Congratulations to set and costume designer Desmond Heeley, who received a USITT Award for lifetime contribution to the performing arts community, March 22. The USITT honor was given at the organization's 37th Annual Conference and Stage Expo held in Pittsburgh, PA. Heeley, who taught for several years at New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts, designed 34 productions at Canada's Stratford Festival, including a Hamlet that opened their Festival Theatre in 1957. His most recent work was this year's Camelot. Heeley has worked on Broadway and for such companies as the National Ballet of Canada, Houston Ballet and English National Opera. He also designed sets and costumes for MN's Guthrie Theatre's 1978 show, Teibele And Her Demon.

The Stratford Festival will offer a special exhibit of Heeley's career, "The Theatre Alchemy Of Desmond Heeley: Dross Into Gold" at the Gallery, June 3-Nov. 9.

--By David Lefkowitz