Show and the Eurovision Song Contest. A big goal of mine is also to get to work with some of my favorite music artists by designing for concerts.

LD: How can the industry better serve underrepresented communities?

IC: Accessibility. I never would have thought about a career in lighting if the opportunity to design hadn’t been presented to me in high school. Supporting fine art programs in schools that have limited resources is a great way to introduce the industry to young people that likely didn’t know they could pursue a career in entertainment design.

LD: Who or what are your influences, in terms of people or events?

IC: The phenomenal Jen Schriever has definitely been a big one. I still remember a class we had my sophomore year where she discussed the poetic quality of light. It’s something that really stuck with me and has definitely shaped my own view on designing with light. I’m also incredibly influenced by my own friends and classmates. Getting to see their work on a stage or in a light lab and hear them discuss their choices is always eye opening. I really love getting to see some incredible art and walking away from it having enjoyed it and learned something new.

LD:  Are there particular challenges you have faced?

IC: Being a first-gen college student and going to school so far away from home has been a big one. I had absolutely no idea how to go about applying for schools, making a portfolio and interviewing for a program, much less moving and actually figuring out how to pay for it all. I was lucky enough to be able to figure most of it out, but trying to enter the industry has presented itself with new challenges. I often find myself to be the only one, or one of just a few POC in a room. Not having big financial backing has made it difficult to turn down jobs lately, and has me slightly worried about finding work in the future that pays a living wage.

I’m glad to be entering the industry at a time where people are starting to challenge a lot of the standards and barriers that have been set, and I hope to see them all improve in the near future.

LD: What is your number one bucket list item?

IC: I’d really like to work internationally, and hopefully get to collaborate in a language other than English. I’ve had a very big fascination with languages since I was a kid, and a big thing I’ve been wanting to do for a while now is learn all of the romance languages. Spanish is actually my first language, and I didn’t learn English until I started elementary school. I was quite proficient in French by the time I graduated high school thanks to some amazing teachers, which has made understanding Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian a bit easier. I still only consider myself bilingual, but I’d like to become a polyglot at some point in my future.

LD: Has the pandemic changed how you view your work or the industry?

IC: I’ve definitely been reminded how crucial an audience is to live art. What good are the questions that your work poses if there’s no one there to answer them? Seeing artists adapt and create work to present in non-traditional spaces such as the outdoors or online taught me so much about how dedicated storytellers are in presenting their work, no matter how difficult. My thoughts aside, I learned that you need a good camera and a strong internet connection if you’re streaming your work. Designing for an in-person audience and designing for an audience that’s watching via Vimeo or Facebook are two different things.

Isaac Castillo

Meet the other scholarship recipients here.