Jessica Gaffney

Philosophy and Focus: Ms. Gaffney has been a professional costume designer, costume technician, and educator for 30 years.  As a costume designer the most important aspect of her work is that it helps to tell the story and supports what the performers have to do on stage.  Ms. Gaffney enjoys reimagining the plays of William Shakespeare as part of a collaborative artistic team. 

Background: As an undergraduate student Ms. Gaffney began working as a work study student in the costume shop building costumes for the Theatre Departments productions.   As a freshman her favorite courses were art history and psychology, slowly over the course of her sophomore year she realized that costume design was a wonderful way to combine her interests in sewing, theatre, art history, and psychology.

Teaching: Ms. Gaffney aims to empower her students to be as hands on as humanly possible with the theatrical productions produced here at Radford University.  In her courses she teaches a variety of skills and lays out clear expectations so that her students can succeed both in the classroom and when applying their knowledge to productions or professional work outside the classroom.

Research/Scholarship/Creative Work: Ms. Gaffney has designed costumes for over eighty theatrical productions for a variety of Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and Regional Theatre companies. Favorite credits include costume designs for Cabaret, Next to Normal and Fun Home for the Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke, VA.  In addition to theatre Ms. Gaffney has served as costume designer and/or production designer for several award-winning film projects, having most recently designed the video Decades of Fashion for Reeds Jewelers. 

For more information about Jessica Gaffney, please open the tabs below. If you would like a digital copy of her complete CV, please contact her at jcgaffney@radford.edu.