Theatre Faculty and Students Donate 500 Handmade Masks

When Idaho State University courses moved online this spring, theatre professor Ananda Keator took out her sewing machine.

She gathered donated fabric and tinkered with a free pattern she found online. Within three months, she and a group of theatre students, alumni and faculty had sewn over 500 cloth masks to distribute to the community.

“It doesn’t feel like work,” Keator said. “It feels like helping my family.”

On May 20, Keator and nine volunteers gathered at the ISU Costume Shop to assemble 200 masks for use by essential university employees. That group included theatre students and alumni Emily Lucio, Melody Hannula, Stephanie Lathrop, Brielle Nielson, Austin Baum, Cami Grace, Richard Aufdermauer and Kylie Cosgrove, plus Keator and department chair Tara Young.

The volunteers also sewed masks at home to reach their 200-mask goal. The masks were distributed to ISU maintenance workers, as well as the University Health Center and Bengal Pharmacy.

“Something as simple as making masks for the ISU community is a joy because we can all gather together.”

After a semester of canceled performances and distanced final projects, Young said, the project presented an opportunity for the department to make something together.

“The collaborative art form is what we are missing and craving so much,” she said. “This is a way to connect with the theatre community while everything is closed down.”

Since March, Keator herself has made and donated 310 masks for health professionals, volunteers and individuals across the country. That number includes 110 masks for Southeastern Idaho Public Health.

Keator constructed the masks with 100% cotton fabric of the recommended 400-600 thread count. The Costume Shop donated material for the project, as well as a student whose family friend was downsizing her fabric collection.

The masks feature open sides that accommodate a replaceable filter and ties that are pulled and knotted so they don’t fray in the wash. Each mask undergoes a pre-wash and dry process to prepare them for heavy use.

“It’s been a way for me to feel like I’m giving back and to keep sane,” Keator said. “This is a way that I can feel that I’m helping.”

Theatre students agreed. After a season cut short by the pandemic, they said it felt important to them to contribute in whatever way they can.

“Theatre is made up of such vibrant people,” Young said. “Something as simple as making masks for the ISU community is a joy because we can all gather together.”