Hanami Nights

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Role: Lighting Director

Every spring, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden celebrates the blooming of their signature Cherry Blossom collection with Hanami Nights on the Cherry Esplanade. In Japanese, Hanami means “flower watching.” Guests are invited to picnic on the Cherry Esplanade and enjoy food, sake, and live performance, but the real star is the Cherry Blossoms.

Inspired by the natural beauty of the garden, I developed a lighting design concept that would enhance the collection and allow audiences to experience the blossoms as never before. As the sun sets and natural light slowly fades, the canopies begin to glow with light from below and within. When all other light has died away, the blossoms remain: floating pink clouds in a darkened world.