When researching the rich history of lighting design, most resources promote male designers that made major contributions. Despite this, we know that many women have helped lead the lighting industry into the rich, diverse, and welcoming place it is today.
Who were these female leaders?
That’s the question a group of designers at Lam Partners asked themselves; in response, and in collaboration with Lytei & Luxsi, they curated a list of notable women in the lighting industry, and over the past year engaged in over 30 insightful interviews with distinguished female professionals, including designers, manufacturers, and researchers. Motivated by the significance of sharing this rich knowledge, the team envisioned a grander project – to immortalize the contributions of women in lighting into the records of the most accessible and widely utilized online resource, Wikipedia.
Lesley Wheel, founding member of the IALD and inaugural recipient of their Lifetime Achievement Award, was selected as the first submission to Wikipedia. Lesley’s entry was recently accepted and now exists as a discoverable, digital reference. However, she is just one among many deserving women whose remarkable careers merit recognition. By researching and creating Wikipedia pages for these unsung heroes, we can ensure their legacies are not only remembered but celebrated.
Embracing this opportunity, WILD has partnered with the team and taken up the initiative, and now invites its membership and chapters to contribute to this endeavor. Similar to initiatives such as the AIA’s efforts to elevate female architects, we envision chapter-based local “Edit-a-Thons” to populate Wikipedia with profiles of these luminaries.
Join us on Wednesday, March 27th at 1 PM ET, for a webinar to learn more about this transformative project and how you can play a role in shaping lighting history.
Did this event already happen? If so, was it recorded? I received an email on 17 April 2024 about it, but the webinar was 31 March 2024.