Intelligent design

Nik Adams, in the past 15 years, has painted St. Paul’s Cathedral, Anne Frank’s annex, and a few Rembrandts and Manets.

And he did it all on the biggest canvas around.

“That’s a big ugly hole to fill,” said Adams with a laugh, pointing to the proscenium of the Spokane Civic Theatre’s Main Stage.

Last week, Adams retired at age 65 as scenic artist and designer at the Spokane Civic Theatre. He began working there 15 years ago, when he walked in one day as a volunteer to help technical director Peter Hardie.

“After that first day of volunteering, Peter offered me a job,” said Adams, a Coeur d’Alene native.

Adams was not just good with a hammer – he was outstanding with a brush.

“I needed to have someone who could take a rough sketch and turn it into a beautiful piece of art,” said Hardie. “And he was it. He’s a fine artist.”

He’s been at the Civic ever since, sharing the set design duties with Hardie. Here’s how he described the typical routine of getting a set ready for the Civic’s Main Stage:

“I come in at night, after rehearsal, at about 11 p.m. Then I work until about 4:30 a.m. Then I come back again at 9 a.m. and stay for the rest of the day.”

When did he sleep?

“The older you get, the less sleep you need,” said Adams. “Besides, I loved being here at night and having the whole place to myself.”

Those days may not be entirely gone. He plans to do some freelancing for various theaters, including the Civic. Yet, for the most part, his easel will no longer be the empty proscenium of the Civic’s Main Stage. His easel will be … an easel.

“I want to get back to my easel and drawing board and do some painting,” said Adams. “Cartooning – I’d like to do more of that, too. And one of my favorite pastimes is drawing from life.”

Adams grew up in a big Coeur d’Alene family (along with brother Tim Adams, former KHQ-6 weathercaster). He went to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and graduated as an art major. He was offered a spot in the master’s program for technical theater, specializing in scenic art and design. He snapped it up.

Upon graduation, he was hired by the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock, which has its own theater. He lasted only a couple of years.

“I burned out on it,” said Adams. “The thing about theater people and artists in general is we all have big egos. I got burned out on all of that me-me-me stuff. So I got into social work and taking care of handicapped people.”

He returned to the Inland Northwest in 1985 to help out after a family tragedy. He continued working with handicapped people until he turned 50 and decided, that fateful day, to volunteer at the Civic. Before long he was helping out with all aspects: designing sets, building them and painting them.

The painting often went far beyond merely painting walls. It often meant painting vast, detailed backdrops of vistas or historical scenes, as in his Victorian London backdrop for the current show, “A Christmas Carol.”

“I spend a lot of time at the library,” said Adams. “I found some old etchings of London and plagiarized ‘em.”

Sometimes, a play requires a painting by a famous painter, as in a production of “The Imaginary Invalid” which required a Rembrandt.

When you need a Dutch Master on the wall, Adams is your man.

“That was an extremely enjoyable show to do, partly because of all of the painting,” said Adams.

He also gets a tremendous satisfaction out of designing sets from scratch. One of his favorites was “The Diary of Anne Frank” on the Main Stage last February.

“It was a real challenge, to make it look congested, but also spread out,” said Adams.

He said he will also miss working with talented directors such as Susan Hardie and Marianne McLaughlin, who made him feel like a true creative collaborator.

Peter Hardie will certainly miss working with Adams.

“I’m nervous right now,” said Hardie. “I feel like a three-legged dog. We played to each other’s strengths.”

So, isn’t Adams going to miss those creative collaborations, the camaraderie, the artistic fulfillment?

Yes, he admitted. Yet he also has a new challenge to look forward to, one that he can tackle right in his own small Spokane apartment.

“I’d like to try my hand at a graphic novel,” he said. “I’ve always thought I had one in me.”