The art of scenic design is a craft as old as the theatre itself. Painted cloths, gauze and scenery complete the illusion to which we attend so freely. However, with the advent of technologies, the theatrical experience, which essentially has a responsibility to transport us into other worlds, has seen new and often unsatisfying ways of conjuring this magical immersion.

Rod Clarke and Stella Ginsberg are artists who have been constructing and executing the specific craft of the scenic artist for several decades. Their bespoke and alluring art has given dimension, atmosphere and life to stage settings in a most unique and hypnotic manner. It is an art form that is at some risk however, as a new generation of designers begin to explore other avenues of invention to tell their stories.

Their craft was inherited from ‘old hands’ who generously and responsibly passed on their knowledge of constructing huge canvases. This ensured a dying art was kept alive so that it could continue to enhance precious storytelling.

Their work has been experienced and applauded across a range of disciplines and stages - Opera Australia, Bell Shakespeare, Bangarra Dance Theatre, The Elizabethan Theatre Trust, The West Australian Ballet Company, Jupiter’s Casino and commercial musicals including Love Never Dies and South Pacific; they’ve worked with artists Charles Blackman and Sidney Nolan; and performers such as Crowded House and magician Joe Labero.

Clarke and Ginsberg set up their own studio and theatrical business, Scenografic Studios, in the 1980s. Their headquarters in Newtown quickly became a location of enormous creativity and hive of activity as the couple and their staff were enlisted to prepare and paint scenery for a vast range of entertainments - pop concerts, operas, plays, dance and musicals.

Their talent and experience preserving and celebrating this theatrical craft is to be applauded. Stella and Rod have keenly accepted the challenge of translating an idea on paper to a spellbinding realisation of dramatic effect on the stage. They have completed a magical experience for all of us who have ever sat in a theatre.

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