About Us
A Brief History
Cases for Visual Arts was founded by Michael Astalos, innovator and husband to acclaimed makeup artist Vivian Baker. In 1990, the couple married, and he quickly saw the working conditions for professional makeup artists up close.
Michael created the first CVA portable makeup station, and adopted the mission that no project was too big or too small—all deserved professional tools to get the job done.
Early mornings were a particularly tough time for Baker because without the sun, there was not enough lighting to really see what she was doing. It’s a problem many makeup artists know too well.
He developed a makeup station for his wife—a custom, portable mirror with lights mounted onto it. The system included dual lighting options—color-correct daylight and tungsten film industry standard KINO Flo bulbs. These bulbs stayed cool to the touch (unlike industry lights) and met Baker’s needs perfectly.
Soon, other makeup artists took notice of Baker’s portable makeup station. In 1992, Cases for Visual Arts was born.
“The quality and support you get with Michael and CVA are unmatched.”
- Bill Corso, Academy Award Winning Makeup Artist
Made by hand
In an environment when so much is automated, we are still making our makeup stations by hand in our workshop in California. We take pride in these stations, and this dedication to perfection has helped make Cases for Visual Arts the industry standard.
In 2021, we began updating our portable makeup stations using LED technology from our sister company, The Makeup Light. This means all our portable makeup stations are daylight-balanced with 96+ CRI and 5000K. But, don't worry! You can still switch the lights to tungsten as needed.
Makeup station rentals
Historically, trailers are costly and the older style of makeup stations can be cumbersome. Cases for Visual Arts wanted to create makeup station rentals that are cost-effective to production and custom made for makeup artists’ success.
Ready to meet your production needs
We understand production schedules, budgets, deadlines, and how to make it work for your Production Supervisors and Makeup Artists. If you need a team to set up and tear down quickly, Cases for Visual Arts can help with that, too!
Cases for Visual Arts provides rentals across the United States and around the world.