Six Seasons with the IRT

Harrison Center artist Kyle Ragsdale is now in his sixth season partnering with the IRT to create the marquee posters for each show. And his style couldn’t be more appropriate. “I tend to paint dramatic, mysterious paintings anyway,” he says. IRT just unveiled the work for the 2019/2020 season and we are in love with it!

Ragsdale grew up in Texas and New Mexico, witnessing from a young age a mix of vibrant cultures and large, wild spaces. For 15 years, since earning degrees at Baylor University (BFA) and Southern Methodist University (MFA), Ragsdale has been painting full time — working periodically as a decorative painter and stage set designer, and making fine art. He has served as curator for exhibits in Texas and Indiana and currently is curator for the Harrison Center.

Ragsdale reads every one of the plays for the season thus inspiring the creative process it takes to imagine each painting for the play. During the second season of the year the original paintings are hung in the mezzanine and for the annual IRT Celebrity Radio Show the paintings are up for auction, you can often find them in libraries around the city.

You can find the 2019/20 season lineup here, and there is merchandise from the show posters available in the shop at the IRT. Ragsdale’s work has changed many times — the paint has been thick, thin, shiny, and flat. He often delves into decorative floral patterns, landscapes, and portraiture, but probably is best known for his mysterious elongated figures.