Chris Conard

Chris Conard is a multidisciplinary artist and technical director who has made a significant impact on the performing arts scene in Austin, Texas. Conard is best known for co-founding the Frank Wo/Men Collective, an experimental devised performing arts group that created wild shows using water, food, and nudity in found spaces and venues. Conard served as the TD/PM and Scenographer or Production Designer for the collective, which pushed boundaries in performance art.

Conard also co-founded Interactive Nature Studio, a design and fabrication company that creates 3D virtual/physical environments for virtual production, physical installations, commercials, and interior design. The studio has worked for high-profile clients such as Rupaul's Drag Race, Cisco, Dell, Nascar, Meta, and Tiktok, among others. Conard's team has done a wide variety of projects, including some that are NDA'd, and their work can be seen on Paramount+ and the Brady Bunch episode. Interactive Nature Studio has a little office, fabrication space, and maker space with 3D printers, laser cutter, and CNC machines.

Conard has also been working as the Technical Director and Production Designer for Fusebox Festival, a performing arts and art festival that brings in artists from across the globe. Conard manages all of the Technical budgets, labor, rentals, and scheduling for the festival, which takes over venues across Austin in April. He also serves as the production designer for their central venue, the "HUB," which hosts acts from across the country. The festival proudly hosted Michael C Hall's band (the guy from Dexter): Princess goes to the Butterfly Museum. This year, Conard is designing the Gala in February.

Conard received his MFA from the University of Texas at Austin during the pandemic. Half of the

program was in person, and the other half was pseudo virtual/physical. Despite the challenges,

Conard persevered and graduated with flying colors.

In addition to his impressive career, Conard is a plant dad who enjoys connecting with people and

learning about their projects. Although he admits to feeling burned out on social media, he

appreciates the opportunity to connect with others through Instagram.