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2023
WELCOME BEACON
Designed by Michael Runge and Mayowa Tomori
Welcome Beacon serves as the point of first contact for intergalactic travelers in future visits to earth. During the day, the structure is a safe, peaceful space for creatures of all backgrounds and dimensions to build bonds and form connections between worlds. After dark, Welcome Beacon transforms into an interactive light sculpture that visitors can play together.
Designed by Michael Runge and Mayowa Tomori of AMPL, Welcome Beacon is a safe and inviting space where people from different backgrounds and locations can feel a sense of connection through interactive play and discovery.
Founded in 2019, AMPL is a creative studio that builds playful installations and inclusive audience experiences using art, storytelling, and technology. Past clients include the Indiana State Museum, Mozilla Foundation, Smithsonian Museum, Zoo Labs, and others. According to the designers, AMPL's "ultimate goal is to build experiences and games that allow players to come together to participate in a collective experience - so that every interaction is novel, unique, and never passive."
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About the Artist, Michael Runge
Michael Runge is an artist and experienced fabricator who loves creating playful connections for all. Michael is a former camp counselor and he recently graduated with an MS in Architecture.
“Driven by today’s heightened need for community, AMPL creates participatory, inclusive experiences that use art, technology, and media to put people in a state of playful wonder and curiosity. We believe that when people play together, walls come down, strangers find common ground, and create connection - because it’s hard to feel excluded when you’re having a good time.”
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About the Artist, Mayowa Tomori
Mayowa Tomori is a multidisciplinary artist from Nigeria with a Masters in Music and Art Technology. He loves building interactive installations, hardware, and things that don’t exist yet.
Throughout the building process of Welcome Beacon, campers were encouraged to imagine what it’s like traveling to an unknown area and what would make them feel at home. While celebrating the completed project, campers empathized with each other and used their creative powers to welcome those who may be different from them.