Lumonics is excited to be part of the Summer Arts Program with the Public Health Institute at Denver Health. We are one of seven art workshops taking place weekly on Wednesdays in July and August. The program is initiated by Sedona Moreno-Castelan, in the Health Promotion Department at Public Health Institute at Denver Health.
The Public Health Institute of Denver Health’s Engaging Youth Expertise for Prevention (“EYE for Prevention”) program strives to prevent the onset of substance use among Denver’s youth. The purpose of the program is to provide young people in the Denver area with a safe, inclusive space to explore different forms of art as healthy coping mechanisms.
Lumonics hosted the first one on Wednesday, July 5th from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. We gave a tour of our facility which includes the galleries, art studio, Lumonics School of Light Art, and conclude with a Lumonics immersive experience. Denver Health provided attendees with journals for them to express their thoughts and to sketch the light sculptures.
On June 19, 2023, Lumonics hosted this year’s interns attending the Museum of Outdoor Arts’ Design and Build Program. The Design and Build Program began in 1991, and is an opportunity for emerging artists, students and creative minds to express their creativity in collaborative art, architecture and design projects. The program generates temporary public art, exhibitions, installations and design concepts and offers lessons in collaborative teamwork, problem-solving and aesthetic and technical considerations. Since the inception of the program thousands of students throughout Colorado have collaborated on innumerable projects. Sites included Denver Union Station, Denver International Airport’s Peña Blvd., Cities of Englewood, Greenwood Village, Denver, Castle Rock, and Colorado Springs. * Tim Vacca is the Director of Programs & Communications.
We gave a tour including the gallery rooms, art studio, Lumonics School of Light Art, and the performance space, discussed the history of our project, and concluded with Lumonics Immersed.
A recent article in the Washington Post discussed the Maker Movement which focused on workshops, mostly in San Francisco, that teach people how to work with their hands, and how they realize how gratifying it is. Many attending are technology workers who sit in front of computer screens all day. Some companies set up classes to team-build.
Comments by Participants at Workshops “It’s tremendously grounding, and it’s meditative…” “had this deep sense of accomplishment, and it was so incredibly satisfying…” “I like learning how to be competent at something. At the end of it — look, I have this thing,” “You’re tapping into a history of human craftsmanship that’s been around for the entire existence of our species.” “As people spend less time commuting, they have more time for hobbies, and more of a need for connection.”
Lumonics School of Light Art, part of the Maker Movement This kind of gratification is what Dorothy Tanner had in mind when she founded the Lumonics School of Light Art in 2018, shortly after she received the Denver Mayor’s award for Innovation in the Arts, and two years before she passed. A student makes a cube, electrifies it with an LED bulb, and then “artifies” it.
The cube has significance in the history of the Lumonics artform because it is one of the first lighted shapes created by the Tanners in the 1960s. You can read student comments and see many cubes that have been completed.
An Evening of World Percussion with Lil Sum’n Sum’n and Friends Friday, June 9 Concert begins at 8:30 pm Doors open at 8 pm Advance Tickets $20 Door $25
Featuring a Traditional Nepalese opening set from Bijay Shrestha (sitar) and Andy Skellenger (tabla) and then joined by David Hinojosa (guitar) and Gilly Gonzalez (percussion).
Closing the night will be a drum extravaganza with Lil Sum’n Sum’n. Gilly Gonzalez and Lisa Wimberger make up Lil Sum’n Sum’n, a duet born out of the collective projects of Kan’nal and Lunar Fire. It is an improvisational psy-trance experience featuring a world beat made up of Middle Eastern, Afro-Cuban, African, and American influences. Hang drums, tablas, doumbeks, dounouns, congas, shakers, udus, drones, ballaphones, and tap dancing drive rhythms that range from primal dance to meditational journeying.
Light sculpture orchestration and projection by Marc Billard.
It all takes place within the ambiance of the Lumonics Light & Sound Gallery.
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Join us for a captivating Immersive Jazz-Art Series on Friday, June 30!
Hugh Ragin and Friends present Sun Ra, Part 2 7 pm to 9:30 pm $20 advance $25 at door
Hugh Ragin is a lecturer of Jazz Studies at the College of Music at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
Raised in Houston, Texas, he began playing trumpet in his early teens, taking lessons in classical music; he was also a member of the Houston All-City High School Orchestra.
Ragin earned a degree in music education from the University of Houston and a degree in classical trumpet performance from Colorado State University. He continued his education in 1978 at the Creative Music Studio with Roscoe Mitchell. A year later, he performed with Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith and the Creative Orchestra at the Moers Festival in Germany. He then toured with Anthony Braxton.
During the early 1980s, Ragin toured with jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. He began an association with David Murray, becoming a member of Murray’s band in the 1980s. Currently, Ragin is a member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
Ragin earned a DMA in jazz studies from the University of Colorado-Boulder and leads a variety of ensembles, master classes, and workshops.
Janine Santana hosts the series. She is Artistic Director/Radio Personality at The Arts Validation Network and Leader/Conguera at Janine Santana Latin Jazz.
A popular on-air host at KUVO Denver for many years, Janine hosts Afternoon Jazz Mondays through Fridays from 3-6 pm Mountain Time on TAVN-Jazz. https://tavn.org
“Janine Santana here…and I want to personally thank all who have attended our Jazz-Art Immersion events. The response has been absolutely heart-warming! Each event is unique, with different jazz musicians, a different film and an individualized light experience curated by Lumonics Gallery. A percentage of any profit goes to support The Arts Validation Network (501c3), too!”
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photo of section of Lumonics by Marc Billard
Lumonics Immersed Saturdays at 8 pm Light artists Dorothy and Mel Tanner originated this multisensory experience in 1969. Although they have passed away, Lumonics continues to evolve as we stay true to the Tanners’ intention of utilizing the artform to stimulate creativity, expand awareness, provide a sense of comfort, and foster a sense of wonder. Each performance is orchestrated live by Marc Billard, and never repeated.
On June 19, Lumonics is excited to be hosting this year’s interns attending the the Museum of Outdoor Arts’ Design and Build Program. This program began in 1991 and is an opportunity for emerging artists, students and creative minds to express their creativity in collaborative art, architecture and design projects. We will be giving a tour, discussing the history of our project, and concluding with an Immersive.
+ Students at the Lumonics School of Light Art A recent article in the Washington Post discussed the Maker Movement which focused on workshops, mostly in San Francisco, that teach people how to work with their hands, and how they realize how gratifying it is. Many attending are technology workers who sit in front of computer screens all day. Some companies set up classes to team-build.
Comments by Participants “It’s tremendously grounding, and it’s meditative…” “had this deep sense of accomplishment, and it was so incredibly satisfying…” “I like learning how to be competent at something. At the end of it — look, I have this thing,” “You’re tapping into a history of human craftsmanship that’s been around for the entire existence of our species.” “As people spend less time commuting, they have more time for hobbies, and more of a need for connection.”
This kind of gratification is what Dorothy Tanner had in mind when she founded the Lumonics School of Light Art in 2018, shortly after she received the Denver Mayor’s award for Innovation in the Arts, and two years before she passed. A student makes a cube, electrifies it with an LED bulb, and then “artifies” it. You can read student comments and see many cubes that have been completed.
west wall of the Lumonics performance space (photo of Jennifer Hughes/303 Magazine)
Therapeutic Potential of Lumonics
Through the years (over 5 decades now) people have commonly reported to Dorothy Tanner having profound spiritual and emotional experiences while contemplating the Lumonics art pieces. Some of these experiences have led to considerable symptom reduction in individuals with pre-established mood and anxiety disorders. This suggests a potential role for Lumonics in complementing evidenced-based treatments in the outpatient psychiatric setting as well as in mental health and overall well-being of the population.
It is possible that Lumonics is exerting its effect by creating an immersive experience that feels safe and soothing, but also stimulating and expansive. The contents presented by Lumonics art works seem to have a harmonizing effect over the limbic system allowing for better synchronization with the prefrontal cortex and likely resulting in the creation of novel neural pathways that can help overcome maladaptive defense mechanisms within the individual. This could have particular implications in the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which are major public health concerns reaching epidemic proportions.
The therapeutic potentials of Lumonics need to be expeditiously investigated within an evidence-based medicine model that will likely necessitate input from a variety of techniques and disciplines such as biometrics, neurophysiology, structural and functional neuroimaging. As a board certified psychiatrist with special interests in clinical research, neuropsychiatry, as well as Integrative, Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (ICAM), I am actively seeking and eager to secure the proper funding needed to initiate these studies.
JOMAR P. SUAREZ, MD
Dr. Suarez is an adult psychiatrist trained at the University of Colorado and a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He has performed research and completed courses at prestigious institutions such as Johns Hopkins and the Memory and Aging Center at the University of California, San Francisco.
Dr. Suarez has a strong interest in neuroimaging and neuropsychiatry. He also carries a strong background in molecular and clinical research. The research he performed at the Memory and Aging Center resulted in a first author publication in “Neurology” as well as an acknowledgement in a different publication in “Brain” – 2 of the most prestigious peer-reviewed journals in the field of Neurology.
Throughout his career, Dr. Suarez has received numerous academic awards and scored on the top percentiles of his competency exams. Additionally, Dr. Suarez has been awarded multiple scholarship and research fellowship opportunities including the National Science Foundation Model Institutes of Excellence Scholarship, the Doris Duke Foundation Fellowship and the Howard Hughes Medical Institutions – National Institutes of Health (HHMI-NIH) Research Scholars Program.
Over the years Dr. Suarez has gained experienced in a broad variety of systems of practice raging from academic, governmental, private practice and community mental health settings. As a result, Dr. Suarez has become highly sensitive to the needs of diverse patient populations and is extremely passionate regarding issues of social advocacy and community development.
