Ann Gumpper

Ann Gumpper holds an MFA in Scenic Design from Virginia Commonwealth University, School of the Arts. As resident designer for LOON, Ann has created sets in a wide variety of styles and venues, ranging from the classic tragedies La Traviata and Cavalleria Rusticana, to a 1930’s film version of Don Giovanni in the gloriously restored NorShor Theatre; from Blue Viola to the double bill of Trouble in Tahiti and the Filthy Habit in Duluth’s historic Clyde Iron Works. Other favorites include Les Uncomfortables, a comedic collaboration with Colder by the Lake, a black and white Picasso-inspired Barber of Seville, and the beloved tale of Amahl and the Night Visitors in Duluth’s historic Masonic Center. During the pandemic, LOON produced a new online opera with the Decameron Opera Coalition, Everything Comes to a Head, for which Ann designed illustrations that were animated in collaboration with Bill Munson. Ann designs touring sets for Little Opera of the North and smiles from the back row of school gyms as she watches elementary students fall in love with opera for the first time.

Around town, Ann has designed for the Duluth Playhouse’s NorShor Theatre, the Minnesota Ballet, Wise Fool Theatre, UMD Theatre and Opera programs, Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, Zeitgeist Theatre, and many schools and community organizations. 

Farther afield, Ann has designed for Fargo Moorhead Opera, Skylark Opera, Minnesota Orchestra, Twin Cities Ballet, Rochester Civic Theatre, and the Summer Repertory Theatre in Santa Rosa, CA, among others. 

Locally, Ann has served on the Duluth Playhouse and Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra Board of Directors, and has designed projects for Knife River Julebyen, Lac Courte Oreille Community School, Great Lakes Aquarium, Duluth Public Library teen corner, Pilgrim Congregational Church, Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center, Duluth Visitation Center, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, United Way Day of Caring YWCA playground mural, and created an installation for the Duluth Art Windows project. Ann was honored with a Depot Foundation Artist Award in 2014. Ann is proud to be a partner, with Cal Metts, in the LOON Scenic Shop.

For more information about Ann, visit anngumpperdesign.com

Roles with Loon

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