All you need to know about the stage of the 2023 Oscars ceremony

For the first time ever the set design was headed by women, with production designer Misty Buckley and art director Alana Billingsley at the helm.

95th Academy Awards - Oscars Show - Hollywood

Jimmy Kimmel hosts the Oscars at the 95th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 12, 2023. (Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria)

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History was made at the 65th Academy Awards, not just for Indian artists who won in two categories – Best Original Song and Best Documentary Short Film – but also through the set design for the ceremony. For the first time ever, the set design was headed by women, with production designer Misty Buckley and art director Alana Billingsley at the helm. Taking inspiration from the Golden Age of Hollywood, the team built a set in brass and bronze hues and offered an immersive digital experience to those in attendance.

How was the Oscar set design different from previous years?

The Swarovski crystal curtains that dominated some of the ceremonies in recent years were absent, as Buckley and Billingsley turned to classic movie theatres for inspiration, hearkening back to the Golden Age of Hollywood. According to film historians, this period, loosely from 1915 to the early 1960s, was marked by mega star-driven productions which explored the limits of film-making before televisions became more ubiquitous. Often defined by grandeur, it was this era that made films and filmstars “larger than life” entities.

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For this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, some 3500 square feet of LED screens were reportedly installed throughout the set to offer an immersive digital experience in an ambience dressed in hues of brass and bronze. The Oscar arrival carpet, meanwhile, for the first time in more than six decades, was not red but champagne in colour.

With materials reportedly sourced from shops that regularly supply to the television industry, the on-site construction at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre began in mid-December.

Who are Buckley and Billingsley?

An Emmy winner for her design at the 2021 Grammys, Misty Buckley is a British designer who was also nominated for a BAFTA Award for Stormzy’s headline performance on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival. Set Designer of the Year at the TPi Awards on three occasions, she has designed sets for large-scale ceremonies such as Coldplay’s Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show, London 2012 Paralympics Closing Ceremony and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

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US-based Alana Billingsley, on the other hand, is a three-time Emmy winner who’s worked on seven Oscars, and the Golden Globe Awards in the past. She is considered one of the foremost art designers in American television.

Where was the ceremony held?

In its 95-year-old history, the Oscar ceremony has been held across ten different venues, beginning with the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California, in 1929. Tickets for the private dinner at the inaugural event reportedly cost only $5 and the presentation ceremony hosted by actor Douglas Fairbanks only lasted 15 minutes.

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In the subsequent years, the Oscars were held at several venues, including the Ambassador Hotel, The Biltmore Hotel, RKO Pantages Theatre and the Shrine Auditorium. In 2002, the newly-opened, 3400-seat Dolby Theatre became its venue, with a stage that is 120 feet-wide and 75 feet-deep.

Vandana Kalra

Vandana Kalra is an art critic and Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. She has spent more than two decades chronicling arts, culture and everyday life, with modern and contemporary art at the heart of her practice. With a sustained engagement in the arts and a deep understanding of India’s cultural ecosystem, she is regarded as a distinctive and authoritative voice in contemporary art journalism in India. Vandana Kalra's career has unfolded in step with the shifting contours of India’s cultural landscape, from the rise of the Indian art market to the growing prominence of global biennales and fairs. Closely tracking its ebbs and surges, she reports from studios, galleries, museums and exhibition spaces and has covered major Indian and international art fairs, museum exhibitions and biennales, including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Documenta, Islamic Arts Biennale. She has also been invited to cover landmark moments in modern Indian art, including SH Raza’s exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the opening of the MF Husain Museum in Doha, reflecting her long engagement with the legacies of India’s modern masters. Alongside her writing, she applies a keen editorial sensibility, shaping and editing art and cultural coverage into informed, cohesive narratives. Through incisive features, interviews and critical reviews, she brings clarity to complex artistic conversations, foregrounding questions of process, patronage, craft, identity and cultural memory. The Global Art Circuit: She provides extensive coverage of major events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival, and high-profile international auctions. Artist Spotlights: She writes in-depth features on modern masters (like M.F. Husain) and contemporary performance artists (like Marina Abramović). Art and Labor: A recurring theme in her writing is how art reflects the lives of the marginalized, including migrants, farmers, and labourers. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent portfolio is dominated by the coverage of the 2025 art season in India: 1. Kochi-Muziris Biennale & Serendipity Arts Festival "At Serendipity Arts Festival, a 'Shark Tank' of sorts for art and crafts startups" (Dec 20, 2025): On how a new incubator is helping artisans pitch products to investors. "Artist Birender Yadav's work gives voice to the migrant self" (Dec 17, 2025): A profile of an artist whose decade-long practice focuses on brick kiln workers. "At Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a farmer’s son from Patiala uses his art to draw attention to Delhi’s polluted air" (Dec 16, 2025). "Kochi Biennale showstopper Marina Abramović, a pioneer in performance art" (Dec 7, 2025): An interview with the world-renowned artist on the power of reinvention. 2. M.F. Husain & Modernism "Inside the new MF Husain Museum in Qatar" (Nov 29, 2025): A three-part series on the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam in Doha, exploring how a 2008 sketch became the architectural core of the museum. "Doha opens Lawh Wa Qalam: Celebrating the modernist's global legacy" (Nov 29, 2025). 3. Art Market & Records "Frida Kahlo sets record for the most expensive work by a female artist" (Nov 21, 2025): On Kahlo's canvas The Dream (The Bed) selling for $54.7 million. "All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork" (Nov 19, 2025). "What’s special about a $12.1 million gold toilet?" (Nov 19, 2025): A quirky look at a flushable 18-karat gold artwork. 4. Art Education & History "Art as play: How process-driven activities are changing the way children learn art in India" (Nov 23, 2025). "A glimpse of Goa's layered history at Serendipity Arts Festival" (Dec 9, 2025): Exploring historical landmarks as venues for contemporary art. Signature Beats Vandana is known for her investigative approach to the art economy, having recently written about "Who funds the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?" (Dec 11, 2025), detailing the role of "Platinum Benefactors." She also explores the spiritual and geometric aspects of art, as seen in her retrospective on artist Akkitham Narayanan and the history of the Cholamandal Artists' Village (Nov 22, 2025). ... Read More