Portable art gallery lighting

Part of having a good art show booth display is to make sure customers can actually see what you're trying to sell. This sounds like a "duh", I know, but extra lighting can make or break the success of a booth. Even though the Cow Art and More art show booth at the Holstein convention is indoors in the convention center, the lights won't be enough. I'm going to need to take lights with me.


There are several lighting options, but what works best for me is a portable (which really isn't meant to be portable) track lighting system. I will be taking three two foot track sections with gooseneck lights purchased from one of those major home improvement retailers. Why two foot sections you might ask? Portability! I can take these apart versus trying to bring a 6 foot track in the back of a SUV.




To get the tracks back together, I use connectors and put covers over them. I also have it wired to an electrical cord at the end.













This is what the finished track looks like when it's hung and lit. I've attached it to a cross bar above the top front of the booth (this picture is from a different show) with cable ties. The gooseneck pendant lamps are adjustable, so I can pose them to shine light exactly where I want them too.

You can't have too much lighting!

A preview of the Cow Art and More art show booth

Designing a "portable" art gallery space is no easy task. I need something that can travel in a vehicle, set up easily, and not cost a fortune. I found a very helpful program, Google SketchUp, which allowed me to create three dimensional images of what I'm trying to design. Very cool! It actually has been a big help in trying to help me visualize what I can and can't do.

So before I show you what I've designed, let me share with you what I'm trying to accomplish:

• The booth needs to flow well and have ample room to display different types of two and three dimensional art.
  
• I want to give the booth a "gallery feel", which means good lighting and somewhere between a tidy and sophisticated atmosphere.
• This is for an indoor booth display 10 feet wide by 10 feet deep.

This is a screen shot of the booth. There is a table with a shelf riser, pedestal displays, and a couple of wire racks (the black and silver poles at opposite corners).









The floor is wood grain patterned mats and there will be lights hanging overhead.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be walking you through all the components and how they're made.