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Campus monuments that come alive at night
Your fight song, mascot, motto, or values, cut through stainless steel and written across the quad every night. Ball State University already has one.
Imagine it on your quad
Picture homecoming weekend. The sun goes down, the lights come up across campus, and the fight song appears on the lawn in a circle seventy-five feet wide. Students stop to read it. Alumni take photos standing inside it. It happens again the next night, and every night after.
A Luminary gives a campus a new landmark with a reason to visit after dark: a place for first-day photos, graduation photos, and reunion photos. By day it is stainless-steel sculpture. At night it is your school, written in light.
- Mascot and spirit monuments
- University values and mottos
- Class gifts and reunion gifts
- Centennials, homecomings, and building dedications
- Honor codes for schools and academies
A landmark for every class
A photo spot
Students and alumni gather inside the words.
A gift with a name
Built for foundations, lead donors, and classes.
Built to last
316 stainless steel, wired into campus lighting.
Lit for Ball State's 100th Homecoming
The Ball State Foundation commissioned a 16-foot Luminary carrying the cardinal, "Chirp Chirp," and the fight song. It was switched on for the first time in front of alumni and donors at the university's 100th Homecoming.
Good to know
What is a Luminary?
A Luminary is a large outdoor sculpture made of stainless steel with your words, logo, emblem, names, or artwork cut through its walls and a projection light built inside. By day it is a steel sculpture. After dark the light shines out through every cut and writes the design in a full circle on the ground around it. Thornburg Design Studio designs and builds them by hand in Indiana.
Can the design honor a donor, a class, or a person?
Yes. Names, class years, dedications, values, mascots, and crests can all be cut into the steel and projected onto the ground, which makes a Luminary a lasting form of recognition that people see every night.
How big is a Luminary?
Each one is sized for its site. The Ball State University Luminary is 16 feet tall, 54 inches in diameter, and weighs about 3,800 pounds.
How is it powered and switched on?
It is wired into the site lighting, the same way as nearby pole lights or street lights, so it comes on and goes off with them on their timer or light sensor.
How are Luminaries usually funded?
Most are funded by a foundation, a lead donor, a class gift, a capital project budget, or a public-art allocation. The Ball State Luminary was commissioned by the Ball State Foundation. The renderings and mock-up give a board or donor what they need to say yes.
How long does a project take?
Mostly it depends on how quickly decisions are made. Renderings and a mock-up can be ready in a few weeks. With a clear design brief and regular meetings, a Luminary can go from first meeting to installation in about four months.
