Yale Peabody Museum

This renowned Connecticut institution, which was founded in 1866, hadn’t received a major renovation for many decadesin a long time. Lightswitch was a key team member with exhibit designers Reich and Petch participated in this huge undertaking by designing lighting for the reconceived museum exhibits, overseeing the cohesion and unity of the design as a whole, and ensuring the protection of the many incredible artifacts within.

From the start of this project, we knew our ultimate goal was to display the museum’s many priceless artifacts in their best light – telling compelling stories while remaining true to the real-world history of the objects. All three floors of galleries needed to be carefully and mindfully lit. Because these artifacts are thousands (or sometimes even millions) of years old, a large part of our work revolved around conservation. Lightswitch collaborated with the conservation team at the Peabody to ensure that the most strict conservation criteria were followed. Too much light could quite literally cause some of the artifacts to deteriorate within as little as a year.

Lightswitch holds a strong belief that it is our obligation to safeguard museum collections for future generations. This passion for caretaking and preservation bolstered us as we worked closely with the museum's conservation staff to ensure appropriate light levels on each and every artifact.

Lightswitch was proud to be a part of this renovation process from start to finish. This was a huge collaboration between our team, Reich & Petch, and the Yale Peabody Museum – and it paid off. Since its reopening, the museum has already welcomed huge crowds back into its halls. We’re delighted to see that our years of hands-on work have produced exhibits full of artifact-centered storytelling that will educate and entertain museum-goers for generations to come.

photography by: Francis Dzikowski