Arthur Wilson Named as Recipient of 2025 Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship

The Burry Fredrik Foundation has named costume and scenic designer Arthur Wilson as the recipient of the 2025 Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship and its $10,000 award.
 
The Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship was established in 2017 to help launch the careers of graduates from David Geffen School of Drama’s Design program. Each year, the faculty selects one graduating scenic, costume, lighting, projection, or sound designer as the Burry Fredrik Design Fellow, who receives a cash award. 
 
Arthur Wilson, a Southern California native, graduated from California State University, Fullerton, with a double bachelor's degree in music (opera singing) and theater. As an undergrad he pursued an emphasis in musical theater and opera performance. He also worked in the costume shop and developed a love for design. Between undergraduate and graduate school, he continued performing with local opera companies and orchestras, cultivating his creativity while also assisting on various costume and set design projects with local designers. Costume design credits include Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members, upcoming this spring at Yale Rep; Cactus Queen and Uncle Vanya (Geffen School). Associate costume design: Eden (Yale Rep); assistant costume design: Falcon Girls (Yale Rep), Candide (Glimmerglass Opera), Marys Seacole (Geffen School), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Yale Rep), Emma: The Musical (Ensemble Theater Company). Assistant Set Design: Clueless: The Musical (West End), Harvey (Laguna Playhouse), and Skylight (Chance Theater).
 
“We are delighted to welcome Arthur Wilson to the growing ranks of Burry Fredrik Design Fellows from David Geffen School of Drama,” said Barbara L. Pearce, Chair of the Foundation. “We are proud to honor Burry’s legacy by supporting the work of David Geffen School of Drama designers and providing opportunities for all of this year’s talented graduate designers at theaters in Connecticut.”
 
“I am very moved to have been chosen by my faculty for this incredible honor. The opportunity to study at David Geffen School of Drama, and to be in the same room and learn from such innovative and influential designers, has been an absolute dream come true,” Arthur Wilson said. “I am truly grateful for the time here to find myself and my voice as an artist. The Burry Fredrik Fellowship is truly the cherry on top of an incredible three years that I will carry with me forever. I am deeply grateful to the Foundation for their generosity and support, and I look forward to meeting and collaborating with members of the Connecticut theater community.”
 
In addition, the Burry Fredrik Foundation is committed to supporting the careers of all graduates of the Design Program of the David Geffen School of Drama. For a period of two years following their graduation (starting July 1 and ending June 30 two years hence), when a graduate of the Geffen School Design Program is hired and accepts work as a designer at any of Connecticut’s professional producing theaters, for their first production at the theater, the Burry Fredrik Foundation will award that theater a grant in an amount equal to the customary and usual fee paid to the graduate for their design. 
 
In 2024, the Burry Fredrik Foundation underwrote a record 15 designer fees for productions at Collective Consciousness Theatre, Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, Hartford Stage Company, Playhouse Theatre Group, and TheaterWorks Hartford.
 
“The incredible generosity of the Burry Fredrik Foundation provides crucial financial support to our students as they begin to make their way in the world after graduation,” said Design Program Co-Chairs Riccardo Hernández and Toni-Leslie James. “We are grateful for the Foundation’s visionary support of our entire class of graduating designer which provides them with opportunities to showcase their artistry at theaters throughout Connecticut.”
 
Previous recipients of the Burry Fredrik Fellowship are set designer Claire DeLiso, 2017; sound designer Frederick Kennedy, 2018; set designer Stephanie Osin Cohen, 2019; lighting designer Evan C. Anderson, 2020; and projection designer Camilla Tassi, 2022; scenic designer Marcelo Martínez García, 2023; scenic designer Omid Akbari, 2024.
 
A theater trailblazer, Tony Award-winning producer and Broadway director and stage manager, Burry Fredrik established the Burry Fredrik Foundation to promote the development of new work and the fiscal health of professional theaters in Connecticut. To fulfill its mission, the Foundation provides support for developing new works and audiences for Connecticut professional producing theaters with national import and fosters the development of young theater designers.