The Willa Kim Costume Design Scholarship program is no longer accepting applications for the 2026 round.

Deadline: Friday, November 21, 2025 at 10:59pm ET. Please note the time zone.

 

Overview Program Description TIMELINE Application Information Recipients

 

 

Recipients

 
2025 Recipients

Seo Yun (they/she/he) is a South Korean costume and scenic designer, visual artist, and craftsperson based in New York, currently pursuing a BFA at NYU Tisch. They are deeply inspired by the surreal, grotesque, and avant garde (or Weird Gross Gay Art) and strive to create art of and for the fringe, exploring the liminality of queerness and immigration. They are passionate about serendipitous transdisciplinary collaboration across fields and mediums, bridging performance art, installation art, and traditional theatre. https://seowonyun.myportfolio.com.

 

 

Sveta Moroz is a costume designer currently pursuing her MFA at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University. Her artistic journey began in Russia and continues in the United States, shaped by classical training and lived experience. In 2022, she left Russia in protest of the war and rising political repression, arriving in the U.S. as an immigrant determined to rebuild both life and creative practice. Sveta studied costume design at the Moscow Art Theater School under Eleanora Maklakova, who taught her the foundations of historical research and a deep sensitivity to color, fabric, and form. Her internship at museums in Saint Petersburg, including the Hermitage, grounded her design practice in material history. Since relocating, she has worked extensively in the not-for-profit theatre field, designing four productions with The Imaginists, a socially engaged experimental company in California. That work reinforced her belief in theatre as a space for inclusion, urgency, and transformation. Her design process almost always begins with color - an intuitive and emotional anchor that guides her through silhouette, fabric, and texture. Sveta sees costume as a bridge between the historical and the contemporary, creating designs that hold meaning, provoke feeling, and bring the story to life. Website: svetamoroz.com

2024 Recipients

Camilla Carrasco (she/her) is a Latina interdisciplinary artist born and raised in Miami, Florida. She explores the realms of fashion, costume design, and fine arts. Carrasco is a Drama major in the Production & Design studio at New York University Tisch School of the Arts focusing on Costume Design. Prior to studying at NYU, she completed a Foundation Diploma in Fashion & Textiles at Central Saint Martins in London, UK.

Lana Huong, a Vietnamese-American artist and fashion designer hailing from San Jose, California, now calls New York home as she passionately blends storytelling with her creative designs. Her current worldbuilding project, "Pride and Power, Tales of Ocellus," is a collaborative effort with artists encompassing an original narrative, cast of characters, screenplay, music, set, and prop designs. Lana's childhood fascination with fantasy literature and cinema flourished during the 2020 quarantine, where she self-taught sewing and pattern drafting via online tutorials. Embracing sustainability, Lana repurposed materials to bring her fantastical visions to life in both her artwork and clothing. Her unique pieces bridge the gap between fantasy and fashion, offering a glimpse into her vivid imagination. Explore Lana's captivating world at lanahuong.com, where her creations invite you to embark on a journey through her creative universe.

 

2023 Recipients

Claudia Brownlee (Pittsburgh, PA) is a costume designer from the Washington Metropolitan area. She has worked as a freelance costume designer in the past at NU-World Contemporary Danse Theatre and Pittsburgh Public Theater. Currently, she is pursuing an M.F.A. in Costume Design from Carnegie Mellon School of Drama ('23). As an artist, Claudia is interested in telling diverse stories bridging cultural gaps and finding ecological design methods for costume designers. Claudia holds an associate's degree in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and a B.A. in Theater from the University of Maryland College Park.

Kaʻiukapu Baker (Honolulu, HI) is a Native Hawaiian theatre artist from Kahaluʻu, Oʻahu. Raised in the practice of Hana Keaka, she has performed with Ka Hālau Hana Keaka since 2004. Ka'iukapu is currently pursing a MFA in Hawaiian Theatre at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, where she performed in kaipulaumakaniolono's nationally acclaimed He Leo Aloha and the world premiere and New York tour of Haili'ōpua Baker's 'Au'a 'Ia: Holding On. Kaʻiukapu has designed costumes for Holly Chung's ʻŌhiʻa Lehua, Ākea Kahikina's Hoʻoilina, Iāsona Kaper's Ka 'Umikūmālua o nā Pō, and Reiko Ho's devised piece Chinee, Japanese, All Mix Up. Kaʻiukapu is passionate about collaboration in the design process and nurturing relationships with fellow Kanaka Maoli artists in her community.

Lia Wallfish (Chicago, IL) is a Jewish-Israeli costume designer and painter. Born in Israel, Lia moved to the United States after completion of her military service to pursue her craft. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theater at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). She is currently based in Chicago, Illinois where she is a third year student in the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at Northwestern University. In her art, Lia hopes to challenge conventions she experienced growing up in Israel and is devoted to telling stories that inspire inclusion and healing.

2020 Recipient
Jeanna DiPaolo (Harrison, NY) is an upcoming senior at SUNY Purchase college, studying for a BFA in Costume Design. She grew up in Upstate New York, Averill Park. As a child she remembers sitting wide-eyed next to her Grandma and Dad watching old Hollywood films. The dazzling costumes of Orry- Kelly, Edith Head, and Travis Banton mesmerized her. She began sewing outfits for her dolls and gradually began designing and making costumes for all her school plays. The combination and interaction of art, history, fashion, and human behavior influences every character she designs.
2019 Recipients
Regan A. McKay (Wittenberg, WI) began her first year at San Diego State University (SDSU) where she will pursue a Masters of Fine Arts in Costume Design. “Costume design is the only area of entertainment design that involves such intimate and collaborative work with performers, and the designer’s role in fostering this relationship is essential,” said McKay on her approach to costume design. McKay will supplement her curriculum at SDSU by taking additional noncredit courses in life drawing and painting over the course of her first two semesters.
Stella Katz (Brooklyn, NY) is pursuing her Bachelors in Theatre Arts Design & Technology with a Concentration in Costume Design at the State University of New Paltz (SUNY). “I love imperfection and humanness in costume. Costume is not supposed to be perfect but should be curated in a way where everything has purpose. I want to fine tune my skills so I can better communicate the way I understand characters and people,” said Katz. To that end, she will participate in a variety of courses at The Art Students League in New York, NY, including fashion illustration, life drawing, gesture drawing, and anatomy and drawing.
Victoria Nicolette Gist (Houston, TX) is pursuing her Masters of Fine Arts with a focus in Costume Design at the University of Houston. ”I am a storyteller; one who creates a tangible, visual bridge for the audience into the world that the director has envisioned. Collaboration is key, and creativity is everything,” said Gist. With that in mind, she will bolster her training in figure drawing and painting in acrylics, watercolors and oil, becoming more skilled in working in different media and more adept at conveying her artistic vision on paper. As a recipient of the Scholarship, Gist will study at the Art League Houston (ALH), which offers specified coursework for artists at various stages in their training.
2020 Recipients



2020 Recipients
2020 Recipients
2020 Recipients
2019 Recipients