Hi! It's great to meet you!
Discover the story behind my design and what makes my work unique!
I'm Jami Kratz!
As an energetic and ambitious scenic designer, carpenter, and painter, I am passionate about bringing stories to life through theatre. I am inspired by the first and greatest designer and strive to reflect Him in all my work. I enjoy all aspects of the scenic design process from drafting and designing to building and painting. I believe in the importance of attention to detail and apply this intentionality to every project I work on. Collaboration is at the heart of my process, whether I'm executing my own vision or contributing to others'. I am committed to the transformative power of theatre and its ability to inspire audiences, and I strive to contribute to that impact through my work.
How It All Started
I started acting in theatre when I was 7 years old, and I absolutely fell in love with it. It wasn't until I was a sophomore in high school that I took a class called "Production & Design I". This was the class that covered the technical aspect of theatre and where I was introduced to scenic design for the first time. It was this class that brought me over to the "dark side" of theatre, as many call it.
My high school theatre teacher was incredible trusting and after seeing my passion for designing and building, he put me in charge of designing and building the bar for our spring production of Sister Act. Looking back, I am still baffled as to why he gave me such freedom and responsibility, but I am so grateful he did. I made an excessive number of mistakes along the way and the final product had to be weighted down by sand bags so it wouldn't fall over during the production! Despite this, however, he was incredibly supportive and even went so far as to defend my design when a fellow student in the class made fun of how poorly it was built. From this experience I learned so much, and later that year when Covid hit, I took on a new building project to create a set of patio furniture for my family. I still enjoy sitting out there and working on my designs for current projects today.
My senior year of high school, I scenic designed for our show Newsies and also took on many of the responsibilities of a technical director by teaching others in my class how to use different tools and build what I had designed. I then started scenic designing for my church's week long VBS, which is a type of kids day camp. When I started as a freshman at GCU, pursuing a degree in Theatre for Secondary Education, I immediately got involved in working in the scene shop and attempted to learn all I could. I picked up new carpentry skills, as well as welding and lighting, and collaborated with my professors and the technical director on how to obtain an opportunity to student design at GCU. My sophomore year, they asked me to design our black box production of 12 Angry Jurors. Then, I was selected to design for Ada & the Engine in my junior year on our main stage. I took my designs for this show to the Region 8 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival and won for the National Finalist Award for Theatrical Excellence in Scenic Design, as well as the Vectorworks Award for scenic design. As one of 8 regional scenic design winners, I went to compete at the national level in April of 2025.
Looking to the future, I aspire to be a technical director teacher at a high school and freelance scenic design on the side. I have a love for teaching my craft to students and empowering the next generation of designers. I also just simply enjoy working in the building of a theatre whether that is in scenic design, carpentry, painting, rigging, lighting, or props. I would love the opportunity to connect and collaborate with you in your theatre endeavors, so please fill out the contact me form below and I will be in touch!
My Inspiration
As a Christian, Christ is the inspiration behind all of my designs and work. As the first design and greatest designer, He designed the world with such intentionality, purpose, and detail, and put that same love into designing each of us and our individual lives. Scenic designing and carpentry brings me closer in my relationship with God, as He was a carpenter when He came to earth. I seek to reflect His character through the attention to detail I include in all of my designs and glorify Him through that. Sometimes when I am working on a project, I enjoy joking around with Him about how He didn't have power tools and had to do everything by hand when He lived on earth.
Since God created humor, I'm glad He understands my jokes :)