Culture & Entertainment Notebook: Rhonda Weller-Stilson: Talking, teaching design for 18 years

Art and theatre have been part of Rhonda Weller-Stilson's "natural career flow" for nearly two decades. An Ohio native and Southeast Missouri State University graduate, she is now dean of the College of Arts and Media at Southeast, overseeing what she loves.

Her most recent accolade was being awarded the 2018 Otto F. Dingeldein Award on Feb. 22 by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, something she never thought she would win, Weller-Stilson said. The award honors individuals whose artistic achievements have made a considerable impact on the cultural enrichment of the Cape Girardeau community, according to director of the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri Sara Steffens.

Steffens said by email Weller-Stilson has done "tremendous things" within Southeast Missouri.

"She has worked to create and implement the yearly university arts festival, an event that brings together artists and community members together," Steffens said. "Through her hard work, the Southeast Missouri University theater and dance department provides impressive, quality, programming to our community."

Steffens added Weller-Stilson was "the perfect nominee" to receive the Otto F. Dingeldein Award.

KASSI JACKSON ~ kjackson@semissourian.com Rhonda C. Weller-Stilson stands for a portrait in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus Thursday, March 7, 2019, in Cape Girardeau.

"Having been the chair of that organization before, and having been on the other end where you're picking who it is, that made it even more special," Weller-Stilson said of the honor.

Weller-Stilson said one of her strengths is "seeing the strength in others." When tackling a project, such as the River Campus Summer Arts Festival, she doesn't accomplish it on her own. The festival is her favorite undertaking because it brings all of the arts together, she said. This summer, the festival turns six years old.

And no matter the direction of the conversation, Weller-Stilson will jump back to the River Campus. Her passion for her job is obvious. She still enjoys seeing her students grow and learn to love the arts.

Even in her current role, Weller-Stilson has her hands full. She enjoys producing and continues to stay involved as much as possible with the Summer Arts Festival.

"Everything we do, it's a group," Weller-Stilson said. "Even from when I started on the main campus and was doing costumes and scenery in Rose (Theatre) ... I'm not just saying it to try to be humble; it really is a team."

She even helps with props, picking up whatever the need is, she said. And she's already in the beginning stages of set design for the production of "Newsies" debuting at this year's Summer Arts Festival, keeping with her personal dedication to design at least one show a year.

She also designs costumes for dance concerts.

"I try to keep my hands in it," Weller-Stilson said. "I do a lot of the behind-the-scenes kind of thing."

Weller-Stilson loved working with her costume and set design students, she said. The last class Weller-Stilson taught before assuming her current position was costume design.

"What's fun when you teach something like theatre appreciation, is you meet people who aren't in this discipline," she said. "You get to get them excited about it, and sometimes they'll become majors."

She loves talking about design, and she loves teaching design, she said enthusiastically.

When she first arrived at Southeast after graduating from Cape Girardeau Public High School, she had initial hopes of pursuing a math major, following in the footsteps of her father, an electrical engineer. But after taking an Introduction to Theatre Appreciation class and a drawing class at Southeast, she said, it was "quite clear" she needed to go with her passion: art and theatre.

Weller-Stilson said everyone at Southeast knows she loves teaching and was "perfectly happy" assisting in the costume shop and the scene shop before the promotion. But she described herself as very much a reluctant leader, especially when she was asked to be chair of the department.

She didn't want to do that, she said.

"And then when I was asked to be the director; that was not my goal," Weller-Stilson said. "I never had a goal of being an administrator. It just happened."

Weller-Stilson said she has no goal to be anything different than what she is today. She is "perfectly happy" being the dean, adding she adores the students at Southeast.

"You just get this energy from them. I have a 17-year-old who is getting ready to go into college," she said. "I'm around young people all the time, and I love that. That's the most exciting part."

She said this is the longest she has ever lived anywhere, "and it has flown by."

jhartwig@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632

Upcoming season finales to keep an eye on

• Monday | "Black Lightning," Season 2, 9 p.m. (The CW)
• Wednesday | "All American," Season 1, 9 p.m. (The CW), The World's Best, Season 1, 9 p.m. (CBS)
• March 28 | "Legacies," Season 1, 9 p.m. (The CW)
• April 1 | "Magnum P.I.," Season 1, 9 p.m. (CBS)
• April 5 | "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," Series Finale, 8 p.m. (The CW)
• April 9 | "Splitting Up Together," Season 2, 9:30 p.m. (ABC)
• April 11 | "FAM," Season 1, 9:30 p.m. (CBS)
• April 14 | "God Friended Me," Season 1 8 p.m. (CBS)
• April 21 | "Madam Secretary," Season 5, 10 p.m. (CBS)
• April 22 | "The Neighborhood," Season 1, 8 p.m. (CBS)

-- from Entertainment Weekly

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