The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wis., recently received an indoor LED lighting upgrade using products from GE. The art-in-nature-focused museum will save 30 watts of energy per fixture that features crisp, white light. GE's energy-efficient Infusion LED modules were used in one of the museum's galleries.
About 56,000 people visit the museum every year to see Woodson's Birds in Art exhibit, and the LED lighting will offer guests a better viewing experience while being energy-efficient. GE said halogen lamps were replaced to illuminate the 43 paintings by Owen J. Gromme.
"Although we were skeptical at first of LED lighting solutions because of initial cost, we're now so pleased with the color and the clean, white light in our new gallery that we're looking to retrofit all of the galleries with LED," said Andrew McGivern, curator of exhibitions at the Woodson Art Museum. "Compared to our old halogen lamps, the LED lights have a softer edge; when you step from a traditionally lit gallery to our new gallery, the new museum lighting creates a completely different atmosphere and a fresh appearance for visitors."
The long lifespan of the bulbs will keep the museum from having to change them for as long as 10 years and reduce maintenance costs. The interchangeable modules will help the museum easily adapt to lighting technology as it continues to improve in the future. The museum chose lighting from GE because of its color quality and available range of lumen packages, increasing the museum's CRI and providing more even lighting distribution.
When the LEDs do eventually burn out, maintenance crews at the museum will be able to replace the module rather than the entire light fixture to minimize Woodson's environmental waste, furthering their sustainability efforts.
