DAVID BUTLER | ARTIST BIO
Revised: October 8, 2004

David Butler is an eclectic artist: an actor set designer, writer, performance artist and stained glass craftsmen. Butler was the principal set designer for the Paul Robeson Theater for the three years from 1998-2001, and is starting his forth season as a Resident Set Designer at Irish Classical Theatre, where he has created sets for, Whose Affraiid of Virginia Wolf, Waiting for Godot, The Importance of Being Ernest, Educating Rita, School for Wives, Philadelphia Here I Come, Lady Windermere's Fan, Mrs. Warren's Profession and What the Butler Saw. Last year designs included Misanthrope and Private Lives. He was also the set designer for Studio Arena's 1999-acclaimed production of How I Learned to Drive. He has created props and scene painted for various performance venues around town including the Kavonoki Theater, area dance concerts including Dance Project and Neglia Ballet (Baba Yaga Chicken Legs, Spartacus Helmets, Scenic Art - Romeo and Juliet).  Butler painted the set for the spring 2002 version of Romeo and Juliet produced by the Buffalo Philharmonic. Last year Butler was commissioned to create a set for Sondheim's A Little Night Music in Eugene, Oregon that was a production of the University of Oregon's Opera Department. In 2003 Butler tied for Best Artist in Buffalo in the annual Artvoice Best of Survey.

Butler has appeared in dozens of professional play productions in Buffalo including last winter's award winning production of Sondheim's Passion, at the Cabaret in the Square. This production was honored with 9 Artvoice Artie nominations (including Butler's nomination for best supporting actor in a Musical) and won four Artie awards. Other notable performances include Donner, in BUA's The Reindeer Monologues, Shannon in Poor Superman, and Geoffrey in a Taste of Honey. In 2002 Butler produced, designed and performed in a new performance piece, NO Plan B at Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center which featured his original poems, scenes and skits featuring original music by David Kane and directed by Paul Todaro, -- this piece was restaged at the Sphere Entertainment Complex in late October 2003. The Buffalo News listed No Plan B as one of the best events of the year in visual and performing arts for 2002.   In the summer of 1998 Butler produced and starred in productions of two of his original short plays Coming Out of the Car, and The Last Knight of Fondele Park as part of Toronto's 10^th Annual Fringe Festival. Butler has performed his original work at the Burchfield Penny Art Center, The Cabaret Theater, Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center, and The Screening Room. His written work has appeared in Voices magazine, Artvoice, the Buffalo News and the Hallwalls retrospective Consider the Alternatives. Two of his poems appear in the anthology, The Shadows Imprint: Poetic Reflections on Death, published by Blarney Stone Books. In August of 2001, and 2002 Butler was asked to be a part of an American-Canadian exchange of poets, and read his work at the Horticultural Society in Saint Catherine's, CA.

His visual Artwork has been displayed at El Museo Gallery, Buffalo Arts Studio and Hallwalls Contemporary Art center. David Butler has appeared at Art Dialog as both a featured reader and musician with composer Don Metz as part of the gallery's Words and Music program. He has been a professional choir member in Buffalo for 25 years and is currently a tenor soloist with the Westminster Choir - he was previously with the Parkside choir, which completed a performance tour of former East Germany in April of 1998.

In 1998 Butler received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts and The Rockefeller Center for a piece written and performed with local recording artist David Kane. He has received numerous Artvoice Artie nominations for acting and design work including 4 outstanding actor in a musical nominations, 3 outstanding supporting actor in a play nominations and 8 outstanding set design nominations.