Open Forum

Hello All -

I am looking to figure out lighting in a new museum. We are looking for the most cost effective and adaptable lighting as possible. The spaces range from 1,800 sq ft to 3,000 sq ft.  with mostly high ceilings (20-30ft) and a lot of reflective surfaces around the rooms. I was thinking of some sort of hanging grid system that allows us to add, remove, or move lighting with ease. That is also dimmable. Any thoughts or directions to go would be appreciated. 

Thanks!

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Sharon Weaver PhD
Director/Paleontologist
Museum at Black Hills Institute
Hill City SD
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I am obliged to say, you will get your money's worth to hire a designer or lighting consultant! Especially an exhibition designer with lighting experience! Some lighting suppliers have designers on staff, who, at the very least, will help layout the grid and consider electric circuit layouts.

Lighting is so important, and well-designed lighting can have a profound effect on the museum experience. It's one of the most impactful, consequential and long-term investments you can make.

All that being said, track lighting has come a long way in the last couple decades and checks all the boxes you listed, in terms of being moveable and dimmable and cost effective. You'll need to be mindful about how far from the floor the tracks are hung since light spreads and disperses over distance - much higher than 12 feet from the ground and you might as well hang big pendant flood lights. Everything above the track gets dark, which may be what you're after, but if you want to accentuate the high ceilings, some additional lighting above the tracks might be called for. The big lighting companies - like Juno and Phillips - have a lot of worthwhile, standardized options to choose from.

Best of fortunes! Bright futures!

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Jason Jay Stevens
Exhibit Designer/Principal
Flutter & Wow Museum Projects
Ann Arbor MI
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Jason hits the main points. A grid is flexible, so it's a common solution. But high ceilings suggest an open, and possibly cosmetic space. A low grid is effectively a low ceiling. Good lighting depends on what you are trying to light: casework, wall graphics, diaramas, open spaces... As much as you might want to keep it simple, one-size-fits-all may not be the simplest solution. Nor is it necessarily cost effective. It simply delays the design decisions until after everything is in place, when you are less flexible. I've seen this. Too much, too little, inappropriate equipment. Budget gone. No experienced or responsible party.

Make sure your lights are part of the design, not an afterthought.

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Tod Hopkins
Museum Media Specialist
443-472-5978
tod@hoptod.com
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2026 08:20 AM
From: Jason Jay Stevens
Subject: Museum Lighting

I am obliged to say, you will get your money's worth to hire a designer or lighting consultant! Especially an exhibition designer with lighting experience! Some lighting suppliers have designers on staff, who, at the very least, will help layout the grid and consider electric circuit layouts.

Lighting is so important, and well-designed lighting can have a profound effect on the museum experience. It's one of the most impactful, consequential and long-term investments you can make.

All that being said, track lighting has come a long way in the last couple decades and checks all the boxes you listed, in terms of being moveable and dimmable and cost effective. You'll need to be mindful about how far from the floor the tracks are hung since light spreads and disperses over distance - much higher than 12 feet from the ground and you might as well hang big pendant flood lights. Everything above the track gets dark, which may be what you're after, but if you want to accentuate the high ceilings, some additional lighting above the tracks might be called for. The big lighting companies - like Juno and Phillips - have a lot of worthwhile, standardized options to choose from.

Best of fortunes! Bright futures!

------------------------------
Jason Jay Stevens
Exhibit Designer/Principal
Flutter & Wow Museum Projects
Ann Arbor MI
------------------------------

Agreed, Any of the top manufacturers will be able to help you design the layout, but a designer would be a nice addition.

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Matthew Isble
Exhibit Designer & Founder of MuseumTrade.org
misble@crockerartmuseum.org
Crocker Art Museum
Sacramento CA
misble@crockerartmuseum.org
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2026 08:20 AM
From: Jason Jay Stevens
Subject: Museum Lighting

I am obliged to say, you will get your money's worth to hire a designer or lighting consultant! Especially an exhibition designer with lighting experience! Some lighting suppliers have designers on staff, who, at the very least, will help layout the grid and consider electric circuit layouts.

Lighting is so important, and well-designed lighting can have a profound effect on the museum experience. It's one of the most impactful, consequential and long-term investments you can make.

All that being said, track lighting has come a long way in the last couple decades and checks all the boxes you listed, in terms of being moveable and dimmable and cost effective. You'll need to be mindful about how far from the floor the tracks are hung since light spreads and disperses over distance - much higher than 12 feet from the ground and you might as well hang big pendant flood lights. Everything above the track gets dark, which may be what you're after, but if you want to accentuate the high ceilings, some additional lighting above the tracks might be called for. The big lighting companies - like Juno and Phillips - have a lot of worthwhile, standardized options to choose from.

Best of fortunes! Bright futures!

------------------------------
Jason Jay Stevens
Exhibit Designer/Principal
Flutter & Wow Museum Projects
Ann Arbor MI
------------------------------

Hi Sharon,

In a paleontology museum, you may find that some of your galleries are more purpose-built and relatively static-but please correct me if that's not the case. If so, it can be helpful to think about a range of lighting conditions. For example, some rooms might benefit from a higher, out-of-the-way track grid (around 20'), while others may call for a more intimate setup with something closer to a 12' grid. The distance of the track from the walls and the coverage across the center of the space are important factors as well.

I may be in the minority on this, but I tend to avoid integrated solid-state fixtures. I'm not fond of the idea of replacing a $350 fixture when the LED begins to yellow or degrade. I much prefer systems where the lamp can be replaced independently-keeping things fresh with a $25 lamp rather than discarding the whole fixture.

I also generally steer away from dimmable systems. In my experience, they introduce another component that can fail. I have at least one gallery with a temperamental, occasionally flickering dimming system to prove it. Instead, we often use simple metal window screen from the hardware store to cut light levels. It works surprisingly well and is very reliable.

Lastly, consider using tight beam angles. We use Soraa lamps with a 9° beam spread. With their snap-on lenses you can widen the spread or shape it-oval, square, etc.-which gives you a lot of flexibility. Tight beams are especially helpful with high ceilings. Even at 9°, a fixture mounted at 30' tends to read much closer to a 60° spread by the time the light reaches the object.

Steve Rosen, who is in this community, would be a great person to talk to. Please reach out any time and best of luck!

Matt

------------------------------
Matthew Isble
Exhibit Designer & Founder of MuseumTrade.org
misble@crockerartmuseum.org
Crocker Art Museum
Sacramento CA
misble@crockerartmuseum.org
------------------------------

Thank you for the referral Matt! I will reach out to Sharon.

------------------------------
Steven Rosen, FIALD
CEO/founder
Available Light, Inc.
Boston MA
steven@availablelight.com
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2026 11:34 AM
From: Matthew Isble
Subject: Museum Lighting

Hi Sharon,

In a paleontology museum, you may find that some of your galleries are more purpose-built and relatively static-but please correct me if that's not the case. If so, it can be helpful to think about a range of lighting conditions. For example, some rooms might benefit from a higher, out-of-the-way track grid (around 20'), while others may call for a more intimate setup with something closer to a 12' grid. The distance of the track from the walls and the coverage across the center of the space are important factors as well.

I may be in the minority on this, but I tend to avoid integrated solid-state fixtures. I'm not fond of the idea of replacing a $350 fixture when the LED begins to yellow or degrade. I much prefer systems where the lamp can be replaced independently-keeping things fresh with a $25 lamp rather than discarding the whole fixture.

I also generally steer away from dimmable systems. In my experience, they introduce another component that can fail. I have at least one gallery with a temperamental, occasionally flickering dimming system to prove it. Instead, we often use simple metal window screen from the hardware store to cut light levels. It works surprisingly well and is very reliable.

Lastly, consider using tight beam angles. We use Soraa lamps with a 9° beam spread. With their snap-on lenses you can widen the spread or shape it-oval, square, etc.-which gives you a lot of flexibility. Tight beams are especially helpful with high ceilings. Even at 9°, a fixture mounted at 30' tends to read much closer to a 60° spread by the time the light reaches the object.

Steve Rosen, who is in this community, would be a great person to talk to. Please reach out any time and best of luck!

Matt

------------------------------
Matthew Isble
Exhibit Designer & Founder of MuseumTrade.org
misble@crockerartmuseum.org
Crocker Art Museum
Sacramento CA
misble@crockerartmuseum.org
------------------------------