Robert Bowen enjoys "painting with light" -- capturing different settings and moods for the stage.

Bowen, who is pursuing his master's degree at UNT in documentary filmmaking, won Most Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical from the International Music and Entertainment Association for a production of Big River in Kansas City, Mo.

Bowen also has worked in other productions in New York City and Olathe, Kan., and is a teaching fellow in UNT's dance and theatre department. He earned an M.F.A. in lighting design from the University of Missouri in Kansas City.

"There is a sense of enjoyment when you take on the challenge of not only revealing the beauty of the set or the emotion of various scenes," he says, "but also of enhancing these aspects to intensify the experience for the audience."