Rita Kogler Carver is an American lighting designer, artist, director and teacher. Carver was born in North Tonawanda, New York, on January 7, 1963. She currently resides in Upstate New York with her husband and numerous pet animals.
Education
Carver graduated from Stroudsburg High School in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1981. She immediately enrolled at Cedar Crest College and graduated in 1985 with a BA in theater. “I was dared to try out for a part in my sophomore year of college, and I got the part. When it came time for set building and technical design, and the builders asked if anyone knew how to use power tools or a screwdriver – because Cedar Crest was a women’s college at the time – so, I volunteered. My dad taught me how to do all that stuff. From then on, I always worked behind the scenes; I caught the theater bug pretty quickly.” Carver took a year off before starting graduate school. During that time she studies with Gustav Rehberger at the Art Students League in New York City. She later attended graduate school at New York University, studying under John Gleason in the Tisch School of Arts and graduating with an MFA in lighting design in 1989.
Personal life
Carver was born on January 7, 1963, to her parents Albert H. Kogler, Jr., and Rita LoVerme Kogler. She grew up in North Tonawanda, New York, spent one year in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and then moved to Willingboro, New Jersey, eventually landing in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Carver lived in New York City for almost twenty years after graduate school. After the World Trade Towers fell, she wanted to make a change. She relocated to Tarrytown, New York, followed by Poughkeepsie, New York. From 1992 to 2002 she was married to George Allison. On September 18, 2004, Rita married John Carver. They currently reside in Earlton, New York. She was a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 and NABET Local 16. Carver was also a member of IES ], IALD and ESTA.
Career
After graduation from NYU, she began work in theater as a lighting designer. She worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in regional theater, dance, and opera. She was fortunate to work both in the US and Europe. In 1996 she branched out into television, gaining work on news shows and soap operas for ABC Television as well as a variety of shows for VH1 and the Food Network. She then expanded into talk shows such as The Montel Williams Show. She was part of the team that designed the NBC news studios for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, for which she won an Emmy. Carver has been teaching for over fifteen years. Schools where she has taught include New York University, SUNY Fredonia, Dutchess Community College, and Westchester Community College. Other teaching opportunities have been at industry trade shows such as the . She has also written many articles for the trade magazines Lighting Dimensions and IEEE Multimedia. She was also one of the original moderators for a pro lighting forum on .
2007–2010, artistic director, DragonFly Performing Arts
2003–present, designer,
1998–2007, systems/lighting designer,
1992–1998 associate lighting designer, Pat Collins Enterprises
She moved upstate to the Catskills, and started Dragonfly Performing Arts in Cairo, New York, for students of all ages interested in theater. Dragonfly Performing Arts is a 5013 non-profit corporation. “You can walk into a classroom in New York City and have any amount of students who want to learn about theater, but the trouble is that you find it in abundance. I like a challenge. I moved upstate and started DragonFly so that students who do not have the immediate opportunity to learn from Theater professionals like New York City students do, can learn from my past and my experiences. These students are thirsty for knowledge, and I am ready and willing to help them learn as much as they want." DragonFly has produced shows such as Cats, Glass Menagerie, Alice in Wonderland, A Christmas Carol, Phantom Tollbooth, Snoopy!, It's A Wonderful Life the Musical, A Midsummer Night Dream, and Lost in Yonkers. Classes are also offered throughout the year to students from ages eight and higher.
BearFly Designs, LLC
Since the early 1970s, "John and Rita Carver have worked separately and together in virtually every type of venue imaginable from outdoor theaters and barns to Broadway to major television networks." Started in 2003, BearFly Designs was and still is primarily rooted in weddings and parties, while also accommodating to government fundraisers and other political events.
