CFCC Theatre Faculty Featured in Art Exhibition: “Theatre is never showcased this way.”

Chloe Priddy-Barnum has worked in costume shops across the country, but she says teaching at Cape Fear Community College “feels like home.”

Chloe began her career at Oklahoma State University, where she studied Theatre Design and Production. Later, she earned a Master of Fine Arts from Boston University. For over a decade, Chloe has worked in Chicago, Boston, Montana, New York, and now North Carolina.

For Chloe, teaching means collaborating with students and creating art. She sees this work as creating something tangible, a piece that fits into the larger puzzle of a stage production.

“If you’re a good designer, and I mean lighting, sound, costume, and set, people aren’t walking away being like, ‘wow, that lighting was so cool.’ Maybe they are, but what I’m trying to get at is that your design, your art, is aiding the storytelling that the actors are doing. Patrons of a show should be walking away being like, ‘what an awesome show I just saw.'”

To be just one piece in a larger storytelling effort takes humility and skill. Costuming is only one aspect of a production, and oftentimes it’s quiet or overlooked.

That’s why Chloe was excited to take part in two back-to-back gallery exhibitions at Cape Fear Community College’s Wilma Daniels Gallery, where her costumes were showcased as artwork in their own right.

“That was avant-garde. Theater is never showcased in that way.”

Drama Unmasked: The Art of the Stage

“Drama Unmasked: The Art of the Stage” highlighted the individual art forms that comprise a stage production. From set design and lighting to costume creation, sound design, and character development, the exhibition showcased the many facets of theatre-making in a gallery setting.

Chloe’s contribution was a costume she conceptualized, designed, and sewed. A rendition of the costume worn by Miranda in The Tempest, the artwork is an example of how a piece moves through the stages of its creation.

Faculty Art Exhibition

CFCC’s Faculty Art Exhibition is open to the public at the Wilma Daniels Gallery and will remain on display until February 20, 2026.

For this specific exhibition, Chloe entered a dress created purely as a sewing exercise rather than a costume for a particular play. She used a historical pattern from the 1700s, found in a book by Nora Waugh, a staple text for sewing experts. Chloe describes the process of constructing historical garments as a “rich” puzzle, blending old-school hand-sewing techniques with modern technology to address sizing and fit challenges.

For Chloe, the Faculty Art Exhibition is a meaningful opportunity to express herself as an independent artist, free from the constraints of a script. She hopes that the work sparks curiosity in those who see it.

“I hope that somebody looks at this, and is, like, ‘that is cool. I wish I could do something like that. Maybe I’ll go take one of those classes,” she says.

Reality of the industry

While the gallery highlights her technical skill, her classroom approach focuses on preparing students for the reality of the industry. She emphasizes a concept she calls “real clothes on real people” to help students bridge the gap between academic theory and professional application. By teaching students to treat costumes as genuine articles of clothing for characters rather than just props, she aims to elevate the authenticity of their designs.

“I want to do theater and make shows forever,” Chloe admits, “but what I love more is sharing it”.