By Kelli Sharpe
As the first African American woman to win an Oscar for production design, Beachler’s projects include Marvel’s Black Panther films, along with Beyoncé Knowles- Carter’s Lemonade, Black Is King and On The Run Tour II.
As Tennessee State University continues to observe Black History Month, the University is pleased to announce the upcoming visit of Oscar winning and trailblazing production designer Hannah Beachler. TSU students will learn about Beachler’s road to success and her experiences, as she defied the odds while redefining the art of production design in Hollywood and around the world. TSU will host A Conversation of Excellence with Hannah Beachler, Tuesday, February 21, 2023, at noon in the Robert Murrell Form in the Student Center. The event is free and open to all students.
“TSU is excited to welcome Ms. Hannah Beachler to our campus and it comes at a most ideal time, as we join the nation in celebrating the monumental and global impact that so many African Americans have made to society,” said TSU President Glenda Glover.
“This is a special and unique moment for the University to be able to give our students exposure to an internationally acclaimed artist, who is African American and female. Our students can’t help but to be inspired and see themselves in her.”
In 2019, Beachler became the first African American woman to be nominated and win an Academy Award for Best Production Design for her designs and visuals on Marvel’s Black Panther. She has also collaborated with global icon Beyoncé Knowles-Carter on several projects, including the visual album Lemonade, On The Run Tour II and the highly acclaimed visuals for her musical film Black Is King in 2020.
Beachler is the first ever female production designer of a Marvel film franchise and has been responsible for multimillion-dollar art budgets. After becoming an academy award winner, she returned to Marvel for its highly anticipated sequel, Marvel’s Black Panther Wakanda Forever. The Black Panther franchise box office receipts have grossed over $2.1 billion worldwide to date. She is also an art director, known for her work in the 2016 film Moonlight and The Lion King in 2019.
Previously, the Ohio native has collaborated with filmmaker Ryan Coogler on Creed, the spinoff from the Rocky film series starring Michael B. Jordan. Her many credits also include Academy Award winning director Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move, Todd Haynes’ docu-narrative feature film Dark Waters and The Collaboration, an unreleased film directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah.
