This summer (June–August 2026), Bard SummerScape returns with a vibrant season of dance, theater, opera, music, and the beloved Spiegeltent. Presented by the Fisher Center at Bard, this celebrated multi-arts festival takes place in person on Bard’s idyllic 1,000-acre campus, featuring performances in the stunning Frank Gehry-designed performing arts center.

Props Artisans are part of the Props team in the Production Department, and will support the creation, tracking, and coordination of props. They report to the Props Supervisor and work closely with other production team members.

This is a seasonal position from June 1 through July 24, non-exempt, paid hourly at a rate range of $20–23 per hour, depending on experience. Hours will average 35–40 hours/week, with potential for overtime.

This position requires local residence during the dates listed above. Housing is provided as needed, beginning one day prior to the employment start date and ending at 10am on the day after the employment end date, and includes a single bedroom and shared amenities. Employees will have access to three (3) meals per weekday and two (2) meals per weekend day on campus during the residency period. Should campus dining agreements or options change from the time of the agreement, an equivalent per diem will be provided.

Please note that room and board arrangements may differ for current Bard College students.

Maintain a safe, healthy, and inclusive workplace at all times.

Create, construct, paint, and modify props as directed by the Props Supervisor.

Purchase or rent props as directed by the Props Supervisor.

Attend rehearsals as needed.

Problem solve and implement special effects elements, in consultation with the Props Supervisor.

Attend all technical rehearsals and performances as a member of the props run crew.

Maintain, touch up, and repair props during the rehearsal process as well as during the show’s run.

Participate in all prop-related work calls.

Create and maintain props paperwork as needed.

Duties as assigned by the Props Supervisor.

Experience working in a professional props or scene shop.

Experience working on a professional props run crew.

Knowledge of and experience with any of the following areas: scenic carpentry, fine carpentry, furniture construction, scenic painting, hand and machine stitching, upholstery, mold making & casting, and paper goods graphics & construction.

Ability to read, interpret, and build from designer drawings.

Ability to work in an organized, self-directed, and detailed manner.

Ability to communicate clearly and effectively.

Ability to work evenings, weekends, and holidays, as determined by the production schedule.

Ability to climb stairs and ladders.

Ability to move and lift up to 50lbs.

Ability to safely use hand and power tools.

Ability to push, pull, hang, reach, lean and balance.

Ability to stand or sit for extended periods of time.

Ability to remain calm during high-pressure backstage situations.

Ability to work while wearing appropriate PPE for the task at hand.

Successful candidates possess strong communication skills and a keen attention to detail. They are collaborative, self-motivated, and bring a positive, can-do attitude!

Experience welding.

Experience working with stage arms.

Regularly exposed to vibrations and noises from machinery.

Occasionally works at heights above 6 feet.

Frequently works in show conditions with theatrical and atmospheric elements including but not limited to: haze, strobes, dim lights, loud sounds, dry ice and more.

Bard’s beautiful 1,000-acre campus is situated on the east bank of the Hudson River in Annandale-on Hudson, New York. Community life is defined by numerous cultural and recreational opportunities in the surrounding historic Hudson River Valley and by proximity to New York City. Nearby towns and villages include Rhinebeck, Tivoli, and Red Hook, New York.

Applications for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

For any access-related requests, questions, or issues with the application form, please contact [email protected].

Bard College is an equal opportunity employer and we welcome applications from those who contribute to our diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, mental or physical disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, familial status, veteran status, or genetic information. Bard is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for all individuals in employment practices, services, programs, and activities.

The Fisher Center is a premier professional performing arts center and a hub for research and education that demonstrates Bard College’s commitment to the performing arts as a cultural and educational necessity. To support artists, students, and audiences in the examination of artistic ideas, the Fisher Center develops, produces, and presents performing arts across disciplines through new productions and context-rich programs that challenge and inspire.

Home is the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, designed by Frank Gehry and located on the campus of Bard College in New York’s Hudson Valley. This world-class theater building will be complemented by a new studio building designed by Maya Lin, scheduled to open in 2026. More than 200 events and 50,000 visitors are hosted at the Fisher Center each year, and over 300 professional artists are employed annually. As a powerful catalyst of art-making regionally, nationally, and worldwide, the Fisher Center produces 8 to 10 major new works in various disciplines every year. The Fisher Center offers outstanding programs to many communities, including the students and faculty of Bard College, and audiences in the Hudson Valley, New York City, across the country, and around the world. Building on a 165-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders.

The Fisher Center was born from the Bard Music Festival, founded in 1990, which, for the first 13 years of its existence, occupied several spaces on campus, including a large tent. Each summer, the Music Festival focuses on the life, work, and influences of one composer, promoting new ways of understanding and presenting the history of music to a contemporary audience. When the Fisher Center and its two theaters opened in 2003, the summer festival expanded to include a fully staged opera, as well as theater and dance performances. The highly acclaimed opera program brings unjustly neglected works to the stage in major productions—often making their US debuts.

Through Fisher Center LAB, the Center’s acclaimed residency and commissioning program, artists are provided with custom-made support toward their innovative projects and their work has been seen in over 100 communities around the world. Resident choreographer Pam Tanowitz’s 2018 Four Quartets was recognized as “the greatest creation of dance theater so far this century” by The New York Times. In 2019, the Fisher Center won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical for Daniel Fish’s production of Oklahoma!, which began life in 2007 as an undergraduate production at Bard and was produced professionally by the Fisher Center in 2015 before transferring to New York City. Illinoise, a 2023 Fisher Center world premiere from artists Sufjan Stevens, Justin Peck, and Jackie Sibblies Drury, was recognized with a Tony Award for Best Choreography following its tour and transfer to Broadway.

The Fisher Center is home to several of Bard’s academic programs in the performing arts. Year-round, it hosts performances by the undergraduate Dance Program and Theater and Performance Program; the US-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music; The Orchestra Now (TŌN), a Bard graduate program that is training the next generation of classical-music ambassadors; and students at the Bard Conservatory, the first (and so far only) conservatory to require all its students to pursue a bachelor of arts degree in a field other than music in addition to their specialized music studies. As a hybrid institution, the Fisher Center brings together professional and academic art-making of the highest caliber, where student and professional artists work side by side, learning from each other and informing one another’s practices.

Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City. With the addition of the Montgomery Place estate, Bard’s campus consists of nearly 1,000 park-like acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with majors in nearly 40 academic programs, graduate degrees in 11 programs, nine early colleges, and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 165-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to liberal education. The undergraduate program at our main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit bard.edu.