Rane
Oganowski
She/They
Hello! My name is Rane (pronounced like rain), and I am a Twin Cities based theatrical costume artist working in design, construction, costume shop management, and wardrobe supervision.
After receiving my BFA from Hamline University in Theater Arts and History, with concentrations in fashion history and theatrical management, I set my sights on honing my craft in the Twin Cities and beyond by working with theaters that put collaboration, community, and local voices at the forefront of their work. During my career, I have been fortunate to work in a variety of roles across the costume industry, where I have been able to exercise my passion for collaboration and uplifting others by supporting the work of brilliant designers, artists, actors, and students to bring a wide range of stories to life; from one-person productions to LORT A stages.
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​I began my theater experiences as many do; in my school district's theater program. I started performing alongside schoolmates and working as a technician locally in my community. As a plus size person, I often faced difficulties being costumed - there wasn’t ever anything in stock that would fit me, there was never a budget to buy something specific, or the person coordinating costumes didn’t have the time, resources, or skill to find me something that would fit. My mother knew how to sew, and she taught me to make my own costumes, so that I could feel confident onstage with pieces that helped me tell my character's story, not hinder me. This experience was the key
to unlocking my excitement to not only create costumes, but to nurture an environment where the performer can bring their full selves to the room and walk onto the stage in a garment that tells their character’s story while also supporting them as an individual.
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As a manager, I take pride in my ability to create safe spaces where collaborators can show up as their authentic selves to create beautiful thoughtful work. It is imperative to me that I create opportunities to highlight the strengths of my team, as well as help develop their skills for future projects. I understand that the success of the industry as a whole requires creative problem solving to work within time, budget, and talent constraints, while also investing my time into developing thoughtful and effective systems that will support the work of the company as a whole. Most importantly, when acting in a leadership role I feel it is my responsibility to foster a collaborative environment of openness, support, and community by asking “why” and seeking understanding from the people around me.
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As a designer, I find that the greatest challenge is striking the balance between imagination and creativity, but the greatest reward is the collaboration that I get to have with the members of a creative team to discover and build a world onstage together. My deep fascination with fashion history helps inform my design style, from period costuming to leaving subtle easter eggs in more creative and modern works. I love getting to work with the actors and directors themselves to incorporate the storytelling/character development from their time in the rehearsal room to inform their costume needs, while also working carefully within budgets and time constraints of the production.
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When I'm not backstage or in meetings, you can usually find me out in my garden or sewing in my home studio with my cats by my side or working on side projects in my home studio (I have a love for quilting!) I spend my free time with my amazing community of friends, artists, and family in the cities.
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Download my full resume here!