Do You Remember When We Were Stars?

For the past nine years, Olbrich Botanical Gardens’ annual GLEAM Art Festival has filled the gardens with light after the sun goes down. The event features a handful of light installations made by artists from around the globe. Since 2018, our very own Principal/Creative Director Cricket Redman has served on the GLEAM team to jury artists, design signage for the event and contribute to wayfinding elements to the installation. Two years ago Our team also provided a rebrand for GLEAM, and has produced a mobile-friendly website and digital guide for GLEAM (designed by Creative Director Michael Sambar and developed by Digital Director Simon Kuran).

This summer, we had the special opportunity to create an installation of our own at the festival. Hear from UI/UX designer Miranda Smith and Cricket as they reflect on making public art, experiencing the power of collaboration, finding flexibility and working with light, space and sound.

CRICKET: Believe it or not, the planning for GLEAM starts in the darkness of winter. In early December 2023, we met to review proposals and select the artists for this year’s installation. In March, we met again to plan out the route for this year and identify areas that needed some extra wayfinding or pops of light to enrich the experience for visitors.

I had some early glimmers of inspiration to create some interpretive wayfinding elements and recruited Miranda to make something special for GLEAM together. Miranda’s got some mad maker skills, having spent more than five years creating large-scale installations at Anthropologie, so I knew she had the creative know-how to make a big impact (on a small budget). As we write this post, this year’s exhibit closes in just a few days. Time went so fast!

MIRANDA: I was thrilled to have this opportunity; participating in GLEAM had been a long-time goal of mine as an installation artist, and I couldn’t wait to start dreaming up ideas. Being local, we had the luxury of visiting and revisiting Olbrich Gardens, taking measurements and thinking about materials. It was fun to explore all the possibilities and work backwards to figure out how to bring them to life.

CRICKET: We pitched a few ideas for other areas in the garden, but the curatorial team and some technical issues kept us seeking a better solution. The turning point came when Miranda walked into the CDW office with a cardstock prototype — her first spark of inspiration. From that moment, it was clear that we would create a starscape in which we could see reflections of nature and catch a glimpse of ourselves in it too. We walked the site with the Olbrich staff, got the green light and started planning.  

MIRANDA: It felt amazing to get back to my roots and work with my hands again. The building phase is always my favorite part of a project, and with the help of Chris Meyer at local collaborative maker space Sector67, I got to learn how to use some new tools to bring my vision into the real world. The CNC router and laser cutter allowed us to be efficient and made every piece precise. There’s no greater satisfaction than seeing your pieces fit together perfectly, especially after all the planning and prototyping.

Sector67 became my second home for a few weeks. Chris was always on hand to help and troubleshoot, and I made some new friends there (including the neighbor’s chicken) — it was so cool to see and be part of the community that Chris has built.

CRICKET: Watching Miranda take the lead in running the CNC router and laser cutter at Sector67 was awe-inspiring. She set the schedule, kept the project on track and ensured alignment across the team. It was so clear she knew how to bring our concept from the screen into a real 3D environment.

While it took us a minute to find a common language, before long our team was so in sync that we could anticipate each other’s questions and troubleshoot issues on the spot. Miranda’s confidence in her vision was infectious.

MIRANDA: Working outside was an entirely new experience, and presented new challenges. The garden itself offered up a three-dimensional canvas that required us to think about not just lighting, but how people would move through the space. It was important to us to design something that made the garden truly shine, but also created a welcoming place where people could sit and linger, both at night and during the day. The plantings in the Autumn Garden enclosed the installation and the lights on individual plantings became the stars of the show. It turned out to be quite a trick to anticipate how it would all work in the dark.

CRICKET: A couple of weeks before installation, we got a message that one of the artists was having issues with his visa and might not be able to install. The question arose: Did we want to expand our installation to take his place? While I was hesitant at first, when we toured the Autumn Garden I saw how we could create a more immersive experience that would invite people to linger, and I saw that with some extra budget to expand the exhibit, we could also create a sonic experience. We tapped Michael and Web Developer/Project Manager Phil Redman, both synth musicians in their off hours to help us out. 

Within two weeks, Phil composed a nearly 20-minute soundtrack melding modular synths, found recordings of the radioactive fields of the Van Allen belts; sampled recordings from Alan Watts and Ram Dass; voice recordings from our team; and synth tracks that Michael created for the project. The end result: an immersive, other-worldly landscape that brought the work to a whole new level.

There were many magical moments along the way, but a few stand out in particular:

1. As we refined the placement, the late summer sun filtered through the hanging stars, adding a natural glow that complemented the artificial lights.

2. Everytime we visited, there were people happily lingering in the seats by the shed or in the adirondack chairs, taking it all in.

3. After a thunderstorm one night, we noticed raindrops clinging to the stars and creating their own special texture. (Thankfully, the installations made it through multiple storms unscathed.)

Through this experience, we’ve realized how much we love working on installations. Each project offers an opportunity to learn something new. The process itself — the creative problem-solving, the collaboration — is what excites us the most. Watching people experience our work and seeing everyday things in unexpected ways is a reward in itself. While there were challenges along the way, the entire process reinforced the power of collaboration, creativity and flexibility. With a common vision and a shared language, anything is possible — even creating a star-filled world in the heart of a botanical garden.

So, do you remember when we were stars? We do. And we can't wait to experience it all over again.

MIRANDA: On installation day, our team gathered to place the final stars in the Autumn Garden, touch up the paint and remove the clamps after the glue had dried — you know, all the things. Senior Designer Camille Davis, Director of Operations Meena DeFilippis and Designer Meghan Silbernagel ripped off the vinyl to reveal mirrors that came alive with light. Finally, the vision became real. Everyone was excited to get away from their desks and participate for the final push, and I could feel the support we needed to get ready for Opening Night.

CRICKET: Fellow GLEAM teamer Mark Pennisten placed lights and then met up with us to program the light to compliment the soundtrack and to create an engaging display that would help visitors flow through the space. It was such a great learning opportunity to watch him at work.

We are grateful for all the help we received from Olbrich staff, especially Aaron Wilkie; Melissa Jean; Calla Norris; Will Lekander; Autumn Garden horticulturist Avery Pronschinske, who helped us with planning and installation; Chris Meyer at Sector67, who gave us access to the maker space; Uly Gribb, who used his newly acquired tall-guy skills to anchor and hang stars with us; and fellow GLEAM teamers Mark Penisten and Ben Smith, who shared their vast knowledge and expertise setting up lighting.