WHO AM I?
My name is Michael T. Rozell and I am a Scenic Artist. I was born in Rutland, Vermont a long long time ago and was raised in that region till I was 14 years old till my folks decided that they had to pick up and move to Florida. I was always drawing and coloring as a kid and had my fair share of drawings and paintings hung in the bank window in our little town. I guess I always wanted to be an artist.
I came from a rather poor family so I was unable to go to college and get an Art Degree. I would draw, paint and build things in my spare time and began getting small jobs doing wall murals and signs around town. I did this until I found myself unemployed and rather desperate. This was when I got my first break. A friend of mine knew a man named Bill Nassal who owned a Theming Company in Orlando and she arranged for us to meet. I showed him some photos of my work and he hired me and sent me out to meet a woman named Pam Price who was the Art Director on a huge faux finish and mural gig at Universal Studios. Pam and I hit it off and I worked at Nassal from 1996 till 2001 during which I learned the trade and got an education that I could never have received at any Art School. Pam, one of the best Scenic Artist on the planet taught me and I soaked it up. In 2002 I moved back to Vermont and worked at a scene shop called Adirondack Studios where I was a Scenic Artist on multiple projects including the set for Mary Poppins on Broadway which went on to win a Tony Award for best set design. I was very interested in the theater set game and applied for a Scenic Charge position a Northern Stage, a small theater in Vermont. I worked at N.S. for nearly 10 seasons and outgrew the little shop and the little theater....so...after over 100 sets, where to go from there?
As I sat there pondering my future I ran across Pam Price's email again and shot her a note saying hello. It had been a very long time since we last met but she answered right away and said that she was on a job in Wisconsin and that I needed to get out there ASAP! So I did and I re joined Nassal and Pam and worked for a few years there in Wisconsin as Nassal built and themed Google style campuses at a company called Epic Systems in Verona, Wisconsin. Then, in 2016, Pam started to think that she was due to build something of her own and leave the big company job she had for 27 years behind her. She was gonna take a leap and put all of her eggs in one basket and try to build her own Scenic Company and she asked me to do it with her...of course, facing uncertainty, possible financial disaster, and the great unknown...I said YES!
So here I am by Pam's side in Verona, Wisconsin trying to build a life and a career out of nothing but determination and hard stubborn work. It is hard, we have had success. The future looks bright and we are both in it till we either make it or die trying. So, take a look at my photos that represent a lot of years, a lot of paint, a lot of sweat and the hopes and dreams of a kid from Vermont that only ever wanted to be an artist.
I came from a rather poor family so I was unable to go to college and get an Art Degree. I would draw, paint and build things in my spare time and began getting small jobs doing wall murals and signs around town. I did this until I found myself unemployed and rather desperate. This was when I got my first break. A friend of mine knew a man named Bill Nassal who owned a Theming Company in Orlando and she arranged for us to meet. I showed him some photos of my work and he hired me and sent me out to meet a woman named Pam Price who was the Art Director on a huge faux finish and mural gig at Universal Studios. Pam and I hit it off and I worked at Nassal from 1996 till 2001 during which I learned the trade and got an education that I could never have received at any Art School. Pam, one of the best Scenic Artist on the planet taught me and I soaked it up. In 2002 I moved back to Vermont and worked at a scene shop called Adirondack Studios where I was a Scenic Artist on multiple projects including the set for Mary Poppins on Broadway which went on to win a Tony Award for best set design. I was very interested in the theater set game and applied for a Scenic Charge position a Northern Stage, a small theater in Vermont. I worked at N.S. for nearly 10 seasons and outgrew the little shop and the little theater....so...after over 100 sets, where to go from there?
As I sat there pondering my future I ran across Pam Price's email again and shot her a note saying hello. It had been a very long time since we last met but she answered right away and said that she was on a job in Wisconsin and that I needed to get out there ASAP! So I did and I re joined Nassal and Pam and worked for a few years there in Wisconsin as Nassal built and themed Google style campuses at a company called Epic Systems in Verona, Wisconsin. Then, in 2016, Pam started to think that she was due to build something of her own and leave the big company job she had for 27 years behind her. She was gonna take a leap and put all of her eggs in one basket and try to build her own Scenic Company and she asked me to do it with her...of course, facing uncertainty, possible financial disaster, and the great unknown...I said YES!
So here I am by Pam's side in Verona, Wisconsin trying to build a life and a career out of nothing but determination and hard stubborn work. It is hard, we have had success. The future looks bright and we are both in it till we either make it or die trying. So, take a look at my photos that represent a lot of years, a lot of paint, a lot of sweat and the hopes and dreams of a kid from Vermont that only ever wanted to be an artist.