Based in Minneapolis, MN, 3rd Act Studio is the multi-disciplinary design studio of Kurt Gough. Kurt bridges the gap between architectural precision and theatrical storytelling, a cross-disciplinary approach that anchors his award-winning portfolio.
For Kurt, the design process is the ultimate tool for problem-solving. He specializes in:
Transforming ideas into buildable realities.
Solving complex fabrication and specialty construction challenges.
Navigating difficult spaces and structural constraints.
Finding elegant solutions that respect schedule and budget.
Every great production is built by the right company of artists and craftspeople.
3rd Act Studio works the same way.
Rather than relying on a fixed staff, we assemble teams of trusted designers, artisans, fabricators, scenic painters, engineers, sculptors, and specialty craftspeople whose expertise best serves the unique demands of each project. The result is a studio that's intentionally nimble, deeply collaborative, and capable of delivering extraordinary work at any scale.
Kurt's career comes full circle with 3rd Act Studio. He spent his early career as a scenic designer, prop artisan, and scenic painter for the Guthrie Theater, Actors' Theatre of Saint Paul, Steppingstone, and as Head of Props for Baltimore's Center Stage. He earned his Master's from the University of Minnesota, then spent the next 30 years in architecture. In 2004, Kurt founded the renowned Twin Cities firm Shelter Architecture, at which he was a partner for over two decades.
Having retired from firm leadership in late 2026, Kurt now channels his design expertise and artisan roots into scenic design, prop fabrication, and immersive environments for theater, film, television, museums, and live events. He is the resident scenic designer at The Academy of Holy Angels, serves on the board of Mixed Blood Theatre, and teaches architecture in the Art Department at St. Olaf College.
Theatrical Scenic Design
Romeo and Juliet | Minneapolis College | Brian Grandison, Director | 2026
Little Shop of Horrors | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 2026
*The Proposal | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 2026
The Murder Room | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 2025
Once Upon a Mattress | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 2025
*Shakespeare’s Women | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 2025
Our Town | Minneapolis College | Brian Grandison, Director | 2024
Lost Girl | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 2024
God, Guns & Big Daddy (Ubu the King) | Minneapolis College | Brian Grandison, Director | 2024
Hunchback of Notre Dame | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 2024
*Macbeth | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 2024
Water by the Spoonful | Minneapolis College | Brian Grandison, Director | 2023
The Nerd | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 2023
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 2023
*A Midsummer Night’s Dream-The Lovers | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer | 2023
Antigone | Minneapolis College | Brian Grandison, Director | 2022
You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 2022
Redemption | Minneapolis College | Brian Grandison, Director | 2022
Tuck Everlasting | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 2022
*Silent Sky | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 2022
The Game’s Afoot or Holmes for the Holidays | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 2021
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (cancelled-CoVID) | Roosevelt High School | Ryan Underbakke, Director | 2020
Mamma Mia (cancelled-CoVID) | St. Olaf College Theater | Karen Wilson, Director | 2020
Peer Gynt | Roosevelt High School | Ryan Underbakke, Director | 2019
Working | Roosevelt High School | Ryan Underbakke, Director | 2019
Rhinoceros | Roosevelt High School | Ryan Underbakke, Director | 2018
The Great Gatsby | Collide Dance Theater | Regina Peluso, Director | 2018
The Importance of Being Earnest | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 1996
Sleeping Giant: Children of the Mesabi | SteppingStone Theater | Richard Hitchler, Director | 1996
In the Spirit of the Ancestors | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 1995
The Student Prince | Annapolis Opera | R. Gretz, Director | 1993
Pirates of Penzance | Luther College Theater | Robert Larson, Director | 1990
In Perpetuity Throughout the Universe | Luther College Theater | Robert Larson, Director | 1990
Singin’ in the Rain | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 1990
Museum | Luther College Theater | Robert Larson, Director | 1989
Pirates of Penzance | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 1989
The Nerd | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer | 1988
The Good Doctor | Academy of Holy Angels | Gregg Sawyer, Director | 1988
St Olaf Christmas Festival | St Olaf College | 1987
Macbeth | St Olaf College Theater | Ralph Haugen, Director | 1987
Old Heads and Young Hearts | St Olaf College Theater | Karen Wilson, Director | 1987
The Miss Firecracker Contest | St Olaf College Theater | Scott Briggs, Director | 1986
Children | St Olaf College Theater | Laurie Etchen, Director | 1986
The Skin of Our Teeth | Buffalo High School | Clark Swenson, Director | 1984
*The Birthday Party | Buffalo High School | Clark Swenson, Director | 1984
Stop the World I Want to Get Off | Wright County Arts | Clark Swenson, Director | 1983
*Fables Here and Now | Buffalo High School | Clark Swenson, Director | 1983
*Waiting for Godot | Buffalo High School | Clark Swenson, Director | 1982
*MN State High School League One-Act Play competition entry
Film
Frogman Returns | Specialty Prop | Anthony Cousins, Director | 2025
Worry No More | Production Designer / Props | Frank Foster-Bolton, Director | 2023
Shadow Puppets | Production Designer | Penn Pauletich, Director | 2022
The Infernal Machine | Specialty Production Design | Andrew Hunt, Director | 2021
Convergence | Production Designer | Zechariah Thormodsgaard, Director | 2020
Saddle Bag | Producer / Writer / Props | Zechariah Thormodsgaard, Director | 2012
Props
Guthrie Theater
1995-96 — The Firebugs | The Zoo Story
1988-90 — Volpone | The Duchess of Malfi | Uncle Vanya | Harvey | Pravda | The Wild Duck
Baltimore Center Stage (prop manager)
1990-95 — The Show-Off | Citizen Reno | Happy End | Slavs! | Two Trains Running | The Cherry Orchard | Ghosts | The Loman Family Picnic | Othello | Das Barbecü (co production world premier) | Fences | The Triumph of Love | Arms and the Man | Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill | Escape from Happiness | A Moon for the Misbegotten | T Bone N Weasel | Servant of Two Masters | The Misanthrope | The Baltimore Waltz | Police Boys (world premier) | Pericles, Prince of Tyre | A Doll House | My Children! My Africa! | The Queen and the Rebels | The Mystery of Irma Vep | Twelfth Night | The Heliotrope Bouquet by Scott Joplin and Louis Chauvin (world premier) | Candida | O Pioneers | Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Actor’s Theatre of St Paul (prop manager)
1989-90 — Last Summer in Chulimsk | Sherlock’s Last Case | Expectations | Gift of the Magi | Four Our Fathers
Architecture + Interior Design (selected)
Principal
MN Opera Luminary Arts Center (LAB Theater) - Minneapolis, MN - Performance Venue
Great River Shakespeare Festival / City of Winona Feasibility Plan - Winona, MN - Performance Venue
HUGE improv Theater - Minneapolis, MN - Performance Venue (two locations)
The Hangar - MN State Fair Falcon Heights, MN - Concessions / Performance
The Oxbow Hotel & The Lakely - Eau Claire, WI - Boutique Hotel / Restaurant / Performance
Icehouse - Minneapolis, MN - Restaurant / Performance
Bauhaus Brew Labs - Minneapolis, MN - Brewery & Taproom
Bent Paddle - Duluth, MN - Taproom
Felton Clayworks - Golden Valley, MN - Pottery Studio
FunBiz Concessions - Cheyenne Rodeo - Cheyenne, WY - Concessions
River Prairie Wealth Partners - Eau Claire, WI - New Office Building
The Stacks (shipping container construction)* - Eau Claire, WI - Business Incubator
Backyard Steakout - State Fair of TX - Dallas, TX - Concessions
Skill Shot Coffee & Pinball - Eau Claire, WI - Coffee Shop
Visit Eau Claire Experience Center - Eau Claire, WI - Cultural Center
RISE Bagel - Minneapolis, MN - Bagel Shop
CREED Interactive - St. Paul, MN - Office Renovation
Fly Feet Running - Wayzata, MN - Fitness Center
Mayflower Church Solar Canopy - Minneapolis, MN - Entry Canopy / Solar PV
Weiss - Rubenstein Residence - Minneapolis, MN - New Home
Black Coffee & Waffle Bar - St. Paul, MN - Coffee Shop
6 Wren Residence - North Oaks, MN - Home Renovation
O’Keefe Cabin - Rockville, MN - New Cabin
Sunset Cabin - Isle, MN - New Cabin
Twiss Carriage House - Saint Paul, MN - Historic Replication
Project Manager or Design Lead
Lake Wissota Residence - Chippewa Falls, WI - New Home
Science House - Science Museum of MN - Saint Paul, MN - Education Center (one of the first net-zero commercial buildings in U.S.)
Felton Residence - Golden Valley, MN - Home Renovation
Hiawatha Light Rail Transit Stations (3 stations) - Minneapolis, MN - Transit
Richard I. Bong World War II Heritage Center - Superior, WI - Cultural Center
Milwaukee Road Depot Station - Aberdeen, SD - Historic Renovation
Alonzo Ward Hotel - Aberdeen, SD - Historic Renovation
Wells Fargo / ACS - Aberdeen, SD - New Office Building
Design Team
Dwan Maintenance Building - Bloomington, MN - New Golf Maintenance
5ive - Minneapolis, MN - New Home (first LEED-H Platinum Certified home in MN)
The Nicolette* - Minneapolis, MN - Luxury Condo Skyscraper (multi-use)
Hotel Donaldson - Fargo, ND - Boutique Hotel
Hubert H. Humphrey Museum* - Waverly, MN - Concept & Feasibility
WELRP/Native Harvest - Office & Production* - Pondsford, MN - Concepts
Dodge Nature Center - West St. Paul, MN - Preschool Education
Battle Point Heritage Center* - Leech Lake, MN - Cultural Center
*unbuilt
Awards, Speaking and Exhibits (selected)
2026 RAVE Award First Place | New Home, 1,500–3,500 Sq Ft | Shell Lake Cabin
2025 ASID MN Design Excellence Awards First Place | Commercial Institutional | Luminary Arts Center
2025 AIA-MN Conference on Architecture | Presentation | “The Luminary Arts Center: A Model for Community-Driven, Equity-Centered Design”
2024 ASID National Community FOCUS Award | Luminary Arts Center
2024 AIA Minneapolis Merit Award | Luminary Arts Center
2024 Midwest Home Design Awards First Place | Commercial Lobby | Luminary Arts Center
2022 Star Tribune Reader’s Choice MN’s Best (top 2) Shelter Architecture
2021 Star Tribune Reader’s Choice MN’s Best (top 3) Shelter Architecture
2020 ASID MN Design Excellence Best in Show + Visit Eau Claire Experience Center | Custom Detail
2020 ASID MN Design Excellence 1st Place | Culinary Workshop (kitchen)
2016 Downtown Eau Claire Award Best Renovation | The Oxbow Hotel & The Lakely
2019 ASID MN Design Excellence 1st Place + Skill Shot Coffee & Pinball Bar | Custom Detail
2017 ASID MN Design Excellence 1st Place | CREED Interactive
2017 ASID MN Design Excellence 1st Place + The Oxbow Hotel & The Lakely | Sustainable Design + Collaboration
2015 AIA Minneapolis Merit Award | Dwan Maintenance Building
2015 AIA MN/Star Tribune Home of the Month | 6 Wren
2012 Videotect 2 (film competition) Grand Prize Winner | “Saddlebag” | Shelter + Gaardhouse -Producers
2012 ASID MN Design Excellence 1st Place | Icehouse (hospitality)
2009 Form + Content Gallery “Unbundling the Housing Crisis” | Graphic Sculpture
2008 AIAS National Emerging Practice Shelter Architecture | Honor Award
2008 Residential Design & Build Design Excellence | Twiss Carriage House
2006 LEAD-H Residential | Platinum Certification | 5ive (first in the state of MN)
2005 ROMA (Remodeler of Merit Award) 1st Place | Felton Residence | Total House 2,500 sf+
2003 AIA MN - Young Architects Forum Dimensions Award | Watercolor
2003 ASBO Int’l Architecture Exhibition Award of Excellence | Dodge Nature Preschool
2003 AIA Minneapolis Merit Award | Dodge Nature Preschool
2002 AIA MN - Young Architects Forum Dimensions Award Sculpture
2000 U of MN - Concrete Design Comp. 2nd Place Millennium Pedestrian Bridge
1988 Steensland Art Gallery “Exhibitionists” | St. Olaf College Oil Paintings & Bronze Sculptures
1987 Kelsey Gallery “Apparently, You Like to Work with Your Hands”| St. Olaf College | Paintings & Sculptures