'Trading Spaces' Visits Baylor Campus
"Trading Spaces" Director of Photography Mark Gambol and Audio Engineer BJ Schmidt tape designers Edward Walker (left) and Christi Proctor (right) walking through Burleson Quadrangle as Proctor tells Walker of her days as a student at Baylor. Photo by: Jason Raddin / Baylor Photography
The cast and crew of the popular Learning Channel show "Trading Spaces: Family" visited the Baylor University campus Jan. 22 to tape part of an episode that features several connections to the Baylor family.
Designers Christi Proctor, a 1988 Baylor graduate, and Edward Walker, as well as host Joe Farrell, taped the episode's introductions at some of Baylor's most recognizable landmarks: in Burleson Quadrangle and by the statue of Judge R.E.B. Baylor. Farrell challenged Baylor staff present that Saturday morning to find the complete name of Judge Baylor, which after a little research, was found to be Robert Emmett Bledsoe.
The Waco episode, which will air June 5 on The Learning Channel, will feature the design work of Proctor, who joined the "Trading Spaces" cast in April 2003.
Proctor is known for a "Texas-size imagination and winning personality," as well as an eclectic design style she likes to call "rustic elegance." The daughter of a Baptist minister, Proctor was born in Rock Springs and raised in the Rio Grande Valley. She earned her bachelor's degree from Baylor in - not surprisingly - interior design.
"A great education is so important," Proctor said of her Baylor experience. She quoted Proverbs 23:12, "Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge."
She shared that her favorite Baylor memory in the 1980s was going to the SUB movies.
"I have such fun memories of watching Alfred Hitchcock movies like 'Rear Window' and others like 'Buckaroo Banzai.' I loved the cat calling and the line quoting," she said.
Walker, Proctor's fellow interior designer who hails from Raleigh, N.C., also shared a Baylor connection. Walker's sister-in-law, Stephanie Trotter Walker, graduated from Baylor in 1985.
Not present on campus but featured on the show will be the Waco families of Margie and Mike Green, along with daughters, Susie and Mary Beth, and Felipe and Marier Belgodere and their daughters, Alex and Cristina. The "Trading Spaces: Family" crew from Philadelphia-based Banyan Productions included producer Jivey Rivas, associate producer Esther Rosa, director of photography Mark Gambol, audio engineer BJ Schmidt and make-up artist Kelle Rogers.
In each "Trading Spaces: Family" episode, two sets of neighbor families swap homes for 48 hours and completely redecorate one room in each other's place. Armed with $1,000 per room and the help of a professional designer, the homeowners "paint, protest and pray" that they'll get the job done in time and that their neighbors will like what they see.
"Trading Spaces" is the most popular show on TLC, scoring the network's highest ratings ever during the show's timeslot at 7 p.m. on Saturdays.