Mallory Prucha’s creativity can be seen in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival’s latest award.

The Kennedy Center hosts the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) each year. It’s a week when talented students from across the country come to perform, design, plan, collaborate and create. 

Texas Tech University’s Mallory Prucha has a key role in making that week come together. She was appointed the national vice chair for design, technology and management in January, a role she’ll serve for the next three years. 

“Design, technology and management is the category that represents students who do lighting, costume and sound design, among many other things,” Prucha said. “Being in a space of the caliber of this festival provides an additional level of access and cross-pollination across an industry that is traditionally very nomadic in nature.” 

Prucha is a believer in the power of collaboration and champions it in everything she does. She is the recipient of the Texas Tech’s Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research and the Texas Tech Presidential Award for Engaged Creative Activity. 

The associate professor in the School of Theatre & Dance keeps students and colleagues on their toes by consistently proposing new ways to learn, teach and perform. To do this, she needs new inspiration. Her curriculum vitae is an impressive list, but to Prucha, it’s purely evidence of an eagerness to try new things. 

“Mallory’s rise and recognition in the national scene is not haphazard, it is a product of years of hard work, talent, innovation and dedication to her art, to the students and to the theater program at Texas Tech,” said Martin Camacho, dean of the J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts.

Prucha’s appointment to the national board of the KCACTF wasn’t the only new experience she’s had this year. 

The festival awards a gold medallion to honor individuals or organizations that have made extraordinary contributions to the teaching and producing of theater and who have significantly dedicated their time, artistry and enthusiasm to the development of the student experience. 

The medallion, however, needed an updated design. Last year, the festival put out an announcement asking for a reimagined concept of the award. 

Prucha immediately volunteered. 

“I love designing anything along the lines of currency,” she said. 

The medallion was like a large coin, and Prucha wanted to etch her mark on it. 

Living in Lubbock, she has absorbed plenty of inspiration from Glenna Goodacre and has practiced quite a bit of medallic design. So, when the announcement came, she felt this was a unique way she could give back to a community that’s given so much to her. 

She jokes that she was willing to make 19,000 sketches until the board found one they were happy with. Turns out, she only needed to make half a dozen. From there, the design was turned into a 3-D model and tested for printing. 

The finished medallion is 3 inches in diameter and finished with antique gold. 

One side displays the front of the Kennedy Center, and the other side is a drawing of John F. Kennedy himself. Neither are too different from the design that came before it, but with the updates in technology, Prucha’s design was able to take on a level of realism the one before it lacked. 

Some of her own professional heroes have, in fact, received this recognition in the past. 

“It’s awe-inspiring to have designed this medal; it’s incredible,” Prucha said. “I also have former students who are in the leadership pipeline in the KCACTF, and I hope to see one of them receive it one day.” 

The medallion is thought of as one of the highest awards one can receive in theater education. And now its etchings are those of a Red Raider. 

“I love representing Texas Tech and representing my discipline while also having a chance to champion exceptional educational experiences and connect professionally,” Prucha said. “It keeps the vibrancy of the industry alive.”