Jacob Mueller is an Architectural Lighting Designer and Consultant for Illuminations, Inc. serving Architects, Developers, and Interior Designers on both residential and commercial projects. Illuminations is an agency that represents best-in-class architectural lighting and design products from around the globe. In this role, Jacob became Lighting Certified by the National Council on Qualifications for Lighting Professionals.
"You’re probably thinking - but that’s not theatre. Architectural Lighting Design is all about focus, ambiance, and drama. The scenery rarely ever changes. People are still wearing costumes and moving through space. Triggers and Heaps abound. It’s 9-5 drama without the late nights and 10/12s. It’s lovely."
Before the current chapter in his career, Jacob served as a Project Manager for Barbizon Lighting Company where he managed theatrical lighting and rigging infrastructure installations across the Mid-Atlantic Region. Jacob managed high profile installations at The White House, The National Security Administration, The U.S. Naval Institute, The National Marine Corps Museum, The NEW Spy Museum, The American Indian Museum, The American History Museum, and The Kennedy Center.
Professor Adam Mendelson once explained lighting design with a fish tank metaphor noting 6 different perspectives. Lighting is hard to visualize and even harder to explain, so Jacob now finds himself using the fish tank concept in design meetings with his own clients. Jacob also credits Mendelson with the best advice he received while at UMBC. During an especially tense tech rehearsal, Adam pulled him aside and said, “You need to make decisions faster. Whether it’s the right decision or the wrong decision - it’s the only way you’ll know if you made a bad decision.”
In addition to his accomplishments in the theatre department, Jacob was also honored to be a Linehan Scholar and continues to be thankful for the unique opportunities it provided.
When Jacob isn’t working, he spends his free time fly fishing or lending a hand on the family farm back home in Easton, MD. Jacob resides in Washington, DC with his dog, Beasley.