A love letter to theatrical design

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DeMara Cabrera

By Selene Lawrence, CLA Student Writer - January 12, 2026

DeMara Cabrera, M.S. ‘06, has always lived and breathed theatre. “I’d always been a performer,” she recalled, “when I was a child, I did theatre, I played piano, I sang in choirs, I danced; I was always on stage in one form or another.” Even though she was a natural performer, Cabrera found early on that her primary creative outlet was actually offstage. She was just five years old when she learned how to sew, but it wasn’t until high school that her involvement in costume design began. From that point on, Cabrera’s love of theatre remained her anchor as she moved from coast to coast, completed two master’s degrees, switched career fields, and finally found her dream job as a teacher and costumer in the theatre arts department at the School of Visual, Performing, and Design Arts.

When Cabrera attended Stanford University for her undergraduate degree, she had plans to become an English professor. “After my sophomore year, I realized that it wasn’t what I wanted to do,” she confessed. “I had to do a lot of soul-searching. That’s when I decided that the thing that really gets me going is theatrical design, creating the visual world that all these characters live in, whether it's scenery or costumes.” After taking a semester off to reflect on her path, Cabrera returned to finish her undergraduate degree and dropped her second major of English to continue her study of theatre with a focus in theatrical design.

During her semester off, Cabrera realized that she saw a future for herself in interior design, and that further education would allow her to pursue that career while taking occasional jobs in theatre. Just a few short months after finishing her undergraduate degree, Cabrera hit the ground running at Oregon State University in the now-discontinued interior design graduate program. As a grad student, Cabrera had her first experiences in teaching. “As soon as I started teaching here at Oregon State, I realized that I loved it, and that it really felt like it was who I was meant to be and what I was meant to do,” Cabrera said. “I come from a long line of educators. Growing up, my brother and I both swore we wouldn’t become teachers, and of course, we’re both teachers now. I do feel like part of it is just in our blood, but it's also how we were raised and the type of people we are.” 

Outside of her studies, Cabrera worked doing in-home consultations at a furniture store in Corvallis. After graduating, she moved to Portland to work as a kitchen and bath designer with Home Depot. Throughout her career in interior design, Cabrera took on occasional theatrical design jobs in Portland’s theatre community. “I loved interior design; I was good at it, but I was never going to not do theatre,” Cabrera said. “That was always going to be my passion.” Shortly after completing her master’s degree, she took an adjunct position at Linfield University in her hometown of McMinnville, where she taught costume design, managed the costume shop, and designed two productions for the school. It was there that Cabrera’s love of teaching, design, and theatre arts converged into a single role, one that she knew was perfect for her.

After her contract at the university ended, Cabrera decided it was time to attain the M.F.A. in costume design needed to pursue a permanent position teaching theatre at a university level. The decision, however, was not made lightly. The lack of M.F.A. programs in costume design in Portland meant that, to follow her dream, Cabrera had to leave behind her house, her dogs, her community, and her professional connections in theatre. ”I had to give up my life and move across the country to get my M.F.A., and it was a little scary, but also exciting,” she said. “I had a very clear goal that I wanted to work at a university, I wanted to teach and mentor students, and I wanted to design. That excitement and clarity of purpose got me through some of the rougher times in graduate school and helped me when I was missing home.”

After completing her M.F.A. program at Boston University, Cabrera began teaching at Central Connecticut State University. Already battling a prolonged sense of homesickness, she was put in a tough position in her first teaching role after graduation. “My job right out of grad school was very challenging,” Cabrera explained. “I was the scenic designer and costume designer for the theatre department, and was teaching and running the costume shop. It was basically two positions combined into one. I was doing productions outside of the school as well, so I was working 70-80 hours a week on average.” Not backing down, she completed two years in the role before deciding to resign and move back home. Just a month later, she secured her current position as an instructor and costumer in OSU’s School of Visual, Performing, and Design Arts. “It was like Oregon was welcoming me back home with open arms,” she said. “I always felt a little out of place on the East Coast. I'm glad that I went, and I'm glad I lived there and got to see what it was like, but it really reinforced that I'm an Oregonian.” Teaching at OSU, Cabrera finally felt that she was where she was meant to be. However, fate would have it that big changes would be coming. 

Cabrera’s beginning years in the theatre department were shaped by the retirement of three faculty members and the adjustment to working at a faculty deficit. Soon after, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic restricted performances to virtual spaces. More recently, the department had to vacate its building and spend two years without a theatre. But through it all, Cabrera’s determination and dedication remained unshakeable. Today, theatre at OSU is flourishing. The 2024 opening of the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx) and the recent reopening of Withycombe Hall have not only made theatre at OSU more accessible than ever, but have also given the department the space it needs to truly thrive. “I’m really excited to see the department start to grow, and to work as a team to be able to think long-term. We’ll be able to make bigger and better plans of what we can offer that other schools can't, and how we can become a unique and exciting program that will draw more students here.” OSU’s 2025-26 season explores the importance of building community in troubling times. The season began with Arthur Miller’s “An Enemy of the People” in the fall, and will progress with “Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play” in the winter and “Women in Congress” in the spring. 

Despite the challenges she’s faced, Cabrera’s love for theatre runs stronger than ever. Outside of teaching, she has a professional career in scenic and costume design, and works with a number of local companies, including the Oregon Contemporary Theatre, Eugene Opera, and the Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland. She is currently engaged in costume design for “A Mirror” by Sam Holcroft, which will open on February 25, 2026, at Portland’s Third Rail Repertory Theatre. “I love helping tell stories and finding new ways to tell stories that have been told many times before. I've also been part of some new plays recently; it's always exciting to be one of the first people to create that world,” she said. If anything has become clear in her past decade teaching at OSU, it’s that Cabrera is, and always was, meant to be a teacher. “Working with the students and seeing them grow as artists is a really big part of what keeps me going,” she said. “On days when I’m feeling a little less inspired, getting to teach the students and helping them find their passion reinvigorates that part of me.”