Happy Holidays!

 

We made it! 

The end of 2020 is here and we're so incredibly grateful to still be doing what we love and to be working with all of you. See you in 2021!

- Kathy, Chris, Jason, Anna & Nicki

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Happy 10th birthday to the fastest theme park in the world!

 Happy 10th, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi!

Check out this great article all about the park from Theme Park Insider. We were honored to have been part of the team working on this park 10 years ago. Here's to another 10!

GWWO Architects just announced that the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center has received an AIA Maryland Excellence in Design Merit Award and been named the 2020 Public Building of the Year!

Congratulations to the entire team that worked on the project! Haley Sharpe Design were the exhibit designers and we designed the exhibit lighting. See some of the exhibit photos below!

According to the GWWO press release, the building was chosen from over 100 submissions. The jury praised the building’s design, expressing: “There are so many aspects of this project that made it the winner of Building of the Year. In terms of design excellence, the forms and organization of the structure not only fit within the landscape but also help tell Harriet Tubman’s story. We are living in a time when Americans need to understand our history and celebrate its heroes such as Tubman whose actions affected so many people. She continues to be a role model and this Visitor Center does her story justice."

(d)arc room Livestream 2020 Conference

Today is Day Two of the (d)arc room livestream and we're so excited that we can connect with colleagues across the U.S. and the world during these crazy times.

According to their website, [d]arc room livestream... is a global lighting design conference and forum for specifiers, designers and manufacturers brought to you by arc and darc magazines and Light Collective, the team behind the [d]arc awards. You can still sign up to attend and ticket holders get access to the livestream replay - click here for more info!

RedALERT Recap

The September 1st event was an incredible success! It was so great to see so many people come together to make this happen. Buildings around the United States participated, but here are some of the highlights from around Rhode Island... including a couple of our own personal houses.

Thank you to Todd Gerrish, who organized the New England Chapter, Bill Murray (head in RI), and all of our friends and colleagues who went out to put up lights and take photos.

RedAlertRESTART Event

NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION TO SAVE THE LIVE EVENTS INDUSTRY

#WeMake Events  #RedAlertRESTART   #ExtendPUA #WeMakeEventsNE

When: Tuesday, September, 1, 2020

9pm-Midnight (local time)

What: WeMakeEvents North America is spearheading the #RedAlertRESTART Day of Action on Tuesday, September 1, 2020, with an anticipated 1,500 buildings lit in red in over 50 cities from coast-to-coast. The goal is to raise public awareness about the economic plight of the Live Events Industry and urge Congress to pass the RESTART Act as well as extend PUA and FPUC to provide financial assistance to unemployed and 1099 workers.

So far over 170 buildings in New England will be participating!

You can too! Tint your profile picture red on social media tonight and share it using the event hashtags:

#WeMake Events  #RedAlertRESTART   #ExtendPUA #WeMakeEventsNE

Thank you!

Red Alert! #WeMakeEvents

Join us in spreading the word about the disaster facing the live event industry!

To call attention to the deep financial plight of the Live Event Industry, a nationwide event will take place on Tuesday, September 1, 2020, from 9pm-12midnight, when as many as 1,500 buildings across North America will be lit in red. The goal to raise public awareness that the Live Events Industry is on Red Alert for its very survival, and create congressional pressure to act now. It is estimated that 96%, or as many as 12 million people in the Live Events Industry are currently unemployed, furloughed, or have lost up to 90% of their income, and the world’s largest concert promoters have reported a 98% loss of revenue since the start of the pandemic. Once a robust $35 billion industry, the Live Events business was the first to close and the last to re-open, sustaining increased financial losses in the tens of billions of dollars.

This would be in solidarity with all of those who work in the live entertainment and events industries who have been affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic and is a North American parallel to the UK event which was held this past week on August 11th.

To find out more, read this press release from LiveDesign.

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi: 10-year Anniversary!

Following the re-opening of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi (after the shut down due to Covid-19), the theme park has launched an all-new Hypercars exhibition. The year-long exhibition is part of the lineup of new experiences in the lead up to the park’s 10-year anniversary this November.

We were so proud to work on this project 10 years ago and we are glad to see that the lighting systems, originally designed for flexibility, were adapted to such a different aesthetic. Click here to check out what the gallery used to look like. We look forward to celebrating their continued success for another 10 years!

To learn more about the Hypercars exhibition, check out this article by InPark Magazine!

Endurance

Our office orchid has gone from frustrating and almost dead to so enduring that we're beginning to think someone swapped it out for a plastic one...

6 weeks and the blooms still look perfect!

If this orchid can hang in, so can we. Stay safe.

Be safe this weekend!

Hope

After years of lying dormant (and atleast two brushes with utter demise), our office orchid has actually bloomed! Today, we're taking that as a sign of hope that no matter how long it takes or how hard the fight is, the world can recover and become a beautiful place.

#BlackoutTuesday

Memorial Day

Virtual World Lighting Design

We're all spending more time at home and turning to the arts, including TV, movies, and video games for an escape. 

We all know that Lighting is an important part of design in real life and cinema, but it's also key in video games! A new system called "Lumen" is a new dynamic lighting system that really makes the graphics look like real life! 

Check out this video to see "Lumen" in action!

You can also read more about it on the Washington Post and will hopefully see it in action on your own gaming system soon.

Museum Tours - Explore Virtually!

Photo from the Louvre website

In these crazy times, many museums, zoos, and aquariums are offering free virtual tours so that you can visit them from the safety of your own home. 

Check out this recent article by Good Housekeeping for a list of possibilities.

Be safe.
~ ALD Staff

A Thousand Tiny Stories

Dear Friend,

We are enduring an unparalleled period of disjuncture and uncertainty that calls for collective solace and hope. A Thousand Tiny Stories is a project committed to building community in moments of isolation; finding purpose in being apart. What are you learning about yourself and your fellow humans during this challenging time? 

A Thousand Tiny Stories invites you to capture a moment when you felt isolated or to share how you and your loved ones are coping with isolation. Your contribution to this project will strengthen our sense of unity beyond boundaries and borders, and support fostering solidarity by means of storytelling. 

If you are compelled to share your journey, send us your tiny story in your preferred language along with an image that complements your narrative by completing the Google form at https://tinyurl.com/1000tinystories, or email us to athousandtinystories@gmail.com Please state your first name, age and location. Your testimonials will be curated and published on Instagram @athousandtinystories starting April 10th through May 1st, 2020. 

Stories matter. Join a community of courageous storytellers in cutting through the fog of social isolation. We look forward to reading you. Give the gift of your story today.

With sincere gratitude,

A Thousand Tiny Stories Curation Team

Molly Abernathy

Nuria Alonso García

Sarah Campbell

Annie Lagace

Kaitlyn Potts

Angela Twiggs

Thank you

To everyone keeping us staff and well supplied during these crazy times, 

THANK YOU.

Photo from Governor Raimondo's official Facebook page

XKCD comic

Jay came across this comic by XKCD and thought it too funny not to share! 

Check out the artist's website if you're interested in more comics. 

Let's fan out and look for lamps!

SOS: Help Our Orchid Thrive!

ALD has been fostering an orchid in our office for the past five years... and it's finally trying to bloom again!

Any tips on how to get the stem to grow vertically? No one on staff has a green thumb and we could use all the help we can get!

Google Earth - The Underground Railroad

The Google Earth website has numerous educational pathways to explore, including one about the Underground Railroad. 

One of the sites they highlight is the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in Dorchester County, Maryland, where we worked on the Visitor's Center back in 2017. The park is site 6 of the 9 highlighted.

Check out the amazing Google Earth website and learn more about other important historical sites that were instrumental in the transport of thousands of American slaves to freedom.

Happy New Year!

We're so excited to see what 2020 brings! 

Want to keep in touch? 

Follow us on Facebook to see all of our new blog posts and exciting news!

Looking Back - The Harriet Tubman Visitor's Center

We're starting 2020 with a look back at a previous project - The Harriet Tubman Visitor's Center in Church Creek, Maryland. 

During her recent holiday travels, Kathy had the opportunity to visit the Center, which originally opened back in March 2017. It's still looking good! 

Check out their website to plan your own trip to learn about the life and legacy of Harriet Tubman.