Joanne Chuang

Chia-yuan Chuang, go by Joanne, is a theater designer from Taipei, Taiwan. Joanne holds a BFA in Scenic Design from CUNY Brooklyn College. She is the recipient of the 2024 Academic Excellence in Theater Award at Borough of Manhattan Community College and the 2025 Mazursky, Paul ’51 and Betsy Scholarship at Brooklyn College.

Joanne has actively participated in a wide range of theater productions, with experience in Scenic Design, Props Mastery, Wardrobe, Scenic Artist, Costume Shop Stitching, and Costume Coordination. Her technical expertise includes painting, sawing, and stitching. Her design practice focuses on color atmosphere research to explore the environments in which characters live, creating experiences that carry emotional weight and offer a live parallel world that immerses the audience in the story—an experience unique to theater. This approach encourages both performers and audiences to connect with their emotions and encourages conversations about the world around them.

She believes that spaces possess their own energy and that theater has the power to heal, inspire dialogue, and effect change. As a highly collaborative designer and creative problem solver, Joanne strives to use theater as a means of connection and to help build a more empathetic world. To-siā多謝—thank you in Taiwanese!