TPAC’s Costume Collection

The first thing the TPAC staff thought when asked if we’d like to take on tens of thousands of costume pieces? “I’m sorry ... come again?” Or something thereabouts. Strictly speaking, no one on staff at the TPAC is a costumer, seamstress, or really anything else that might be helpful when trying to take care of something so important.

Not to mention, there is absolutely zero space in the TPAC to safely store a costume collection of that size. While we immediately recognized the importance of taking on the collection and furthering our goal of making art attainable for all, the question remained: How on earth could we pull it off?

Let’s back up a bit. When the theatre department at the University of Tulsa came to an end, it left Crista Patrick — who had spent more than 15 years creating and collecting beautiful, handmade costumes for the many shows she helped to stage — with a question: What would become of her stunning collection? How could her incredible work live on and continue to contribute to the local theatre community?

That’s when Crista contacted the TPAC, which brings us back to, “How do we do that?” Luckily, the City of Tulsa helped out, providing a space big enough to house such a collection. Still, we didn’t feel completely comfortable taking on the huge task. That’s where two of the best costumers Tulsa has to offer came in.

Alice Wegley and Bruce Lewis have been integral to Tulsa theatre costuming. They’ve been working with community theatres for more than 30 years, doing everything from stage management work to backstage costume changes. At one point, Bruce began working with the Broken Arrow Playhouse. While there, he called Alice for help. “I almost killed you for that one,” she laughs, “I had to make 12 Mountie jackets in two days. I was hot gluing the poor actors into them on opening night.”

This dynamic duo has been on boards throughout the region, including Broken Arrow, Owasso, Bartlesville and the Oklahoma Community Theatre Association to name a few. High schools, elementary schools, they’ve curated costumes for just about everyone. But they don’t just curate, they’re also master seamstresses and, quite frankly, artisans in their own right.

Luckily, for the TPAC staff, many of us have had the absolute pleasure of working with these two over the years. And imagine our surprise when they offered to volunteer their valuable time to help us with the gargantuan task of organizing, cataloging and storing this vast collection.

Everything we have been able to do to live up to the incredible task Crista handed to us we owe to Alice and Bruce. Thanks to them, these pieces are being carefully cataloged to allow our local presenting partners to easily find what we have in stock for them to borrow. Jeremy Stevens, TPAC community engagement director and thick in this costuming endeavor says:

“The more detail we enter into the inventory system the better, because we can look them up. So, if someone is doing a show set in 1910, we can run a report in our system for garments from 1910. We would have no idea what should be categorized as what without the expertise of these two. … They identify everything down to the time period, type of clothing, and distinct attributes the layperson would just pass over. It’s making everything work so much better now and in the long run.”

Thanks to the work of many people, the TPAC Costume Collection is now up and running, allowing local theatre partners to rent costumes for free, which means more arts for all. And we could not have done it without some truly incredible help.

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