Costume and scene design are two essential components of performance art. Operas, operettas, stage plays, ballets, and films rely on design to create worlds that inspire the imagination. The Theatrical Scene and Costume Design collection, presented by Special Collections at the University of Calgary, features a selection of such designs dating back to the mid-nineteenth century.

The repository brings together works of sixty-two designers such as, Percy Anderson (1815-1928), Jenny Carré (1902-1945), Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900), and Boris Bilinsky (1900-1948). Productions represented include William Shakespeare's As You Like It (1907), Alexandre Volkoff's Casanova (1927), and Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus (1974).