Roya Abab and Mark Stanley

This 11-week in-person course is your entry into professional lighting design practice. Class held in Lower Manhattan, New York.

Offered Monday evenings and Saturday mornings in two 3-hour sessions per week, with additional lab time available for projects and homework.  We will be working with state-of-the-art equipment and working on problems, including:

Lighting for plays and music, programming, drafting, and more in a LEARNER-centered and INCLUSIVE environment.

This course is recommended for post-secondary learners seeking professional training and job skills in Lighting Design.

A diverse group of instructors from various professional backgrounds in live entertainment lighting will teach the course.

01/24/26 – 02/21/26: Unit 1: Considering Light
Week 1
Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., 01/24/2026: Why do we put light on stage? Constructive ways to Talk about Art. Basic Procedures of the Lab.
Monday, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., 01/26/2026: Fundamental Console Training: Getting Started
Week 2
Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., 01/31/2026: View Project 1-Light a poem, music, or painting
Monday, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., 02/02/2026: View Project 1-Light a poem, music, or painting
Week 3
Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., 02/07/2026: Qualities of Light //Angles Workshop
Monday, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., 02/09/2026: Qualities of Light // Color Workshop/Movement
Week 4
Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., 02/14/2026: Qualities of Light //Form (Distribution)-Intensity-Movement- Workshop. Sketching Light
Monday, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., 02/16/2026: More advanced console concepts: Working with Moving Lights.
Week 5
Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., 02/21/2026: Exploring the text/source material for info and ideas. Mid-Course Reflection and Check-in.
02/23/26 – 03/07/26: Unit 2: Designing Light
Monday, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., 02/23/2026: Finding and Using Actionable Connotative and Denotative Lighting Research
Week 6
Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., 02/28/2026: Translating Research into a visual language
Monday, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., 03/02/2026: Lighting from the Humans out. Key, Fill, and our relationship to environment.
Week 7
Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., 03/07/2026: View and Discuss Lab Project-Realized Cue seq
03/09/26 – 04/13/25: Unit 3: Scaling and Communicating Your Design
Monday, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., 03/09/2026: Unit 3: Communicating your Design
Week 8
Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., 03/14/2026: Scaling your Design ideas into a Larger-Sized-Space.
Monday, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., 03/16/2026: Creating Systems of Light

03/21/2026: Day off from Class
03/23/2026: Day off from Class

Week 10
Saturday ALL DAY, 03/28/2026: Field Trip to New York Lighting Shop (all day)
Monday, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., 03/30/2026: Paperwork: Sections and Elevations
Week 11
Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., 04/04/2026: Worksheeting
Monday, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., 04/06/2026: Draft Paperwork: Shop Orders and advanced Console Training
Week 12
Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., 04/11/2026: Final Paperwork Project
Monday, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., 04/13/2026: Music Projects, Course Reflection, Next Steps

Some limited partial tuition grants are available; please see the application for more information.