Sheila A. Hargett papers and costume design portfolios

Sheila Ann Hargett earned her B.A. at Southwest Texas State University in 1968 and her M.F.A. at Louisiana State University in 1971. She joined then SWT as an Instructor of Theatre in the fall of 1971. She has been involved with the Texas Educational Theatre Association (TETA).

Hargett has been Head of Costume Design/Technology at Texas State University for the past thirty five years having designed costumes for more than one hundred productions and supervised student designs for as many. She has designed regionally for The Dallas Shakespeare Festival, Southern Methodist University, Eastfield College, Texas Playwrights Theatre Company, Live Oak Theatre, Zilker Theatrical Productions, as well as for Texas State University. She has received three AMOCCO American College Theatre Awards for her work. Sheila's designs have been seen in several theatrical exhibits--DESIGNFEST (which she either chaired or co-chaired for 18 years) at the Texas Educational Theatre Association Conference; Design Southwest Showcase, several National USITT Expo Exhibitions; the 2003 International Prague Quadrennial Exhibit and World Stage Design in Toronto, Canada in 2005. Her designs for THE NEXT AMENDMENT have been chosen for the 2007 Prague Quadrennial Exhibit. In the Spring of 2006 Sheila won the Austin Critics Table Award for her costumes in THE ROVER. While primarily a costume designer, Sheila began her career as an actress and still occasionally "crosses the boards"--her favorite roles have been Mary Tyrone in A LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, Fraulein Schneider in CABARET with Larry Hovis, and Linda in DEATH OF A SALESMAN, also with our beloved Larry Hovis.

Texas State University was established by the 26th Legislature in 1899 as the Southwest Texas State Normal School; 313 pupils were enrolled in 1903-04, the first year classes were held.

The school name changed to Southwest Texas State Normal College in 1918, to Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1925, to Southwest Texas State College in 1959, to Southwest Texas State University in 1969, to Texas State University-San Marcos in 2003, and to Texas State University in 2013.