Ayrton is proud to be a new sponsor for Women in Lighting, the international support and networking project for women in both architectural and entertainment lighting. Ayrton’s primary aim is to raise awareness of, and expand, this global network across the entertainment lighting industry.
Launched in 2019 on International Women’s Day by Light Collective, Women in Lighting (WIL) is a digital forum where women can inspire, support and encourage the next generation of female lighting designers. It provides a platform on which women designers can share their passions and achievements and celebrate their work. Its worldwide programme of events and activities is augmented by a series of online interviews where women share their career paths and goals with other members. (https://womeninlighting.com/site/your-interviews)
In two short years the project has grown rapidly and is now represented in over 70 countries by its network of ‘ambassadors’, women who act as a point of contact for those seeking to discover more about WIL, join the supportive community and benefit from the many online activities which are tailored to the different needs within each country.
Until now WIL has focused largely on women working in architectural lighting, but the new collaboration with Ayrton brings a new engagement with the entertainment lighting industry, and an opportunity to raise awareness and expand the network into a different market.
“Our intention is to build bridges between different lighting industries as well as redress the balance of the heavy bias towards male lighting designers,” says Sharon Stammers, co-founder with Martin Lupton of Light Collective and Women in Lighting. “However, Women in Lighting is not only about gender equity. It’s also about inclusivity and how this is beneficial to an industry as a whole. Ayrton is perfectly placed with its great knowledge of and connections within the entertainment industry and is the ideal partner to help us spread the awareness of WIL and how it can help people.”
To mark the start of this new collaboration between Ayrton and WIL, an online workshop will be held on 14 September 2021 from 13.00 – 15.00 BST. Registrations can be made via this link: https://hopin.com/events/women-in-lighting-moving-lights. Ayrton is also sponsoring 3 new interviews from international stage and television lighting designers which will be launched alongside the workshop. The interviews will appear as Project interviews on the WIL website http://www.womeninlighting.com
