WorldStage has provided lighting support to lighting designer Andrew Grant and production and scenic designer Anita La Scala for “Lights From Lincoln Center.”
Josie Robertson Plaza and its fountain are the focal point of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. This installation marks only the second time that lighting has been used to celebrate and enhance all the iconic buildings that surround the plaza in one cohesive visual experience.
A study in color and movement, the lighting display is designed to evoke feelings of hope in a difficult time for the city and the world. It incorporates multiple venues on the campus, including the David H. Koch Theater, David Geffen Hall, The Metropolitan OperaHouse, Barclay’s Capital Grove of trees and the Paul Milstein Pool in Hearst Plaza.
The installation, which is open to the public, runs evenings through January 18, but is not thematically tied to the holiday season.
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“Although no opera, dance, theater or live music is happening at Lincoln Center due to the coronavirus pandemic, the lighting display lifts people’s spirits and reminds everyone that Lincoln Center, one of the premier arts organizations in New York City, is still vibrant and alive,” says Susanna Harris-Rea, director of production, lighting, at WorldStage.
Andrew Grant, principal at Andrew Grant Lighting, collaborated with Anita La Scala of ARDA Studio on the installation. Last summer Grant partnered with WorldStage on the first Lincoln Center illumination, which marked Pride month.
“The Pride lighting got such an overwhelmingly positive response that Lincoln Center was looking for the next opportunity to do something artistic and visually memorable for the neighborhood,” said Grant.
“But where the Pride lighting was a completely static look, this project has more components and is cued out with more colors and movement,” he said. “Lincoln Center wanted to make the campus feel alive for the holidays and a bit beyond since the buildings are dark due to the pandemic.
“Anita and I had the idea to instill a sense of hope with the interplay between the warm and cool colors of the spectrum reminiscent of a cozy hearth or the Aurora Borealis,” said Grant.
Lights from Lincoln Center, December 10, 2020. Photo by Sachyn Mital.
Lights from Lincoln Center
Grant and La Scala created a complete environment that includes lanterns in the reflecting pool and a two-hour light show, alternating long and short segments and featuring different colors and movement.
The show is looped to play for the evening; the next day, the show will display in a different order so no two nights are ever the same.
Four Chauvet COLORado 1 Solo LED wash fixtures from WorldStage are positioned at the base of each column of each building on the Plaza, except for the Metropolitan Opera House where they are mounted on truss above the public’s heads.
Fourteen more COLORado 1 Solos are hung from a circle truss in the center of the adjacent Barclay’s Capital Grove to illuminate the trees in a display coordinated with the Plaza light show.
The west wall of the Koch Theater, which faces Damrosch Park, provides the installation’s largest canvas, allowing a lot of creative space for Grant. He uses Chauvet COLORado Solo Battens light the architectural columns and Chauvet MK3 Profiles to add color, texture and movement.
Astera AX5 LED PARs serve as truss warmers for the all the structures on campus, rounding out the immersive experience.
In addition to their deployment on the Lincoln Center campus, Solo Battens are mounted on the back wall of the band shell in the campus’s Damrosch Park to light a new pair of vibrant and joyful murals from LaScala and ARDA Studio along Amsterdam Avenue.
“The battens give a nice even wash of the murals, and their clean white (5700K) allows the color to really pop,” notes Grant. This piece, “Message of Hope,” can be enjoyed by the public 24 hours a day.
The show is programmed on an ETC Gio from WorldStage. The lighting display runs autonomously with real time cues on an ETC Ion, which triggers the show to start half-an-hour before sunset.
Lights from Lincoln Center, December 10, 2020. Photo by Sachyn Mital.
