A course at Portland Community College is currently being taught where students use styrofoam, clays, paints and their imaginations to create “haunted” charcuterie boards adorned with fake moldy cheeses, unappetizing crackers and rancid-looking slices of deli meats.

Olivia Vavroch, a Portland artist, teacher and theater designer, is teaching the Halloween-themed class. The Portland Mercury recently profiled Vavroch in its Fall Arts issue, describing the career transition she made into the world of theater several years ago after contracting long COVID-19.

Vavroch designs and dresses sets, specializing in making custom theater props that include fake foods like cake or lasagna that can help bring depth to performances and layers of authenticity to the story. She is also one of dozens of artists whose work is being featured in “Inconvenience Store,” an interactive art exhibit currently taking place inside a former 7-Eleven in downtown Seattle.

Vavroch joins us to share more details about the delicious art of making fake food.

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/09/29/a-portlanders-second-act-making-realistic-fake-food-and-other-props-for-the-stage/