Student's theater experience sewn together by accessibility and functionality
Matthew Sluka
Many costumes used in theater performances the last couple years at RIT were stitched and designed by the steady hands of Emily Ohl, a graduating industrial design senior.
Whether she’s sewing costumes for an RIT performance or building prototypes in the classroom, accessibility and functionality are the threads that define the work of Emily Ohl ’26 (industrial design).
Ohl, who is Deaf, discovered the Department of Performing Arts at RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) during her first week as a freshman. After walking into the costume shop and expressing her interest in sewing and costume design, she was hired on the spot.
“I wanted to work for NTID Theatre because I saw dress forms and sewing,” Ohl said. “I love working with NTID Theatre because I love our diverse Deaf experience and I love being in a Deaf world. The environment is unlike anything I have ever experienced — or likely will ever experience elsewhere.”
In fall 2024, she designed a full production, “Concord Floral,” for RIT’s School of Performing Arts. She sewed or sourced every costume herself — a demanding undertaking that earned her second place in costume design at the American College Theater Festival.
Scott Hamilton
One of Ohl's costumes made for the RIT performance of "Concord Floral."
Last fall, Ohl earned first place at the festival for her costume designs for the NTID production, “The 39 Steps.” She also received the organization’s BOLD Award for her work in accessibility and diversity.
Outside the costume shop, Ohl conducted research with Associate Professor Melissa Dawson, industrial design undergraduate program director, to design transparent masks that allow for lipreading while meeting N95 filtration standards. She also served as an Autodesk student ambassador at RIT, teaching others how to use the company’s design software, and co-founded Patchwork and Poetry. The design and poetry business sells her and her partner’s original designs (bags, clothing, and sewn goods) as well as prints of art and poetry.
Matthew Sluka
Some of Ohl's wearable designs for "The 39 Steps."
Ohl said one of the reasons she chose to attend, and thrived at, RIT was its many accessibility resources.
“As a Deaf person, I have never felt more welcomed and supported than I did within the Deaf community at RIT and throughout the Rochester area,” she said. “For the first time in my life, every class was fully accessible to me in ways my education never was before.”
After graduation, Ohl will be doing more costume design contract work for NTID (“CLUE”) and RIT (“Orlando”), as well as downtown Rochester’s Blackfriars Theatre (“Pump Boys and Dinettes”).
