Gweneth has designed costumes for over 250 productions and directed or acted in over 80, with 39 summers in repertory & stock theatres. She served as Resident Costume Designer and Costume Director for Heritage Repertory Theatre 1986-2004, designing more than 90 productions. her designs for Ragtime, HRT 2004, won exhibition in Toronto at the international, juried World Stage Design Exhibition, 2005. Her work has also been seen in productions across the country, including the world premiere of a new opera, Nosferatu, by Alva Henderson and Dana Gioia, former head of the NEA. She spent three joyous summers designing for Texas Shakespeare Festival, for Artistic Director Raymond Caldwell and Managing Director John Dodd -- The Royal Hunt of the Sun, 2008, directed by Stephen Terrell; Othello, 2006, and School for Husbands, 2005, directed by Roseanne Sheridan. 

Costume designer and professor for over 40 years, Gweneth has been a member of the UVA faculty since 1990 and served as Head of Costume Design & Technology, a role in which she mentored Master of Fine Arts students in their creative projects in lieu of dissertation as they completed the MFA, a terminal degree parallel to the PhD in other disciplines. Courses offered by Gweneth at UVA Drama have included the study of costume design at both the undergraduate and graduate level, history of dress, research, character, portfolio, and graphics, as well as collaboration & creative process. She has designed for the department and mentored both graduate and undergraduate designers in productions for the academic year season. As a COLA Advising Fellow, Gweneth taught “Awakening Creative Potential” to first semester First Years for the College of Arts and Sciences, and served as advisor to course students for two years or until they declared their major.

The Collection of Historic Dress, of which Gweneth served as Curator for many years, is housed in the Department's Costume Program and continues to provide a rare opportunity for students of costume design & technology, history of dress, acting, and various disciplines across the university. Her J-Term course, "The Fine Art of Dress: Conformity and Individuality," brought undergraduate students from disciplines across the university together to explore the power of dress as personal expression, which they apply to original research into garments of this collection.

Gweneth holds a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Design: Costume from the University of Texas at Austin where she studied costume design with Paul Reinhardt, directing with Francis Hodge, and lighting design with David Nancarrow ~ all giants in the development and innovation of professional training of artist-scholars across the country. She began her professional teaching and designing career at Wayne State University’s Bonstelle Theatre, Detroit, before joining the faculty at the University of Florida as Head of Costume Design and Production, teaching both costume design and directing. Dedicated to the education and training of young theatre artists, her design students attend graduate programs, teach in universities, and work in theatres from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles.

A long-time supporter of KCACTF [Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival] since 1977, Gweneth served a term as National Chair of Design Technology & Management 2011-2015, having previously served as the National Design & Technology Vice-chair 2008-2011 and Regional Design Chair and Vice Chair for Region IV 2004-2006. She served as a member of the KCACTF National Selection Team, 2007, traveling to eight festivals to select productions for the April, 2007 Kennedy Center Celebration. From 2004-2006 she served as Region IV Design & Technology Chair. Her work prior to serving as D&T Chair included serving on the regional selection committee under several outstanding regional chairs.

Active with USITT [United States Institute of Theatre Technology], Gweneth presented The Collection of Historic Dress as a model for strategies in creating strong study collections in addition to serving as host & facilitator to William Ivy Long and Willa Kim in the USITT Broadway Professional Development Workshop, spring 2010. She has also served as Vice-Chair of Costume Design for the Costume Commission for the six years presenting a selected design panel each year with outstanding presentations by Susan Tsu, James Glavan, Judy Adamson, Laura Crow, Marianne Custer, Linda Roethke, and Bill Brewer to name but a few. 

Gweneth’s leadership on UVA’s Faculty Senate began in spring 2006 as representative of the Department of Drama. That same term she was elected Member At Large of the Executive Council, then in 2010 to the three-year commitment as Chair-Elect, Chair, and Immediate Past Chair. This emergence coincided with Theresa Sullivan’s Presidency. Gweneth continued to serve as a Former Chair and special consultant to senate leadership in collaboration with the Board of Visitors, including as team leader for the Collaboration, Communications, and Engagement Committee, bringing constituencies from across grounds together for the public good. By appointment of the President and Provost, she also served a three-year term as UVA Grand Marshal for all ceremonies, Fall Intermediate Honors and Spring Final Exercises in particular.

Gweneth’s greatest passion ~ standing for her students, friends and colleagues to discover their highest possibilities through risk-failure-recovery-success models ~ is the foundation of her creative exploration and innovation.