Isa Cruz

For Theater and Dance Costume Shop Manager Lily Prentice ’10, storytelling is central to costume design.

Prentice began her journey with the arts in childhood, imagining storylines for the characters and creatures in her drawings. Growing up in a rural area, the movies and plays she watched led her to pursue theater and costume design.

“I remember when the Met Opera started broadcasting their live performances. That was a huge formative moment for me, seeing what was possible on stage,” Prentice said.

Her passion for costume design, along with her love for English and STEM classes, brought her to Bowdoin as an undergraduate. Prentice pursued a degree in visual arts and English while collaborating with other students on Masque & Gown productions.

Prentice’s diverse interests intertwine in her costuming work, and she cites literature as one of the biggest inspirations.

“I’ve always loved to read, so whatever I’m currently reading, fiction [or] nonfiction, I’m always going back to books,” Prentice said.

After years of living and working in New York, Prentice returned to Bowdoin amidst the pandemic as the theater and dance costume shop manager. Within her connection to New York’s performing arts community, Prentice emphasized her commitment to arts education in her career’s trajectory.

“I’d known for a long time that I wanted to aim for education,” Prentice said. “I worked … with a couple of nonprofits as a designer in New York with younger kids. And over the years of design projects, those were always my favorites, so I was like, ‘Well, all signs point to this.’”

While Prentice recounts the enthusiasm she felt when returning to Maine, she credits the interactions she shares with students as her favorite part of her work at Bowdoin.

“It’s … my favorite part and also the saddest part. I get to meet so many amazing students who come to the costume shop for their fittings or [as] student employees, and it is so amazing that new folks come every year, but then they graduate after four years,” Prentice said. “Working with everybody [and] seeing all their different pathways to the costume shop is really cool.… Everyone has a different array of things that they are interested in, and that leads them here for many different reasons.”

For Prentice, the exchange of knowledge in the arts is multidirectional. Her work in arts education influences her perspective on supporting young creatives entering a field that forces them to exercise self advocacy.

“I’ve learned a lot about my own self worth through working in a collaborative art form and learning things from my peers and from students,” Prentice said. “How I can help support folks…, [including] early-career costume designers, folks who are interested in working in costume shops or even another field. I understand how to navigate all of that wild stuff.”

Collaboration and community are at the heart of the performing arts for Prentice. As she adds finishing touches to the costumes for this weekend’s dance show, a new chapter begins for the performers.

“That sort of pre-production process ends when we start the technical rehearsals, but it feels like a whole new beginning because we’re seeing everything on stage in context for the first time,” Prentice said.

But while work for the costume shop comes to a close, their creations come to life on stage.

“I love the moment in fittings and then on stage when somebody puts on their look and we’ve made adjustments,” Prentice said. “That’s all part of the process…. I can see how our work is  helping their work.”