Cheech Marin Center “Lights Up”

Building on the expertise acquired over the years in the field of lighting works of art around the world, Italian lighting manufacturer Targetti – which operates its Targetti USA headquarters in California – was selected to illuminate the works of Chicano Art in the celebrated Cheech Marin Center in Riverside, California. The Los Angeles-based architectural firm Page & Turnbull worked with museum architects WHY to convert a 1964 Mid-Century library into a modern museum and cultural center.

While preserving the historic and vintage aspects of the original building – such as the exposed brick walls, the stainless-steel framework, and aluminum stair railings with restored decorative polyester panels – the design team was able to transform the historic building to represent something entirely new both inside and out. The lighting design plan was handled by the Los Angeles office of HLB Lighting.

Affectionately dubbed “The Cheech,” the Center is a public-private partnership between RAM, the City of Riverside, and comedian Cheech Marin. The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture is intended to be a locus of Chicano painting, sculpture, and photography. Its 61,420 square feet of space is curated with a variety of paintings from Cheech Marin, who is one of the world’s foremost collectors of Chicano art.

“It is a historic building, so careful integration of modern products into a historic building is really important,” said Tina Aghassian, Senior Principal Designer at HLB Lighting. “We wanted to make sure the products are very simple looking and don’t call attention to them.”

The design team used more than 500 pieces of Targetti’s versatile LEDO track lighting with Dynamic Beam Shaping (DBS) technology to provide the main source of illumination throughout the museum. The LEDO DBS luminaires with the Euro-standard Surface Track were installed in the museum galleries and common areas. Specifically designed for museum lighting, LEDO track light projectors provide precise beam control, high color quality of the light, and excellent color rendering.

“We chose the Targetti fixtures because we experienced first-hand the great job they did in the museums in Italy,” noted Aghassian. “We wanted to look at future technology — that’s why we chose LEDO with DBS and Casambi to give us the flexibility to change the beam spread with the touch of a button. We felt that this would be helpful to the museum staff.”

LEDO DBS combines the most advanced optical system technology with wireless control, all in one fixture. The Dynamic Beam Shaping features maximum optical flexibility without the use of any mechanical parts. It is controlled via wireless bluetooth through the Casambi® app interface, allowing for individual fixture, beam, and dimming control. Targetti, and the exclusive technology from American company LensVector, brought about the development of fixtures fitted with an optical system that can dynamically vary the beam opening angle passing in a gradual manner from a more concentrated SPOT (around 10°) emission to a wider Wide Flood (around 50°), flowing fluidly through all the all points in between. The LensVector technology uses flat lenses equipped with liquid crystal molecules whose orientation is controlled by an electric field capable of activating a process of light diffusion up to a maximum of 50 degrees. This technology is based on the use of liquid crystal lenses, making it possible to vary the beam without any mechanical or mobile parts and instead relying on the smart lighting control system.

“Beam shaping can be done mechanically or electronically,” said Howard Earhart, LensVector CEO. “Our electronic approach means fewer parts, a simpler system, and a more reliable luminaire. Now matched with a fantastic collimating optic and holder, it’s easier and faster than ever to deliver beam shaping capability.”

Lighting throughout the museum is controlled by Casambi with various wall panel controllers and every fixture can be controlled wirelessly through the Casambi® app interface.

“This project showcases another ‘Best of Industry’ solution exemplifying our collaboration with Casambi Eco-System Partners,” remarked Peter Augusta, General Manager/NA, Casambi Technologies. “Casambi’s open ‘Eco-System’ approach empowers lighting and control device manufacturers to easily join the wireless mesh network revolution, creating a marketplace of luminaries, sensors, switches, and other devices from which specifiers can choose.”

The DBS technology is available in both the LEDO Track as well as the LEDO Canopy and a number of other Targetti track light projectors in their portfolio.