You name it … she can do it. End of story. Well . . . maybe not, but close.
Sig Wolf is one of two Theater Operations Facilitators for our campus who has been here almost 15 years. If you’ve ever attended a theater production on campus, or the Gala, or Chefs for Scholarships, you most likely have been the benefactor of her talented efforts. With a BA in Design/Technical Theater from CA State San Bernardino, she’s won over a dozen awards for theater scenic/lighting designs, was featured on two episodes of “Junk Yard Wars” on the Learning Channel, and will be on an upcoming History Channel show called “Unscrewed” where the contestants take things apart and put them back together again. Her New Year’s celebration was to go sky diving and her other car is a Russian motorcycle with a sidecar. At age 15, after curing her nightmares by watching his horror movies, she became a pen pal of Vincent Price – a relationship that lasted for years, and yes, she has the picture to prove it.
Sig does scene and lighting design for theater and other campus productions, construction and painting, props, welding, and woodwork and even oversees budgets for productions and hires and trains staff. It’s that last interaction part that she finds the most fun – overseeing students’ lab hours as they build sets and set up lighting, maintaining sets, and getting to tear down (“strike”) the sets when the production is at its end – akin to building a sand castle and being able to stomp it before the waves get it, she says.
Another fun challenge for Sig is to see how reasonably she can create a set. Scavenging free materials and furniture and donations has more than once provided everything needed for entire productions for little more than $1.00. (Sig, can we give you our wish lists?) If you visit her office near the theater, you will see great little mock-ups of sets on her shelves, including a scale model of our stage, which comes in handy when she is mentally creating a new set for a new theater performance.
Sig loves the entire atmosphere of being on a college campus, and says the energy, excitement, curiosity and freedom keep her young. Her mother and grandfather both taught at the college level, so she was walking college halls as a young child, and was on stage in the 5th grade. While growing up in Pittsburgh, PA, Sig dreamed of one day moving to California, working in theater, and owning a home. She stayed in Pennsylvania for a while, running the Student Union and Student Activities at the University of Pittsburgh, but moved to California and realized her dreams, working with the Riverside Civic Light Opera, Riverside Community College and about eight community theaters before coming to GWC. Move to CA – check. Work in theater – check. Own a home – check, AND a mountain cabin, too! Her ultimate dream – to buy an island of her own to retire to, and she has some that she is considering.
Sig either works hard or can relax on the beach all afternoon or for days. She enjoys photography and has started writing two books. She holds a patent on a measuring tool she invented, and has been to places like Africa (Serengeti, Olduvai Gorge), Galapagos Islands, Machu Pichu, London, Alaska, Bahamas, and has been on an ultra-light in Hawaii (notice the islands in the list…). If you need to know Basic Home Repair, sign up for her Community Services class!
As you might suspect, this only scratches the surface of who this woman is, and what a treasure we have in her here at GWC. Congratulations, Sig…we are so very happy to have you as a part of our family!
