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Her favorite costume rendering just may be the one for the Queen of Hearts in "Alice in Wonderland." She was certainly challenged when asked to upholster a person into a chair. "It incorporates so many of the things I like to do. It is fantastical, asymmetrical and has draping, pleating and painting, plus more," she said. Kuhen particularly enjoyed her involvement in 2006 at eatre Macon with "e Women." "I got to work with 21 women in a 1930's-period piece. As characters, we did not get along well, but as individuals cast in the show, we got along marvelously," she said with a smile. With the many successes come some disasters, and Kuhen shared what happened during a production of "Cobb" at what was then Macon State College. "We had reproduction vintage baseball uniforms, and we were doing a quick-change backstage in the dark and realized there was something wet on the costumes. It was black paint that had been left open by the stage-craft class. Paint was on more than just the costumes. A student and I rushed to the bathroom and got the paint out as best we could in a short time." In 1997, Kuhen was the recipient of the Cultural Award presented yearly by Macon Arts Alliance. In 2019, she won best costumer for eatre Macon's Disney production of "Mary Poppins" at the Non- Professional Broadway World Awards. Her response to this honor, "All of you are the reason I do what I do!" Richard Frazier, current artistic director at eatre Macon, said the award was most certainly deserved. "It is an absolute honor and privilege to call her a co-worker and friend, and I look forward to going forth with her in the coming years as she uses her talents to make actors feel empowered, confident and ready to tackle anything the show may throw at them," he said. ese days, the empowerment and confidence has come in the form of masks, enabling healthcare workers, plus friends and family, to feel safe while they provide vital services. While the COVID-19 crisis and resulting theater shutdown caught everyone, including Kuhen, off guard, she's made the most of the time. Kuhen held up two photos. One was of a rack of costumes just waiting to go on stage for "Brighton Beach Memoirs" at eatre Macon and "Commedia Pinocchio" and "Viva la Mamma" at Mercer's eatre and Opera. e other photo showed a plastic container full of masks. "I call the photos, 'From is to is,'" she said. With no plans to retire soon, Kuhen is looking forward to many more years of design creativity – whatever form it may take – and has been asked by Mercer to teach a future costume-design course. "As long as I can still apply fresh, creative ideas to my designs, I plan to continue. My costumes help the actors step out of their real lives and into the lives they are living on the stage," she said. "When I first came to Macon there was not much going on downtown. Times have fortunately changed. As Macon continues to grow, I want to continue to grow with it. I want to stay a big part of that." "SHELLEY IS THE CONSUMMATE COSTUME PROFESSIONAL CREATING EXTRAORDINARY WORK FROM RESEARCH, THOROUGH VISION, STUDY AND EXECUTION." -JIM CRISP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020 | maconmagazine.com 87