Gallery > BEACON Public Art Installation

BEACON is a 12-foot-tall steel, LED interactive sculpture inspired by African American inventor Lewis H. Latimer's 1880s patent drawings for the electric lamp and manufacturing of the carbon filament.
Lewis Latimer & BEACON Installation Rendering

Lewis Howard Latimer (1848-1928), was an American inventor, electrical pioneer, a descendent of parents who emancipated themselves in 1842. With no access to formal education, Latimer taught himself mechanical drawing while in the Union Navy, and eventually became a chief draftsman, patent expert, and inventor.

Latimer worked with three well-known scientific inventors in American history, Alexander Graham Bell, Hiram S. Maxim, and Thomas Alva Edison. He played a critical role in the development of the telephone, and invented the carbon filament, a significant improvement in the production of the incandescent light bulb.
 
BEACON Public Art Installation aims to illuminate the meaningful and historical impact of Lewis H. Latimer's legacy on improving the material conditions of everyday American lives and his contributions to the advancement of the electrical engineering field. To learn more about Lewis H. Latimer visit: https://lewislatimerhouse.org/