Lighting Education & Outreach

Along with our recent work on Rhode Island College's production of Arsenic & Old Lace, ALD is currently active in a number of other educational outreach programs. Kathy has taught numerous classes at the Boston College of Architecture (including a 4-week segment on lighting design earlier this semester) and is currently teaching a lighting design class at Rhode Island College for the Department of Music, Theatre, & Dance. This class meets twice a week from January through May and covers the basics of lighting design for a theatrical setting. Another upcoming outreach event is this Thursday at New England Institute of Technology (NEIT). Jason and Kathy will be holding a seminar there at 9:00am called "All's Well That's Lit Well" and covers the basics of architectural lighting design.

Educational outreach is important to ALD because of our ongoing involvement with the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) Education Trust and the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT). The mission of the IALD's Education Trust is "to support and encourage undergraduate and graduate education in architectural lighting design to ensure and enhance future growth and development of the independent lighting design profession". The Trust offers programs, scholarships, and stipends to both students and educators. To find out more about their programs, check out their website and the video testimonials on their page.

USITT emphasizes theatrical lighting instead of architectural lighting and is an organization that promotes life-long learning. USITT is open for professional practitioners and students to join, to network, and to exchange ideas. They also offer funding resources and host a large annual conference that this year will be held in Fort Wayne, Texas later this month! Kathy will be attending this conference - so stay tuned for more details from the event! If you're interested in more information about USITT, their website can be found here. 

Being involved with IALD and USITT allows us to support professional and student lighting designers in both the architectural and theatrical fields.