Jessica Lynn Hightower has worked as a carpenter, scenic artist and scenic designer in various venues in Texas, South Carolina, Ohio and Montana. Jessica received her Master of Fine Arts in Scenic Design in 2023. Her research focuses strongly on collaborative relationships in the arts. Other research interests include media design, collaboration methodologies, use of fabric in storytelling, and pedagogical approaches to the elements and principles of design. She has received two Kennedy Center national awards for her projection design work on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and multiple regional awards in both scenic and media design from Southwest USITT, USITT Ohio-Valley and KCACTF Region 6. Jessica has just begun her collegiate teaching career in theatre design and technology. She hopes to eventually write a book on designer based collaboration focused on helping early career designers succeed.