Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1529398
MOTIONPICTUREC O S T U M E R S .O R G 15 "Valerie and I were at a party for Kenn Smiley and we were talking about how important it was to create a proper training program. By the birthday cake, we agreed to create a path to membership. We hardly knew one another then and we just kept in touch. Nickolaus Brown [Local 705 President 2015-2021] suggested we start a commiee. Valerie had developed a program that she pitched to the Costume Designers Guild. I was developing a class designed to create a beer understanding of the job. This is very important to me and what I teach. There is fashion, which is commerce; and there is costume, which is what everyone wears, and what I see as storytelling. Everyone who puts on a shirt is telling something about themselves. And then there are filmmakers, which is what we are. The job is filmmaking. I feel that it is important to train Costumers to be the best filmmakers on a team of great filmmakers." With Garland's archiving experience and museum collections training, she was able to arrange programming for the Centennial Celebration of Western Costume at Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2012. "We told the 'History of the World According to Western Costume.'" Our costume pageant featured an eclectic group of models, from Dana Ludlow to Stacy Tyson, Carmen Lozano, Kurt Cox, and many other 705 members, some of our interns and actor friends. We also had a panel with supervisors, costume designers, Eddie [Marks], and me. It was quite a moment to have the museum honor our artists, our costumes, and our legacy." Aer leaving Western, Garland did an exhibition of "100 Years of Swarovski in the Art of Performance" for Swarovski Crystal with Michael Schmidt. The gallery space was designed by Derrick McLane, the Tony Award-winning Set Designer from Moulin Rouge! "We did a full- size mannequin covered in crystal. It was glamorous and fun." The exhibit featured costume pieces throughout the last century, including Satine's corset from Moulin Rouge! and costumes designed by Bob Mackie, Sandy Powell, and Arianne Phillips. The chandelier for the room was Katy Perry in her Met Gala dress. "It is important to me that costume is recognized on the same level as painting and sculpture or any other art that you see in a museum." Garland was honored to receive the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award, saying, "The best thing that happened was geing the Lifetime Achievement from the union. It was overwhelming. I was really touched and felt it had a lot to do with the work of the commiees and of course, Valerie. It's just nice to be included with the group of people who have been honored in the past." Throughout her time, Garland has commended the art of others in this industry and did no differently in her acceptance speech. "My speech was about the honor of working with so many great artists… Mauricio Osorio, Jose Bello, Jack Kasbarian, Mary Ellen Fields, and all those artists and inventors, it was just amazing. And now museums call me to ask for recommendations for people from our community to do museum work! It is the greatest thing to walk into a gallery and see a very rare costume on a mannequin with a perfect hat designed by Harry Rotz and a period-shirt recreation by Jose Bello. I love seeing our work in a museum honored like that. Movie work is museum work." Bobi Garland has built a legacy of upliing the stories of others and still works as an educator. Local 705 members can look forward to future classes with Garland through the LAAFA/EIDO partnership. "I teach at Woodbury and I've taught at Otis, and I do a lot of lectures. The field has changed dramatically since I started in the late '90s. I've been lucky to have spent so much time thinking about how to communicate through textiles and accessories. Understanding history through costume makes for a colorful world. Education is my contribution. I don't want anyone to miss out because, as you well know, Costumers have all the fun." (Above) Bobi with Michael Jackson glove and fedora at the "100 Years of Swarovski in the Art of Performance" exhibition; (Right) Katy Perry Met Gala dress chandelier at the Swarovski exhibit.