Adventures in Lighting Design

It's often a LONG way up.

Settled In

Here is my desk. I'm not there too often... just long enough to make a mess most days.

Feature Exhibit Opens

Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America and the Railway, 1830–1960 opened today. My tiny little part in the exhibit was working on the lighting.

I’m most impressed with the diversity of work in the show. There is variety in terms of media, subjects, styles, and time periods. The group of work is happily dense, and for me the increasing modernity of the work was a wonderful surprise at the end of the exhibit. While I tend to be critical of chronologically ordered experiences I felt as though it was a driving force in this exhibit and created an exciting pace and dramatic build.

I was excited to hear that the exhibit will be featured in a segment on Sunday Morning (one of my favorite TV shows). With Union Station and the still active train yards, Kansas City is an excellent host city and heightens the poignancy of the exhibits theses and messages.

View from the Top

My first weeks as museum exhibition designer have been focused on learning about lighting design. As a jack-of-all-trades (and a control freak) I am excited to be adding another piece of the puzzle to understanding the totality of exhibition design. Lighting is indispensable to creating mood and atmosphere, beyond visibility and legibility.

While I took a class on lighting design I have not had previous practical experience. The first days were as basic as learning about the different line voltage, low voltage, and fiber optics fixtures used at my museum. We use 2 primary vendors: Lightolier and Edison Price. It took a bit of practice to learn how to replace lamps, lens, filters, screen, etc. in the various fixtures. It was pretty simple on the ground with a fixture in clear sight; however, it seemed much trickier at 20 feet while gently swaying in a lift.

An afternoon in a blank gallery hanging fixtures and experimenting with various lamp and lens combinations was invaluable, but the real understanding didn’t occur until trial and error illuminated what worked in an exhibition setting. I spent approximately 6 days working in a small team to light a large exhibit composed of paintings, photographs, posters, books, and prints. If it wasn’t enough to be conscious of each object light level restrictions the entire project was complicated by the ever-shifting light in galleries with many areas of beautiful sun exposure.

It's Official!

I have become a participant in the daily grind. I am working as an exhibition designer at a Midwestern encyclopedic art museum. It's a great place for my first gig. I am still in awe most days when I walk through the building.