IES Webinar: Museum Lighting Controls: Striking a Balance
March 28, 2024
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT
Webinar
Museum lighting has a long history of being controls intensive. Striking the balance between the desire to preserve the work being shown and the guest’s ability to SEE the work can be complicated. Lighting control systems are advancing, making that balance easier to find while also giving designers new tools and providing data to curatorial teams in ways never seen before. In this webinar we bring together three professionals from the museum lighting community to discuss and demystify some of the magic behind the lighting controls curtain. We will be looking at and referencing multiple IES standards including LP-6, LP-16, and RP-30 throughout the webinar.
Presenters
Nick Downham
Nick Downham is an industry expert in lighting systems and integration. He is a member of the IESNA where he sits on the Lighting Control Systems Committee and is an advisory member of the Museum and Art Gallery Lighting Committee. With over a decade in the entertainment lighting industry, Nick’s unique combination of experience in system design, installation, project management, and sales allows him to think multi-dimensionally to overcome the day-to-day challenges we experience as lighting professionals. Notable projects include event facilities at Google, interactive experiences at Lionsgate Entertainment World, and the theatrical systems at The Lewis Center for the Performing arts at Princeton University.
Bill Ellis
Bill Ellis is an industry expert in lighting systems integration and is very proud of Candela Controls Inc.’s enduring history. He is a member of IESNA, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, and sits on its Theatre, Television and Film Advisory Committee and Museum Lighting Committee. Bill is also a member of Control Protocols Workgroup for ESTA, the Entertainment Services and Technology Association. He is a Certified Low-Voltage Systems Specialty Contractor in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, New Jersey, Mississippi, Louisiana and Rhode Island.
Throughout his tenure, Bill’s knowledge and experience has garnered him respect in the industry for his innovative thinking and problem-solving approach to the unusual project. Some of his most challenging projects include: The Sky Church and Artists Journey at Experience Music Project, Seattle, WA; The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, IL; The Space Shuttle Atlantis on display at The Kennedy Space Center, FL; and The Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor, MD. In addition, there have been over 19 casino projects in 7 states, the Bahamas, Canada and Puerto Rico, as well as multiple themed projects for the Walt Disney World Company, SeaWorld Entertainment, and Universal Orlando.
Bill has been approached more frequently to participate in panel discussions, seminars and workshops that have ranged from industry fundamentals to DMX512 to PoE. He has received positive reviews from LightFair International, LDI and IESNA, for his ability to present complicated content in a cohesive and unbiased way. He also present at IALD Enlighten Americas 2019 in Albuquerque, NM and at NATEAC 2020 in New York.
Bill is also dedicated to community service in Florida as well as giving back to the industry at large. He has been a volunteer reservist with the Orange County Fire Rescue Department in Central Florida since 2003, primarily photographing scenes to use for marketing, training and investigational purposes. Bill holds a BFA degree in Lighting and Audio from the North Carolina School of the Arts and has participated in several of the school’s job fairs and has taught a masters class there as well. Also, Candela Controls has been proud to sponsor the industry charity, Behind the Scenes, since 2014. The charity supports entertainment technology professionals who have fallen on hard times. Go to www.lrlr.org for more information.
Business credits and recognitions include Co-founder and Owner of Candela Controls, Inc. since 1999; Systems Integrator VANCO Lighting; Systems Engineer BASH Lighting South; Master Electrician, Walt Disney’s World on Ice; PLASA’s Volunteer of the Year 2014; and an Archi-Tech award winner for Technology Integration in 2010 for the Carolina Herrera store in Las Vegas, NV.
Alexander Cooper
Alex is the National Portrait Gallery’s resident Exhibit Lighting & Media Art designer. Since coming to the NPG in 2006 he has lit over 200 Exhibitions, as well as designed and installed numerous Time-Based Media Art installations and Video interactives. He is an active voice in the various Time-Base Media Art conversations within and without the Smithsonian. Prior to coming to the NPG Alex was a freelance lighting designer working in entertainment and architecture in the mid-Atlantic region. His local architectural design work can be seen at the US Senate, The Cosmos Club and The Smithsonian’s National Museum for the American Indian, as well as numerous public art installation throughout the City. In addition, he has over 100 professional Lighting and Scenic design credits including productions for the Roundhouse Theatre, The Olney Theatre Center for the Performing Arts, and The Kennedy Center. Alex has an MFA in Lighting Design from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is an adjunct Professor of Lighting Design for the Corcoran College of Arts and Design at the George Washington University.
