Donor Wall Concept

Taking on the challenge to design a custom brand statement wall for Imperial Theater. The update for the centrepiece donor wall at the entry to the Imperial Theater needed to reflect the venue’s values and mandate.

Values:
- We value our building and are committed to preserving and promoting its history and beauty for generations to come.
- We provide a quality entertainment experience to enrich and engage a wide-ranging audience.
- We value our people and strive to create an atmosphere of collaboration, teamwork and excellence for our staff, stakeholders and our performers.

Mandate:
To enrich the community by providing a professional quality, multi-purpose facility; To engage audiences through world-class entertainment experiences;
To encourage (inspire) the presentation of local productions and the development of the arts;

Furthermore, the design needed to:
- Be flexible, adaptable to the addition of names
- Be inviting, stimulating, and fit in with the existing aesthetics of the theater.
- Be of high quality, appropriate with originality of the artist’s work
- Be durable, with little maintenance requirements and in line with basic safety considerations 

The Story Behind the Concept
Masquerades have been a part of human celebration, a public festivity, for hundreds of years. Initially, in the 15th century, they were carnivals celebrating marriages of royal families. Later on, in Renaissance Italy, masques truly gained their momentum as an art form. This is where masquerades flourished and became the town’s pleasure activity, bringing people together in surprise and awe. The theater has much the same role in uniting, entertaining, surprising and culturally enriching people’s lives. Through this unique donor wall, the Imperial Theater will reunite with its historic Renaissance architecture.
Much like the classic symbols of Sock and Buskin, the donors are the support behind the arts. This will have a literal side to it as well: I will work in collaboration with the top donors to create masques from their faces and decorate them to add intricate details, thus giving them a Renaissance flavor. With draped satin behind them, adding to the drama of the masques, the artwork will be showcased in elaborate frames just like lavish interiors in Medici castles. All other donor names will be framed as lists in similar style frames. To show the tiers of their support, the size of the writing will vary accordingly. The names will be crafted in a custom font, simulating the royal Medici times, while being easy to replicate. The paper will look aged to evoke the feel of an ancient manuscript. Space will be left for new frames with donors to be added. 

NOTE: This concept intentionally allows for a wide latitude of flexibility, including options for depth changes for frames’ positioning.