"Out of Darkness, Light" The story behind the 2016 "Christmas at Luther" backdrop

The final backdrop design (image courtesy of Michael Bartels)

"Christmas at Luther" is a musical celebration of Christmas in the college's Center for Faith and Life. The five concerts feature performances by over 500 student musicians under the direction six directors.

In addition to the musicians and directors, many others are involved in the "Christmas at Luther" production. The person responsible for the backdrop in the CFL is Luther's Director of Publications and Design, Michael Bartels.

The design idea for this year's backdrop came to Bartels in 2015 when he was on Maui, Hawaii with a Luther class. He took a photo of a sunset at Haleakula, a dormant volcano with an elevation of 10,000 feet. His photo of that remarkable sunset was the basis for this year's design. He says, "It's stunning to see the sun set into a pillow of clouds---without the traditional horizon line. So that is what I saw in my mind's eye when the theme 'Out of Darkness, Light' was revealed to me."

The process for developing the backdrop began with the conductors (the artistic team) who chose a theme last spring. Over the summer Bartels gathered and pondered ideas and started to formulate a direction. Taking the Haleakula photo as a starting point, and then using Adobe Illustrator, he began the digital drawing; the stars, cosmos, extra clouds, additional rays of light--some which subtly correspond to the color of choir robes.

In late summer and into the fall, Bartels sent drafts back and forth with the artistic team and together they reached the point where they felt the backdrop and the theme were in harmony. Depending on the complexity of the artwork and the number of revisions needed, the design can take between 20 and 40 hours of time spread out over late summer and fall.

Next, a large theatrical supply company digitally printed the backdrop in Germany because the equipment is not available stateside. This year's backdrop is printed on one complete 48 x 24 foot piece of muslin cloth. It weighs about 80 pounds and fits in a box that could fit in a car trunk.

The last step in the process is the installation. Campus programming technicians Kendall Thompsen and Paul Atkins install the backdrop in the CFL, mist it with water to help remove any wrinkles, and also set up the lighting to make the backdrop vividly pop.

The original photo (photo courtesy of Michael Bartels)

The cropped original (photo courtesy of Michael Bartels)