Passionate about challenges, Jennifer Lucas and her team at Star Design Lighting recently faced one of great magnitude: designing the lighting for a gala organized by Saint Mary’s Medical Center.
Far from being a traditional charity event, the gala was conceived as an innovative production under the Cosmic Odyssey concept, held at the Marshall Health Network Arena, with a capacity of 7,500 people.
I knew from the very beginning that this project would be a fun challenge. Working with my team in an arena equipped with more than a hundred moving lights to create a space theme sounded incredible. Of course, the fun part came after many meetings and a good amount of logistics. But I speak for everyone when I say we truly enjoyed experimenting with a wide color palette — blending bright, vibrant tones over a dark cosmic sky, and letting beams of light travel across the room... perhaps sent from another galaxy! said Lucas.
To help Lucas and her Star Design team take on this challenge, they relied on an impressive collection of CHAUVET Professional fixtures, including Rogue R2X Wash, Maverick Force 2 Profile, Maverick Storm 1 Wash, COLORado Batten 72X, EPIX Tour Strip, the color-rendering ellipsoidal Ovation E-910FC, and F2 LED video panels, which were used to display sponsor messages and IMAG content.
Although her goal was to create a fantastical, space-inspired atmosphere, Lucas was also very mindful of the importance of maintaining a warm and intimate feeling for guests, since, after all, it was a fundraising dinner. She explained how she achieved that balance:
“I started with the focal point of the evening — the stage and the side truss structures with video screens — all covered in synthetic velour to bring the warmth of a theatrical setting. As you moved away from the stage, the trusses were left exposed, creating a more futuristic atmosphere. We also incorporated vertical trusses with Rogue R2X Wash fixtures suspended at the ends to reinforce the cosmic concept. We kept the truss height around 7 meters, which helped create the impression of a lower ceiling. The multiple beams and color washes in motion were not only part of the visual theme but also helped focus attention on the stage area and kept guests from looking above the truss line”.
Lucas relied on her Maverick fixtures, along with the Rogues on the vertical trusses, to texture the room and create ethereal splashes of color that evoked a celestial panorama, with glowing blues, greens, and purples contrasting against dark areas highlighted by star-like white points.
The color landscape had a purpose that was both aesthetic and functional: there were four groups of tables, each with its own identifying color matching the light of the guests’ electronic wristbands. “I’m a huge fan of the Maverick Force 2 Profile”, Lucas commented about one of her color-mixing fixtures. “It offers so many impressive features in such a compact size”.
The immersive visuals of the main hall extended into the lobby and entrance area. A wall illuminated with the event’s theme colors, thanks to COLORado Batten 72 fixtures, welcomed attendees as they entered the space. At its center, two “galactic gobos” projected by Ovation E-910FC units completed the ambiance, reinforcing the cosmic atmosphere from the very first moment.
“We wanted to set the right tone from the entrance”, said Lucas, who founded Star Design in 1990. “Experience has taught us that it’s important to build excitement as people enter the event space and get them looking forward to what’s about to happen”.
Guests who arrived at the main hall of Saint Mary’s Medical Center with high expectations were not disappointed. Thanks to inspired planning and beautifully executed lighting design, this Cosmic Odyssey event was truly out of this world.
