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 jewelry 
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 
Hoffman), 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 Secret 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 tromp 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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