Curator, Artist

Is a resident of Ellenville since 2020, and he splits his time living and working in Brooklyn, NY where he’s resided and raised a family with his wife Tammy Kreiter since 1992. Derek is a conceptual artist, with roots in theatrical design, scenic painting, music writing and performance.  As a child, Derek’s family lifestyle was center around his opera-singing parents. His impressions of scenery, music and the idea of “it takes a village,” took root. After studying design in high school and college Derek moved to NY with college friend and collaborator Jason Boyd. Derek and Jason co-founded TELEOTHEATER, where Derek designed sets, costumes and created music, and Jason was the lighting designer and producer.  “Teleo”, which means the study of final causes, became one of Derek’s first concept driven group projects.  They designed and  built a coffee house on the lower east side called 9, a cultural center for members of the Artist community, a place to meet, dream and drink coffee.  Derek continued to pursue scenic design and music performance and spent 5 years writing and touring with his band, One Handed Molly. In 2003, Derek became a scenic design member of the United Scenic Artists 829 and In the same year he became the Scenic Charge Artist at The Juilliard School, where he stayed for an inspiring 10 years. He later added the scenic artist status to his union affiliation which led to a world of commercial projects.  Some of Derek’s career highlights include: designing the Macy’s “Pop-Up” Holiday Windows, designing and painting on Broadway shows including Spamalot, painting at the MET Opera and on countless TV shows including Mr. Robot, The Slap, Hello Tomorrow and SNL. Derek’s latest passion is studying and building Earthships, where he can recycle and reuse materials from the entertainment worlds dumpsters.  Derek’s 2023 New Year’s resolution was to spend more time in Ellenville.