Milwaukee’s Hoan Bridge Shines Bright With Color Kinetics
Dynamic, color-changing architectural LED lighting from Color Kinetics, a Signify and Genlyte Solutions brand, are officially activated on the east, harbor-facing side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s Hoan Bridge. The milestone marks the full illumination of the bridge, extending the joy and visibility of this iconic landmark to even more people across the city.
More than 1,800 Color Kinetics FlexElite nodes and ArchiPoint fixtures have been shining nightly on the Hoan Bridge’s west side since October 2020. Light the Hoan remotely monitors, manages and maintains the dynamic architectural lighting assets and content. The team creates and schedules 150+ color-changing light shows each year, to build awareness for causes, honor holidays, cheer on the city’s sports teams and support other events.
“The community didn’t know what to expect,” said Erika Smith, Executive Director at non-profit Light the Hoan, which started as a community-driven initiative to illuminate the bridge. “Now, we can’t imagine our city without the lighting. It transformed a dark area in Milwaukee’s skyline into a symbol of civic pride and unity.”
The east side lighting, which mirrors the west side’s design, allows new audiences, including visitors to the city’s science museum and lakefront destinations, boaters, cruise passengers and even those flying into Milwaukee, to enjoy the bridge’s brilliant display.
“Lighting the east side of our skyline is huge,” continued Smith. “That said, while the bridge’s visual enhancement is completed, Light the Hoan’s work is not done. We’re just at the start of exploring how to use the technology to connect and engage the community, create new venue and business opportunities, and highlight Milwaukee’s brightest stories.”
Light the Hoan’s annual competition challenging interns to convey their employer’s mission, brand and values through the lighting is a shining example of this. The program has seen year-over-year growth in participation, with more than 400 interns from 14+ local companies experiencing this intersection of technology and art in summer 2024.
Learn more about the other engagement opportunities Light the Hoan has planned, with the support of its dynamic architectural LED lighting solutions from Color Kinetics.
