Sometimes, an individual's path into lighting begins when they are very young! We love that the spark for Briana Luckey goes back to a grade-school science project. Briana is a student in our 2024-2025 Architectural Lighting Certificate cohort, and received a student financial award sponsored by Teal Brogden and by BEGA North America (and President Don Kinderdick). These awards help open doors of opportunity for students who bring unique backgrounds and experiences to our industry. We are so happy to be a part of Briana's journey!
That fourth-grade science project that first stimulated Briana's interest in lighting involved using alligator clips, a 9-V battery, and a few small incandescent lamps to create a lighting system for a foam core model of their childhood home. That experience first demonstrated to Briana how lighting can set a mood and can be used to highlight the important aspects of a space or a subject. The initial spark from that project led to Briana’s decision to pursue electrical engineering at the University of South Carolina, graduating in 2017. Their lighting interest continued while working in an engineering job and in 2023, while attending LightFair for the first time, Briana learned of the Light Justice initiative. They recognized the opportunity to integrate aspects of their identity as a Black, neurodivergent, nonbinary person with their love of lighting, learning about the importance of lighting for the well-being of autistic people, and how poor lighting design reinforces systemic inequalities in lower-income neighborhoods. Briana applied to the CU graduate education program as the next step in realizing this new vision for a career in lighting.
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Regarding that vision, Briana said, “My hope in enrolling in CU Boulder’s Architectural Lighting Certificate program is to have a foundation of knowledge to combine with my existing skills, connect with other professionals and scholars in lighting design, and apply this new expertise to the social injustices that exist in my community. I appreciate CU Boulder’s recognition of the historical marginalization that people from different backgrounds face in the sciences and this has informed my decision to enroll in this program.”
Welcome to lighting, Briana!
