Nia Safarr Banks is a passionate and creative costume designer and Adjunct Professor with a Master of Fine Arts in Costume Design from Boston University. She has been nominated for two Richmond Critic Awards for her outstanding work in Costume Design, for both An Octoroon (2019) and A Christmas Kaddish (2022).
Currently, she teaches theatre design courses at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts, where she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She also designs costumes for various projects, including Hamlet at American Shakespeare Center, August Wilson’s Fences at Shakespeare and Company, and Private Lives at the Gloucester Stage Company. She enjoys collaborating with directors, actors, and other designers to create costumes that enhance the characters and stories. Her upcoming credits include The Color Purple (Nashville Repertory Theatre), Clyde’s (Portland Stage) and Self Portraits (The Bushwick Starr).