Long-time Elkhart community staple INOVA Federal consistently looks for new ways to engage with both its members and the community at large. What started as special event lighting for the annual Elkhart Jazz Festival quickly morphed into a custom light and sound experience that INOVA could share with the community at large. An illumination of vibrant color and unparalleled sound that would create another branch of memories that will last a lifetime.
It started when Shawn Saros’ sister company, Events by ProShow received a call from INOVA Federal to set up lights for the annual jazz festival. After the event was over, another call quickly followed to overhaul their outdoor fixtures and design an adaptive, engaging new system.
“INOVA’s CEO loved the green wash that was set up on the building, but he wanted more,” said Shawn. “I’ve been a Blizzard customer since the beginning and have always loved the flexibility and design of their products. The quality of the products and the support that is only a phone call away is something that I’ve always appreciated.”
To paint the building in light, the team leaned on the IP65-rated Motif & TOURnado architectural lines by Blizzard Lighting. Shawn chose 51 Motif™ Vignette, 43 TOURnado™ WiMAX Quadra, 24 Motif™ Atelier 16FX, 15 Motif™ Fresco, and 5 Motif™ Atelier 8FX light fixtures.
INOVA wanted to completely cover a wall in color but didn’t want to uplight the building from the ground. The team had a 4th floor ledge to work with and designed an angled mounting flange to fit into the walls existing soffits so the lights would point downward instead of outward.
Day-to-day, the system runs on a schedule of green lights, but for special events the team can design more sophisticated shows. This came in handy during the annual Elkhart Jazz Festival when Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers performed, and the team was able to put on a light and audio show to “The Way It Is.”
INOVA needed an integrated control system that was easy to use for all staff. Saros went with 19 LightCaster™ W-DMX® transceivers, 2 AutoBahn™ 8 DMX to Art-Net management systems and 1 Pipeline™ Twin DMX signal amplifier & distributor. The lights run on a schedule, but the team is also able to change presets via a smartphone or tablet.
“It has been magical! Our new system helps us connect with the community,” said Kerie Sekal, Vice President of Marketing and Member Engagement at INOVA. “We’re located in the heart of our city and use it to support local events, causes like breast cancer awareness month, and put on holiday light shows. We’ve received an outpouring of support from our members and AVI has been an incredible partner.”
Drone footage by TJ Jorgensen of TJ21 Media Group. Audio Visual Integrators (AVI) and its sister company Events by ProShow can customize and design unique solutions for temporary and permanent solutions.
Motif™ Atelier’s innovative asymmetrical 10x40° optics are ideally suited for vertical wash applications along walls, scrims, and other boundaries. It projects a 10° soft edge parallel to minimize spill away. Atelier’s 40° angle is perpendicular; its long axis mixes individual LEDs into a homogeneous wash or allows multiple swaths of color to overlap for spectacular gradients and pixel effects.
• Wash effect, grouped pixels, and pixel mapping
• 10-40° asymmetrical beam spread
• Color mixing via 16x or 8x 15W RGB+WW 4-in-1 LEDs
• Weatherproof, IP65-Rated for outdoor use