Lightswitch Architectural Co-sponsors Groundbreaking New Museum Lighting Symposium

	Kevan Shaw (Kevan Shaw Lighting Design), Thatcher Waller (Lightswitch Architectural), Rohit Patil (Xicato), Ken Kane (Lighting Services Inc) and Scott Rosenfeld (Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery)

More than 100 top museum professionals and lighting industry leaders gathered to discuss the transformative impact LED technology has had on museums at the Midwest Museum Sustainable Lighting Symposium. Held on September 12, 2014, at The Field Museum in Chicago, the new event featured a variety of activities, including interactive guided tours and presentations from renowned museum lighting experts such as Smithsonian lighting designer Scott RosenfeldSteven Weintraub.

Lightswitch Architectural co-sponsored the event along with The Field Museum, Xicato, and Lighting Services Inc. Among the symposium participants were Lightswitch senior designer and former Field Museum lighting designer Thatcher Waller, who gave guided tours of several LED-illuminated Field Museum galleries, and Lightswitch Architectural partner Avraham Mor, who presented on "LED Applications: Big, Small and New."

"Sustainable lighting technologies like solid-state lighting have made tremendous strides forward in terms of quality, reliability, and performance, but often design professionals still have unanswered questions about them. The goal of this event was to answer some of those questions, quell some of the myths, and inform attendees about the progress that has been made and what that means for museum lighting," said Waller. "One way we achieved this was through interactive, guided tours of Field Museum galleries. Guests could see firsthand LED exhibit lighting, some of which has been operating here for years. It was a unique opportunity for attendees to experience the lighting in person and be able to ask questions from the designer who designed and specified the actual lighting system."

A diverse range of attendees, including museum professionals and lighting designers from across the nation, heard from keynote speaker and American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery lighting designer Scott Rosenfeld on "How to Change a Light Bulb" and Steven Weintraub of Art Preservation Services on "What Can a Light Bulb Do." Additional presenters included Kevan Shaw of Kevan Shaw Lighting Design, who discussed color preference in the museum and gallery space, and Xicato color scientist Rohit Patil who educated the audience about "Science of Color and Quality of Light."

"We are honored to have been a part of this special event that brought together such esteemed members of the museum and lighting communities," said Lightswitch Architectural's Mor. "Sustainable museum lighting is a topic of great importance for both of our communities, and it is vital that we continue to explore its current and future impact on our collective work. The symposium served as an opportunity for us to initiate that conversation and encourage leaders in our industries to continue to learn more."