Steven Rosen, FIALD, CLD, founder and CEO of Available Light, has announced his retirement. The firm shared the news, celebrating a career that spans more than 40 years and includes over a thousand projects, numerous awards, and 35 years of Available Light history.
Rosen’s path began with a plan to spend his life designing in the theater. He found joy in visually interpreting dramatic works with light, but opportunities led him elsewhere. He supplemented his theatrical career by lighting trade show exhibits alongside mentor Rick Chamberlain. A chance collaboration with renowned museum exhibit designer Nick Paffett resulted in his first museum commission: the Virginia Air & Space Center. A few years later, an encounter with architect Bob Schaeffner led to his first architectural lighting design assignment: a new earth sciences building at Amherst College. Reflecting on this progression through theater, trade shows, museums, and architecture, Rosen asked, "Why focus on one discipline when I could do it all?"
Building a National Practice
Rosen founded Available Light with the conviction that unrestrained theatrical storytelling could serve a broader audience. What began as a single drafting table in his living room apartment in 1992 has grown into a national lighting design practice with six studios, almost 40 people, and a portfolio spanning museum exhibition, architecture, themed entertainment, trade show exhibits, and immersive environments around the world. His wife, Susan Gochenour, believed in the vision and became the young firm’s first Managing Director.
Awards and Recognition
Rosen won the first-ever IALD Radiance Award for Available Light’s work on Building 7 at MIT. He received Lifetime Achievement awards from both LDI/Live Design and The Edison Report, became a Fellow of the IALD, and was named to the 2025 blooloop 50 Top Museum Influencer list.
"My greatest achievement has been assembling this team of passionate, talented, and hard-working professionals at Available Light," Rosen said. "Serving as their leader has been an honor and a privilege. Realizing that we have multiple layers of people ready for the challenge of running the firm, I made my decision that the time is now to hand over the reins and cheer on their success. I am a very proud Founder!"
Available Light will continue to evolve, push boundaries, and create meaningful experiences through light, according to the firm. Since 1992, it has crafted compelling, innovative, sustainable, and insightful lighting design solutions for a diverse range of project types, including state-of-the-art museum experiences, contemporary architecture, grandly themed entertainment attractions, and dynamically engaging trade show exhibits.