Meet John Wiersma | Production Designer, Art Director & Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with John Wiersma and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi John, what role has risk played in your life or career?
My entire career has been what you could call “risky”. I always wanted to design theme parks since I was 5 years old which is a very niche and limited field. Through a very focused path I was able to land my dream job at Disney Imagineering as my first job out of college.

I’m all about manifesting your future and the world you want to live in. But you can’t just want it – you need to lay out a roadmap to get there. There will be roadblocks and detours and possibly complete failures but if you know your destination you’ll find a way.

You also need to recognize opportunities when they arise even though they might not be obvious. For example my husband and I bought a bar at the height of COVID in 2020 and people thought we were crazy. But through a lot of blood, sweat and tears it’s now a successful side business.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve been a theme park designer for nearly 18 years. I started at Walt Disney Imagineering as a show set designer for Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. I was just started to get momentum in my career when I was laid off in the 2009 recession. This was a devastating blow to me as a young designer but now I’m thankful for it. I think everything needs a big failure early on to make you grow as a young professional. This really opened my mind to other paths to keep my career going and not give up.

A couple years later I was rehired at for Shanghai Disneyland and ended up working on Pirates of the Caribbean for nearly 6 years and living in Shanghai for 2 years during construction. Following that I took another path and worked worked as a consultant for Universal Creative on Nintendo Land and Epic Universe. Using that momentum I returned to Disney for my dream project working on Spaceship Earth as the concept and production designer. Unfortunately I hit a road block with COVID in 2020 and theme parks were dead in the water for an extended time.

But instead of sitting at home, my husband and I decided to buy a bar in Palm Springs at the height of COVID. We had always thought of this as a second career for us and decided this was an opportunity we had to take. Through the months of COVID closures we completely gutted and rebuilt the bar ourselves with the support of some good friends. Now it’s a small thriving hot spot in Palm Springs (@oneelevenbarcc) and we’ve won awards for the best drag shows in Southern California.

Today I’m back with my own entertainment design company (www.johnwiersma.com) and I work on multiple projects between Disney, Universal, RuPaul’s DragCon, Warner Bros, etc. along with helping to produce shows at one eleven bar. As a result of all the ups and downs of my industry, I’ve learned to roll with the punches and evolve as a designer. You have to keep evolving and growing with the times and I love that.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Currently I split my time between Chicago and Palm Springs. In Palm Springs I love the speakeasy Evening Citizen for a great cocktail. Its a great design and super clever menu but you’ll need to figure out how to find it. Frank has great men’s fashion for people who need things you could wear in both PS and Chicago. A drive through the classic midcentury neighborhoods is one of my favorite pastimes. I think the 50/60s was the height of design and Palm Springs has some of the world’s best examples.

In Chicago I love Little Bad Wolf for the best sliders anywhere. Cowboys & Astronauts is a great lifestyle store in my neighborhood. The Riverwalk downtown is great for checking out the amazing architecture Chicago has to offer.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are several people at Disney Imagineering who helped me start my career. It takes a lot to take a chance on someone fresh out of school with no work experience, no real portfolio and just a lot of drive to be in the industry. Now I’m in the position of hiring young graduates and I try to see similar qualities in them and pay it forward.

Website: https://www.johnwiersma.com

Instagram: @jdwiersma

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnwiersma/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/one-eleven-bar-cathedral-city-2

Other: https://www.oneelevenbar.com

Image Credits
All my own photos