The award will be presented as part of the annual Michael Merritt Awards for Excellence in Design and Collaboration ceremony on Monday, May 22, 2023, from 5 to 10 PM at Steppenwolf Theatre, located at 1650 N. Halsted in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. For tickets to the event, click here.

The Michael Merritt Awards program also recognizes and encourages the work of young professionals and students through a national design exposition and academic achievement prizes to promising theatrical design and technology students. One of these prizes, the John Murbach Columbia College Chicago Prize, is given annually to a graduating student in the Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department’s Theatre Design and Technology program. The prize honors the memory of former Columbia College Theatre Department faculty member John Murbach, who died in 2001 at age 44. This year’s Murbach Prize will be presented to Columbia College alum Ab Rieve ’23, who graduated with a double BA in Theatre Design and Technology and Illustration.

“All of us 2023 grads have been on a wild ride these last four years,” says Rieve, “and I’m so happy to have found an incredible community to learn and grow with. In my time here at Columbia I have worked in three shops (scenic, costume, and props) and created work for shows with a legion of fantastic creators and mentors. I am incredibly fortunate to have shared space with so many awesome artists – and though I didn’t manage to work in the lighting lab personally, I still found friends there as well. Getting involved is the biggest key to Columbia, and taking opportunities when you are able and excited about them. Making yourself known is much more than doing great work, it is connecting with your peers and making an effort to celebrate their victories and comfort them in their hardships. Next up for me is hopefully more of the same: working in Chicago, connecting with people, and making awesome theatre!”