The Office of Academic Affairs awarded Jon Retsky ’21 (MPSL), whose capstone project is featured on this page, the Chairman’s Award for her overall performance at NYSID. At NYSID, capstone projects are long journeys that challenge students to brainstorm, conduct research, and synthesize all they have learned. The journey ends with a presentation to a jury of faculty and industry professionals. Our students work closely with faculty to create hypothetical designs that offer solutions to real-world problems.

Student: Jon Retsky
Project: Lighting Design For Historical Landmark Building
Program: Master of Professional Studies in Lighting Design
Instructor: Melanie Taylor & Marty Salzberg

Jon Retsky started his career in the theater, so when it came time to select the subject of his thesis for the MPSL, he jumped at the opportunity to create an architectural lighting design for the Theater School at DePaul University in Chicago. Retsky has owned an events lighting business called Got Light for more than a decade, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, his business retracted. He decided to use the temporary downturn in his business as a time to educate himself in the architectural lighting of interiors at NYSID. He studied entirely remotely.

His concept for the Theater School of DePaul University was “Upstage Center,” a term that refers to the “centermost point of the stage at the furthest point back.” His goal was to tell the story of what happens behind the “fourth wall” of a theater, for example, the work of costume designers, choreographers, playwrights, and set designers, in order to celebrate the collective work that goes into an audience experience. Almost every space he created in this vast education and performance facility is “a nod to the experiences that happen behind the scenes of a theater.” The lighting fixtures in the costume shop he created are a play on oversized buttons, for example. He transformed the foyer lobby into The Ghost Light Lounge (a ghost light is a traditional light on a stick that the crew places on a stage at night to prevent injuries in the absence of other forms of light). In a reference to the work set designers do, Retsky took an image of a cyclorama and put it on a progression of video panels on the ceiling of the main lobby, to stunning effect. The theater lighting is an homage to playwrights: Retsky created a lighting effect that evokes typography by finding a Corian material that can be custom carved and backlit with dramatic results. The visual experience of typography comes from light cast on these carvings. Retsky’s business is booming again, and he hopes to build an architectural lighting division soon.

NYSID’s Master of Professional Studies in Lighting (MPSL), directed by Shaun Fillion, LC Educator IALD, is known in the industry for producing versatile lighting designers who have deep knowledge of the way lighting can contribute to sustainability and well-being. In the program, students master the technologies necessary to execute their visions in a field that is rapidly evolving. One hundred percent of its graduates find employment in the lighting design industry. The degree can be pursued in person or entirely online. For more information, click here.