IESNYC Members Go Back to Elementary School
What can lighting professionals teach a room full of 9 and 10 years olds? A lot, it turns out.
That's the premise behind Equity in Lighting's (EIL) Youth Enrichment Program, an 8-week partnership with PS 166 in Queens that introduced more than 100 fourth-graders to the science, art, and engineering of light. Led by Shaun Fillion, RAB Lighting and New York School of Interior Design (also a school dad) and Elaine Cook, Barbican, the program ran on a generous grant from the Designers Lighting Forum of New York (DLFNY). Jean Jacques, SDA Lighting and Controls; Phat Quach, Domingo González Associates; and Mariama Nogueera Devers, of Equity in Lighting, were important coordinators behind the scenes. IESNYC members made up a substantial share of the volunteer instructors.
During early conversations with the school's administration, "we felt confident that we could make this work and resonate with fourth graders," said Fillion, who is EIL’s Committee Lead of School Enrichment Programs. Jacques remembers being less sure, but now he’s sold: "I think the age is right as long as the approach is correct."
Hands-on activities are the key, Fillion said: "I would look for every opportunity to get the kids physically interacting with objects." Jacques framed it in terms of early exposure: "It's impossible for someone in the fourth grade to decide, 'I'm gonna be this when I grow up,' if they don't know it exists."
- Week one covered color and shadow: RGB color mixing and why objects appear the colors they do. Jason Livingston (Studio T+L) and Nathalie Faubert (Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design) also described what they do as lighting designers. One student’s takeaway: "I learned that there are lots of fun and creative ways to use light."
- Week two turned to measurement. Phat Quach and Ajin Cho of Domingo Gonzalez Associates put light meters and rulers in students' hands to explore how light is measured and controlled, and why it matters. “The students were very intrigued by the light level measurements and curious about how they can change the measurements in different conditions,” said Quach.
- Week three looked at light through the lens of culture and history: how different societies have used it and how it shapes memory and celebration. Livingston returned to co-teach the session.
- Week four moved into critique. Students presented the paper lanterns they'd built and practiced giving and receiving feedback on their work, guided in part by Ilva Dodaj of Domingo Gonzalez Associates. "We made lanterns and it had to do with drawing and creativity, and I like those things," one student wrote.
- Week five introduced circuitry, with tinkerers Ashley Chan (HLB Lighting Design), Equity in Lighting Executive Director Elaine Cook (Barbican), and lighting consultant Seth Margolies walking students through AC versus DC, how a switch completes a circuit. “Week six went deeper into power supplies and wiring a linear fixture, with Chan returning to the classroom. A lot of kids experimented with their kits with varying levels of success. It was inspiring to watch their excitement and curiosity. They also had some questions that sounded deceptively simple which were actually challenging to answer,” commented Chan.
- Week seven took the group to the Museum of the Moving Image, where IESNYC Equity Committee Board Liaison Brigid Hardiman and Nastassia Ortiz, both of Available Light, connected the program's lessons to a real building. In addition to teaching a bit about film and video, the designers showed how their work impacts mood and the exhibits themselves.
- Week eight closed with how we see light and shadow. Francesca Bastianini of Sighte Studio, Fillion, and Craig Young led the flashlights and water-mist activities. "If we could have eight more weeks, I'd stay for them," one student responded.
IESNYC is proud to recognize these members who volunteered as instructors this year, and the other industry colleagues who volunteered and donated equipment. Anyone interested in joining next year's fun can reach out to Cook, who is EIL’s Executive Director and Co-Founder, via [email protected]
