| The Acme Scenic Arts coat of arms |
Acme Scenic Arts is owned by artist Nance Derby. From Minneapolis to LA, Houston to Toronto, Nance has worked on major motion pictures and in museums, production studios, theatres, and classrooms. Nance's work experience includes production design, art direction, production coordination, lead scenic artist, and teacher.
Meet the Acme artists
Liliana Payne grew up painting for the theatre with her father and has since translated that experience and love into a career as a freelance scenic artist. Her Italian ancestry led her to spend part of 2005 living in Italy and applying her portraiture skills to a copy of Mignard's Virgin of the Grapes that now hangs in the chapel of the Villa Terreno outside of Florence. Lili designed and created this website.
Cindy Freet has her MFA in Scenic Design from Wayne State University, and for the past nine years has balanced being both a college professor (South Dakota State University, Brookings, and Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN) and a freelance scenic painter. Cindy has designed scenery and costumes for theatres both local and national.
Fine artist and illustrator Michael Schmidt came to Minnesota twelve years ago after his education at the University of Toronto and the Sheradan College of Art. From his studio in the Northrup King Building in northeast Minneapolis, Mike's artwork can be seen in galleries and homes across the area, and his solo gallery shows are gaining international acclaim.