EUGENE–Alexandra Bonds, a University of Oregon theater arts professor and costume designer for University Theatre, has been honored recently in a variety of ways by her professional peers in theater design and education.

Bonds’ costume designs for University Theatre’s Fall 1996 production of "Servant of Two Masters" have been selected for inclusion in the United States entry in the Prague Quadrennial 99, an international exhibit of the best theater designs from around the world. Her work will appear during June at the National Exposition Center in Prague, along with the work of 37 other American designers including Julie Taymor of "The Lion King."

This spring, Bonds was one of the featured speakers in the first R.L. Shep Symposium on Textiles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The symposium explored "Dress as Transformation: Creating Experience in Theater and Masquerade." She spoke in April on "Beijing Opera Costumes: The Communication of Character and Culture through Clothing."

In March, Bonds received the Herbert T. Greggs Award for Writing Excellence, including a cash stipend, in recognition of her outstanding article, "Beijing Opera Costumes: Discovering Meaning in the Costumes of Traditional Jingju." The article appeared in the Fall 1997 issue of Theatre Design and Technology, a publication of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology.

The University of Oregon acknowledged these professional awards by selecting Bonds this spring as a Richard A. Bray Faculty Fellow. This honor, which recognizes her outstanding contributions to the University of Oregon and its students as well as in her field of study, includes funding for future research projects.

Finally, Bonds will continue her research into Asian culture, costumes and clothing, thanks to her appointment to a group accompanying a Fulbright Foundation-sponsored fact-finding delegation to Thailand and Cambodia this summer.

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