The Fabric of our Society

December 2021

Holiday Lights

Zachary Pearson 
IESNYC Board Member
Lighting Designer, Fisher Marantz Stone

My passion for enhancing an environment with lights and telling a story started in childhood. As a member of the IESNYC Board, I am excited to continue sharing light as an art form and encouraging the next generation to embrace the possibilities and never stop exploring. Over the years, I have been fortunate to experience Light Festivals worldwide. This Holiday Season, I had the opportunity to explore five festivals in the Metropolitan area. 

For the chance to experience exceptional light art from international and local creators, Lightscape at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a must see this winter. The installations range from fully immersive environments to interactive and meaningful experiences to share at "Wish Tree," to breathtaking photo ops at "Winter Cathedral". Beyond the high caliber installations of light art, the gardens themselves have transformed into an ethereal wonderland that seamlessly leads you from experience to experience. The tour ends with a mesmerizing light show that can be viewed from two distinct vantage points. This well curated collection of light art is a Holiday treat I highly recommend.

I attended LuminoCity two years ago on Randalls Island and was delighted to see it return this year to Whitney Pond Park in Manhasset. Once again, it did not disappoint. The lanterns are intricate and artfully arranged, with each display creating a theme, a supporting background environment, and a flow from one scene to another in a splendid progression. "Alice in Sleepyland," coordinated background music, whimsical characters throughout, and a charming host character, “Lumi,” provide an enchanting night of fantasy. A section of collaborative art created by children, recreated into lantern form and a zodiac comprised of lanterns made in the image of actual social media animal influencers brought even more charm to this stroll.

While lantern festivals always have a lighthearted, magical, and festive appeal, there's nothing like a light display that incorporates the surrounding landscape and enhances it using a variety of lighting effects and installations. Similar to some of the events I saw in Europe during my graduate research, Shimmering Solstice located in Old Westbury, walks you through beautiful grounds and includes mazes, a ghost walk, an undulating chromatic corridor, an immersive light field as well as an architectural scale game of Simon says with lights. A projection show on the mansion of the property serves as a dramatic finale to an evening of ephemeral immersion. This event should be near the top of your Holiday list. 

I also visited Escape! NYC Winter Lantern Festival at Snug Harbor on Staten Island and A Bug's Night: Drive-Thru Adventure at the Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn. It is inspiring to get out and see the magic that our medium, light, is able to create. These festivals are open until January 9, 2022, and I invite you all to experience one, or several, of these events and add the enchantment that light can bring to your Holiday Season.