Adam Rowe

Class of 1998 At Ottawa High School Adam Rowe participated in Opus 28, Speech, Drama, plays, the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, National Honor Society, fine arts, and was the mascot “Sudsy” for football and basketball games. After graduation he attended the University of Platteville, in Wisconsin, Bond University in Australia, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater, with an emphasis in Theater Design, from the Southern Illinois University in Carbondale in 2002. He received a Master of Fine Arts in Theater degree, again with an emphasis in Theater Design, from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 2005. He worked as a charge painter and then assistant production manager at Seaside Music Theater helping to create the scenery for the would be hit Million Dollar Quartet before it made it to Broadway. He painted operas for two seasons at the Santa Fe Opera, receiving the Bauman young artist’s scholarship for the outstanding crew member who demonstrated teamwork and excellent craftsmanship. He began a television career with the show Mad Men for which the scenery was acclaimed for its exceptional period accuracy. He also worked on Dexter, House MD, Nickelodeon’s Victorious and iCarly, Love Bites, Parks and Recreation, The Good Place, Criminal Minds, and Rizzoli & Isles – as well as live television events including Kennedy Center Honors, The Super Bowl, The Democratic National Convention, The Grammys, XQ Super School, Billboard Awards, and The Golden Globes. He was nominated in 2009 and 2014 for an Art Director’s Guild Award, nominated for two Emmys in 2009, and nominated in 2010 for The LA Weekly Theater Awards. Adam Rowe was the art director for best miniseries Emmy® winning American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. In 2019 he won an Emmy® for Exceptional Production Design for a Live Televised Event – the musical Rent on Fox.