Naoko Skala

Naoko Skala is a scenic designer, scenic artist, props artisan, and educator who was raised in Japan. She joined The College of Wooster as an Assistant Professor of Scenic Design in the Fall of 2020.

Recently, she received a USITT Herbert D. Greggs Merit Award of Outstanding Article for “Introducing Joruri Puppetry” (Winter 2023) and “Experiencing the Japanese Nohgaku Theatre” (Winter 2022), published in Theatre Design and Technology (TD&T).

She has taught courses in Scenic & Properties Design, Stagecraft and Scenic Art, Digital Media Design, Puppetry & Mask Design, Drawing and Rendering, Foundations of Theatrical Design, Asian Theatre: From South to East, and has advised Independent Studies.

Formerly, Naoko worked as an Assistant Professor of Practice in Scenic and Properties Design and Technology at Northern Arizona University and as a properties coordinator at Arizona Opera. As a faculty associate, she also taught a Scene Painting class at Arizona State University. She worked as a freelance scene designer, scenic artist, and props artisan in Mankato, MN, Hilton Head, SC, and Phoenix, AZ.

Naoko received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Scene Design from Minnesota State University, Mankato.  She also received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre from Emporia State University, Kansas, and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Japanese Literature from Sagami Women’s University in Japan.

Her creative interests are scenic design, scene painting, props, computer-aided drafting (CAD), graphic design, motion graphics, 3D printing, painting, sculpture, English Literature, and Japanese literature.