ET139 – Illuminating Art: Lighting Design in the Historic Museum Environment

Additional fee, registration required.

Lighting design highlights the grandeur of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) while also maximizing flexibility and energy efficiency.

Opened in 2023, the revitalized 20,000 sq. ft. Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries project exemplifies how architecture and lighting can transform the museum experience and welcome new, diverse audiences.

Pierce Lighting Studio, Selldorf Architects, and SAAM will host a tour of the galleries, explaining the unique challenges of designing new exhibition spaces. You'll learn how to consider flexibility, adaptability, and longevity within an ever-changing institutional environment.


Albert Ting

Learning Objectives

1. Identify how architecture and lighting can work together to transform the potential of museum exhibition spaces while future-proofing for ever-changing institutional needs.
2. Investigate lighting design considerations for the historic art environment, balancing visitor experience, art conservation, universal design, and long-term maintenance of design solutions.
3. Explain the exhibit redesign of the Lincoln Galleries, which created a unified display space and improved circulation patterns for the reinstallation of the collection.
4. See how to create an immersive museum experience for diverse audiences, embrace new lighting and controls technologies, and strive for energy efficiency.

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