In this month’s “Museums and Exhibits” theme issue, Amy Nelson from the Metropolitan Museum of Art discusses illumination as a form of storytelling. An optimal museum environment is one where artifacts and stories can be viewed in a design context where aesthetics, function, and conservation are observed.
Here in LD+A, not unlike most of the other lighting and architecture publications on the market, we often highlight large-scale, eye-popping, and splashy work. While impressive, improved illumination is also needed well beyond 800-pound-gorilla-type projects. There’s a reason why The Met, The Getty, and The Smithsonian museums leave lasting impressions on tens of millions of visitors each year, but there are also scores of smaller, local historical venues right in our own backyards.
Within a 25-mile radius of my house, I have explored Insectropolis, “The Bugseum of New Jersey”; the Seaside Heights Carousel Pavilion and Museum; and Tuckerton Seaport and Baymen’s Museum, and that’s not including various towns’ historical societies. These local organizations are generally challenged by tighter budgets while relying on diverse lighting needs—both natural and artificial.
Preserving history goes well beyond the role of museum curators. Lighting designers have the unique skills to help groups create enhanced experiences to communicate local color. Art critic Jerry Saltz said that museums are “wormholes to other worlds.” As the lighting industry continues to innovate and evolve, designers can look to the world right outside their front doors to offer their expertise. Will the worm turn on these gems that communicate what makes our hometowns unique, or are we to continue to confine local history and aging community museums to elementary school field trips?
Editor-in-Chief
Craig Causer
Editor I
Michele Zimmerman
Creative Manager, Commercial Publishing
Samuel Fontanez
Senior Account Specialist II
Leslie Prestia
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LD+A is a magazine for professionals involved in the art, science, study, manufacture, teaching, and implementation of lighting. LD+A is designed to enhance and improve the practice of lighting. Every issue of LD+A includes feature articles on design projects, technical articles on the science of illumination, new product developments, industry trends, news of the Illuminating Engineering Society, and vital information about the illuminating profession. Statements and opinions expressed in articles and editorials in LD+A are the expressions of contributors and do not necessarily represent the policies or opinions of the Illuminating Engineering Society. Advertisements appearing in this publication are the sole responsibility of the advertiser.
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