RICHARD PROUSE

Hudson Valley painter Richard W. Prouse has been a professional artist for over 25 years,
creating unique works of original decorative and scenic art for a wide range of industrial 
and residential clientele.  Raised in  Albuquerque, New Mexico, and completely self-taught,
Prouse began his career at the age of 18, creating scenery for the full-scale musical 
productions of the  Albuquerque Civic Light Opera Company. By the age of 23, he was the
scenic designer for the five major theatrical companies in the area.  Throughout this 
period, he was also designing and building silver and gold jewerly for private sale.

In 1979, Richard moved to Manhattan and began work on a string of Off-Broadway shows, 
returning yearly to Albuquerque to continue his design assignments.  By 1981, he had
designed a new retail store in mid-town Manhattan, "The Actor's Heritage", and several
custom window displays for a number of New York City restaurants.  His unique life-size
celebrity mannequins and soft-sculptures featured in these windows earned him highly
enthusiastic praise in both The Village Voice and New York Magazine.

In 1984, Richard became a member of United Scenic Artists, and for the next several 
years, contributed significantly to such Broadway shows as Death of a Salesman (starring 
Dustin Hofman), Aspects of Love, Grand Hotel, Anything Goes, Lend Me A Tenor, The Will 
Rogers Follies, Guys and Dolls, Beauty and the Beast, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Annie Get 
Your Gun, Mary Poppins, and Phantom of the Opera Las Vegas to name a few.  On the screen, 
his work is  represented in such films as Heartburn, Angel Heart, The Scecret of My Success, 
Masquerade, and Hard Way, for which he sculpted the 40-foot high 3-dimentional bust of
Michael J Fox that hung high above Times Square in the winter of 1991.

In addition to his numerous theatrical credits, Richard's exquisite trome l'oeil, bas relief
and sculpture can be seen in numerous restaurants and private residences in New York
City, Houston, Santa Fe and Los Angeles.  His series of one-of-a-kind art doll is 
represented in the world famous collection of actress Demi Moore.  He is also co-founder
and designer of YOUNG WILL, a unique theatrical company in upstate New York, 
producing the works of Shakespeare for and by children ages 8-17.

Richard's home and studio are in Rhinebeck, New York.
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