Deana M. Luetkenhaus

Deana M. Luetkenhaus hails from St. Joseph, MO. and  is currently owner and head designer of D'Tails - Upcycle Exchange, located in Cape Girardeau, MO. Before that, she was an Instructor and Costume Shop Supervisor at Southeast Missouri State University. She holds an A.A. in Theatre Arts from Western Piedmont Community College, a B.A. in both Theatre Arts and Sociology from Lenoir-Rhyne College, and a M.F.A. in Costume Design and Technology, with a secondary emphasis in Scenic Design from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. While at SIUC, she was honored with the Eelin Stewart-Harrison Award for excellence in costume design and earned a second place award at the Barbizon National Costume Design Competition for her design of The Crucible. Her costume design for Fences was chosen to be exhibited at the Praque Quadrennial '06.  Before moving back to the Midwest from North Carolina, Deana worked as a free-lance designer for many years and her work has been seen in New York, London, Chicago, Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and South Carolina, Florida, South Dakota and Arizona. She worked with such theatres as Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, The Bard Summerscape Opera, The Ice-House Theatre, Unto these Hills Outdoor Theatre, Lost Colony, McLeod Summer Playhouse, Lady of the Snows Shrine, Jeffers Theatre, Fireman's Kitchen Caberet Theatre, and Old Colony Players. Some of her most recent production credits include; The Magic Flute, The Children of Eden, Les Hugenots, Into the Woods, The Children's Hour, Twelfth Night, Godspell, Big River, The Crucible, Fences, Othello, Lysistrata, Medea, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and various Dance pieces.

Ms. Luetkenhaus is a member of The United States Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT), International Apparel and Textile Association (IATA), International Museum of Woman (IMoW), American College Theatre Festival (ACTF), Alpha Psi Omega (APO) honorary theatre fraternity, The Southeast Theatre Conference (SETC), Costume Society of America (CSA), American Sociology Association (ASA) and American Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE).  She has many interests, but just a hand full is: historic reproduction of clothing, fabric modification, millinery, mask, and puppet making. She has presented her work at ACTF, PKP, SETC, and ATHE conferences as well as teaching master classes at various universities and organizations.

Ms. Luetkenhaus enjoys occasionally playing the role of Scenic Designer, properties master, costume crafts artisan, and general stage crew. In her spare time she takes pleasure in reading, researching (just about anything), and keeping in touch with family and friends.​