Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!

Feeling Festive?

USA Today and 24/7 Wall Street have compiled a list of neighborhoods with the most outrageous Christmas light displays in each state! 

Check out the article for fun photos and some holiday inspiration. 

The winning neighborhood in each state is also listed, so you can check out the light display nearest you in person!

Upcoming Holiday Events

As the holiday season approaches, many local lighting design organizations are hosting festive events! Click on their links for more information if you're interested in attending!

IALD - We All Shine Holiday Event
Come celebrate and support local artists at work within the design community while enjoying holiday festivities at the BSA Space! Haley House Bakery Café and Roche Bros will provide delicious catered food and beverages.

Admission is $15.00 USD and all ticket proceeds will be donated to Rosie’s Place. We ask that you also consider bringing a donation from the Rosie’s Place list of most needed holiday items: newly-purchased sets of hats, scarves, gloves or $25.00 USD gift cards for CVS, Walgreens, Target, Payless, or Old Navy.

Guests will also have the opportunity to participate in an onsite fundraiser to benefit Rosie's Place. Don't miss your chance to win fabulous prizes including Philips Hue Systems, ICA Gift Card, Boston Roller Derby Pass, A Custom Portrait, Art Classes, LivOriginal Jewelry and more!

WHEN:
Wednesday, 6 December
5:30 - 9:00 P.M.

COST:
$15.00 USD

WHERE:
Boston Society of Architects (BSA)
290 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02210

RSVP:
Please RSVP by clicking this link! For questions, please email IALD New England Co-coordinator Haley Darst, Associate IALD, at hdarst@CANNONDESIGN.COM.

IES & DLF Holiday Bowling Event
It's the most wonderful time of the year ... when the best and the brightest in the lighting industry don their festive bowling attire and show off their mad bowling skills!

Whether you plan to attend and just observe (while enjoying tasty treats and beverages) or join one of the die-hard teams out on the lanes, this is a seasonal tradition not to be missed!

WHEN:
December 05, 2017
5:30 PM to 8:30 PM

COST:
Non-Bowlers ~ $40
DLF-NE and IES-NE Member Bowlers ~ $50

WHERE:
Kings Bowling - Boston by BAC
50-Dalton St
Boston, MA

RSVP: Register using this link!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Up Next at RIC

Check out the current show at Rhode Island College that our friends and colleagues have been collaborating on - LEADING LADIES plays this weekend at the Helen Forman Theatre on Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm and then Sunday at 2:00pm. 

In this hilarious comedy, two English Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo, find themselves so down on their luck that they are performing “Scenes from Shakespeare” on the Moose Lodge circuit in Pennsylvania. When they hear that an old lady in York, Pennsylvania is about to die and leave her fortune to her two long-lost English nephews, they resolve to pass themselves off as her beloved relatives and get the cash. The trouble is, they find out that the relatives aren’t nephews, but nieces! Romantic entanglements abound, especially when Leo falls in love with the old lady’s niece, Meg.

New IALD/LIRC Specification Integrity

The new IALD/LIRC Guidelines for Specification Integrity are now available! 

Check them out on the IALD's website by following this link!

These documents provide checklists, tips, and references to help ensure a lighting designer's vision becomes a reality. “Specification Integrity” refers
to the importance of maintaining the lighting designer’s original specification choices throughout the process, so that what is designed is actually what is installed and utilized.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween 

from all of us at ALD!!

We hope you and your families have a safe and spooky night!

The New Olneyville

Photo from Providence Monthly

As we approach the anniversary of our move to Sprout CoWorking and Rising Sun Mills, we are proud to be a part of the revitalization of Olneyville.

Check out the Providence Monthly article to learn more!

Toyota Experience Center

Jason just returned from a trip to Plano, TX finishing up the aiming and focus for our work on Phase 0 of the new Toyota Experience Center. For more information, check out the article, "Toyota closing California museum, opening new Experience Center in Texas" by Kurt Ernst of Hemmings.com from earlier this Fall.

From Hemmings.com

Visit MIDDLETOWN this weekend!

Join these tourists and check out the town of
Middletown this weekend!

Support our colleagues and their students at Rhode Island College this weekend - Their first show of the 2017-2018 season opens this Thursday!

Middletown is a deeply moving, funny new play that explores the universe of a small American town. As a friendship develops between longtime resident John Dodge and new arrival Mary Swanson, the lives of the inhabitants of Middletown intersect in strange and poignant ways in a journey that takes them from the local library to outer space and points between.

Call the Box Office to purchase tickets!

RIC Mainstage Theatre 
Middletown
Directed by Casey Seymour-Kim
Sept. 28-30, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 1, 2 p.m.

Helen Forman Theatre

• General admission $15
• Seniors (62+, limit 1 per ID) $12
• Non-RIC students (limit 1 per ID) $10
• RIC faculty, staff and alumni (limit 2 per ID) $5
• RIC students (limit 2 per ID) $5

Box Office: (401) 456-8144

LightNight 2017!

Save the date for IALD New England's annual LIGHTNIGHT at WaterFire celebration!!

IALD will be hosting our mesmerizing Shadow Play installation as well as organizing a guerilla lighting event.  

HEMENWAY'S RECEPTION:

WHEN:

Saturday, 23 September
4:00 - 6:00 P.M.

WHERE:

Hemenway's Restaurant
121 South Main Street
Providence, RI

COST:

$15.00 USD for IALD members 
$25.00 USD for non-members

SHADOW PLAY & GUERRILLA LIGHTING:

Photo from LightNight 2016

WHEN:

Saturday, 23 September
6:30 - 10:00 P.M.

WHERE:

Rendezvous outside of Hemenway's by 6:15 P.M.

COST:

This portion of the event is free

RSVP:

To RSVP for the Hemenway's reception, please email IALD New England co-coordinator Haley Darst, Associate IALD, at hdarst@CANNONDESIGN.COM by 18 September. Space is limited.

Please indicate if you would like to be involved in the guerrilla lighting portion of this event in your RSVP email. 

Jay sends greetings from China!

An adorable Men's Room sign!

Jay has been in China/Mongolia this past week working on a project and we've been enjoying the photos he's collected of the local cuisine, architecture, and culture... 

including this adorable sign!

New certification!

ALD is proud to announce that we are now a nationally recognized Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) on top of being a DBE /WBE in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania!

Project Highlight: North Carolina Museum of History

We have museums on the brain here in the office, so we thought we'd highlight a past museum project! Completed in 2011, the North Carolina Museum of History fosters a passion for their state's history by featuring exhibits and programs geared towards a variety of different age and interest groups.

Website Preview!

We are working on a new website! Check out this screen shot for a preview and let us know what you think of our new look for the homepage!!

Project Highlight: Cincinnati Reds Retail Store

Here at ALD, we are enjoying the baseball season, so we thought we'd share a past project related to America's favorite game!

Happy 4th!

Project Highlight: The Pawtucket River Bridge

With the 4th of July right around the corner, we thought we'd look back at a past project that can be lit to reflect the upcoming holiday! In fact, 18 pre-chosen holiday looks are programmed into the Bridge's control system!

Project Highlight: On the Water

Since we just spent two weeks in D.C., we thought we'd highlight a past project from that neck of the woods!

Take it from us... it's trickier than you think to make a ship's lantern look like it's being lit by the sun when it's hanging in the inside of a museum!

It's also a lot of fun to use texture to create a completely different feel and location for a guest inside the gallery compared to the rest of the museum interior.

On Site in D.C. - Part 2

We are really enjoying our time in D.C. and of course took some time to do some very exciting site-seeing while we were in town!!

Winnie in Washington

On site in D.C. - Part 1

ALD and Friends

ALD spent this past week in D.C. working on site at a project. We've had a great time meeting new people and catching up with old friends in the area. It's also very exciting to see the project come to life!

Week one of work is now complete!! We'll enjoy our weekend and then it is on to week TWO!

Leaving work at the end of the day!

Happy Memorial Day!

LIGHT on our feet - Competition Wrap Up

Our 21 day fitness team challenge is complete! 

Our team, LIGHT ON OUR FEET, ended up in 8th place out of 20 teams and we collectively walked over a million steps!! 

We'd like to thank all of our team mates for participating and congratulate the winners. 

Kudos!! :)

LIGHTFAIR 2017

Photo courtesy of Brady Nemeth on Linked In

Last week, Jay had the honor of presenting at the LIGHTFAIR International Trade Show and Conference in Philadelphia!







He presented "Incentivizing Lighting Quality" along with Edward Bartholomew.  Ed is a member of the Technical Committee and Jason is on the Industry Advisory Committee (IAC). 

Their presentation was very well received and Jay enjoyed the rest of the conference and trade displays.

Project Hightlight: Tampa Bay History Center

Located in Tampa Bay, Florida, the Tampa Bay History Center covers 12,000 years of history... linking the past to our modern day culture and providing many diverse programs for both children and adults.
tampabayhistorycenter.org

We're LIGHT on our feet!

The team at ALD is currently participating in the STEP INTO MAY fitness challenge with our Co-workers at the Rising Sun Mill! 

Our team is aptly named "Light On Our Feet" and we're currently in 9th place! We're looking forward to increasing our daily step count, collaborating with our team mates, and meeting the other teams. Here's to a step-full May!

Project Highlight: Jim Beam's Urban Stillhouse

Photo courtesy of Jack Rouse Associates

The Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse visitor center delivers the Jim Beam® distillery experience in the heart of Louisville, Kentucky. The tour includes a small working distillery, and the option to personalize your own bottle of the Bourbon created on site.

This downtown distillery created unique design challenges for the project. The store front window lighting needed to meet industrial distillery/explosion safety standards!


Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse
404 South 4th Street - Louisville - KY - 40202

Hours of Operation
Monday - Saturday:    1 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Closed on Sundays

Up Next at RIC!!

Oh the thinks you can think, oh the places you'll go... you're cordially invited to come see the show!!

Join our colleagues at Rhode Island College April 20-23rd to see Dr. Seuss' stories come to life. General Admission tickets are $20.00, but children/students college-age and under can get tickets for $10.00. Call the RIC box office today at 401-456-8144 to reserve your seats!

Project Highlight: Peoria Playhouse

Photos courtesy of JRA

Opened to the public in June of 2015, the Peoria PlayHouse Children's Museum provides children with the tools and inspiration they need to be explorers and creators of the world. The six interactive exhibits, designed by Jack Rouse Associates, foster imagination and creativity.

Exhibits include:

• Sand Porch
• Peoria: Then and Now
• Motion Commotion
• Family Farm
• By the River Gently Flowing, Illinois
• All Construction Great and Small

“We believe that a kid can be anything they want to be. They need only the opportunity and inspiration to imagine, practice and become,” said museum director Rebecca Shulman Herz and we agree.

The Peoria PlayHouse
309-323-6900
2218 North Prospect Road
Peoria, IL 61603 


Hours:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday
 9am - 4pm 
Thursday 9am - 6pm 
Sunday noon - 5pm 
Tuesday-Member's only hours from 9am -noon

Project Highlight:SPAM!

Photos courtesy of JRA

Including this week's "Project Highlight", ALD has worked on over 30 museum projects, 

just since 2010! 

Opened in April of 2016, the SPAM Museum is located in Austin, Minnesota. Owned and operated by Hormel Foods, LLC (the creators of SPAM), the museum exhibits were designed by Jack Rouse Associates. The new space, right in downtown Austin, combines displays from an older location and new interactive features that allow visitors to explore SPAM flavor offerings from around the world, along with the history of SPAM and it's importance during World War II.

Project Highlight: The Antalya Watercoaster

Photo courtesy of Jack Rouse Associates

Today's snow day has us longing for the warmer weather, so we're taking a peek back at the Land of Legends Waterpark project. Located in Antalya, Turkey this was another collaboration with Jack Rouse Associates.

Project Highlight: The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor's Center

Set to open this Saturday in Maryland, the Harriet Tubman

Photo from  ABC 7 - WJLA Washington, DC

Underground Railroad Visitor's Center celebrates the life and amazing work of Harriet Tubman. The building is LEED silver rated, featuring a green roof and energy-efficient exhibit lighting designed by ALD! 

The exhibits inside, designed by Haley Sharpe Design, illustrate Tubman’s life beginning with her childhood in Maryland, and continuing through her quest for freedom, and her time as a conductor on the Underground Railroad.

If you're in the Baltimore area, check out this great museum. The museum is free to guests this weekend. For more information, check out the article about the upcoming opening on WJLA - Washington, DC!

Project Highlight: The Basin Petroleum Museum

Growth of the Industry. Photo courtesy of JRA

As part of our ongoing website update, we are going to highlight Abernathy Lighting Design's recently completed projects!

The Basin Reef Exhibit. Photo courtesy of JRA

Located in Midland Texas, the Basin Petroleum Museum features 40,000 square feet of interactive exhibits that cover all aspects of the petroleum industry and the history of Permian Basin region.The Permian Basin Petroleum Museum celebrated the opening of their new exhibits on April 2, 2016. ALD was the lighting design firm on the project, coordinating with the exhibit designs of Jack Rouse Associates.

Energy City. Photo courtesy of JRA.

Up next at CCRI!

Kathy just completed design work on the next show of CCRI's 2016-2017 Season. Set in Chicago during the 1930s, Romeo & Juliet opens this Thursday at 7:30pm and runs through Sunday at the Warwick Knight campus.

Directed by Theodore Clement, the performance features set design by Luke J. Sutherland; costume design by Marilyn Salvatore; lighting design by Kathy Abernathy, assisted by Jamie Allstrom; sound design by Kaisey Caputo; makeup design by Tabi Baez; and technical direction by Justin Carroll. Jim Beauregard is the fight and dance choreographer and the leader of the live swing band is John McKenna.

Tickets cost $10 for the general public and $8 for students and senior citizens. Telephone reservations may be made by calling 401-825-2219 at any time. Check out their website for more information and a complete cast list.

Project Highlight: The Motorsports Hall of Fame

Here at ALD, we just completed work on Phase 2 of the Motorsports Hall of Fame project in Daytona Beach, Florida. 

Our 4 days of work on site culminated in the grand opening of the Robert E. Petersen Theatre and Gallery on February 17th. 

Congratulations! 

Up Next at RIC!

Chris and the team at Rhode Island College Theatre recently completed work on DINNER WITH FRIENDS, which opens tomorrow and runs through Sunday at RIC's Helen Forman Theatre. Be sure to check it out!

Winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for drama, DINNER WITH FRIENDS examines the lives of two couples and the repercussions of divorce on their friendships. With wit, compassion and consummate skill, playwright Donald Margulies weighs the cost of breaking up and of staying together.    "…Margulies writes about relationships with such intelligence and spiky humor that his comedy-drama…becomes something quite wonderful."

(Directed by Linda Sutherland, Set by Katryne Hecht, Lighting by Chris Abernathy, Costumes by Marcia Zammarelli, and Sound by Nicole Frechette.)

It's a bird, it's a plane, no... it's drone lighting design!

Photo from CNET.com

This year's Super Bowl half time show, featuring Lady Gaga, included a pre-recorded lighting display made entirely using drones! Intel's 300 "Shooting Star" drones were equipped with LEDs and programmed to create colorful shapes in the sky, including a patriotic American flag. The display was granted a special dispensation from the FAA to fly up to 700 feet, which is the highest the "Shooting Star" drones have ever flown.

Check out the article on Variety.com to learn more and see videos of other LED drone lighting displays or check out CNET's article on why the Super Bowl display was pre-taped!

Journey to Mars!

The funny part about on-site work is that it never looks like much until it's actually finished... watch this space for the finished product in the weeks to come! 

Jay recently spent some time in Houston working to finish up the lighting for Mission Mars at Space Center Houston!

The exhibit design was done by Jack Rouse Associates and includes interactive displays to teach visitors about the differences between Earth and Mars and what a journey to the Red Planet would be like for explorers.

 This brand-new gallery opened to the public on Friday and we can't wait to see photos of the final product! If you're in the Houston area, make sure to check it out!