From normal to New York: How theatre design lit the way for Levia Lew

That resourceful instinct to find creative solutions carried Lew, M.F.A. ’03, through the experimental theatre scene in D.C., a mindset she developed years earlier as a graduate student at Illinois State University’s School of Theatre, Dance, and Film.

Today, Lew is the co-founder and president of Reveal Design Group, an award-winning New York-based lighting design firm known for its work in hospitality, retail, and architectural spaces.

Long before designing luxury interiors and tastemaking in Manhattan, Lew was a curious teenager from Seattle volunteering as a science interpreter, climbing ladders at the Smithsonian Institution, and discovering how storytelling, light, and space shape the human experience.

Growing up in a Chinese immigrant household, Lew said education was heavily emphasized, and creativity was always embedded in her family’s history.

“My mother’s family is full of artists and teachers,” Lew said. “I think there’s something inherent in our line that is driven towards the arts.”

During high school, she volunteered and later worked as a science interpreter at the Pacific Science Center, where she helped visitors engage with exhibits ranging from marine biology and robotics to paleontology and animal science.

“It was this unexpected environment where people were really curious and focused on creating dialogue structures that could get through to kids and discuss complicated science concepts,” said Lew. “That experience got me interested in theatre as a narrative storytelling medium.”

Lew graduated from Randolph College in 2000, where she studied art history and theatre design. During her undergraduate years, she interned at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, an experience that introduced her to exhibition design and lighting.

While exploring graduate schools, Lew said many programs wanted students to specialize immediately. Illinois State University stood apart. Lew said Illinois State faculty encouraged her to explore multiple disciplines rather than forcing her into a single track.

“ISU was the first and only school to say to me, ‘You can explore both. You can explore other things. You don’t have to decide right now,’” Lew said. “I found that appealing.”

Lew enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts program in scene design. She credits former professors like John Stark, Dan Browder, Bill Ruyle, and Julie Mack for creating an environment that encouraged experimentation and creative problem-solving.

“They never told me what I couldn’t do,” Lew said. “If you can’t take risks in school where the stakes are low, where else can you fail? This is the time to push boundaries.”

Stark, professor emeritus at the School of Theatre, Dance, and Film, said experimentation and hands-on learning were central to the program’s philosophy during Lew’s time at Illinois State.

“The classroom was a place for experimentation and exploration,” Stark said. “That was tested when students then practiced and tested those discoveries on realized productions on the ISU stages.”

Stark said students regularly designed productions across multiple genres, giving them opportunities to apply their skills in real-world settings before entering the professional industry.

“Levia worked hard to honor each and every experience that came her way,” Stark said.

“They never told me what I couldn’t do. If you can’t take risks in school where the stakes are low, where else can you fail? This is the time to push boundaries.”

—Levia Lew, M.F.A. ’03

At Illinois State, Lew explored multiple disciplines, including scenic painting, lighting design, and production work. She said the School of Theatre, Dance, and Film fostered a culture where graduate and undergraduate students regularly collaborated and learned from one another.

“I really liked that there was a sense of camaraderie between the graduate and undergraduate students. Everyone had different skill sets to bring in,” she said.

While many aspiring designers focused on reaching major markets as quickly as possible, Lew said her years in Normal gave her something different: focus.

“I wasn’t interested in the major markets. I was interested in myself,” she said. “My attitude has always been to enrich yourself intellectually, and the rest will follow, no matter where you are.”

After graduating, Lew moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked professionally with organizations including Arena Stage and the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Around the same time, her earlier Smithsonian connections led to a role designing exhibitions at the National Museum of the American Indian.

At the museum, Lew learned how lighting affected materials ranging from oils and fabrics to paper and glass—technical knowledge that would later influence her architectural lighting work.

“I started seeing the cross-pollination points between theatres and museums,” Lew said. “It was still storytelling. It was still narrative.”

Despite her growing experience, Lew found it difficult to break into established theatrical circles in D.C., where connections to elite arts institutions often dictated opportunities. Instead of waiting for doors to open, she and collaborators created their own.

In 2006, Lew joined “banished? Productions,” an experimental theatre collective founded the previous year that staged performances in unconventional locations throughout D.C., including alleyways, retirement homes, bars, and art galleries.

“We were literally making theater out of nothing,” she said. “Everything I learned from ISU, I put into use.”

Those years of improvisation and resourcefulness became foundational to Lew’s creative philosophy, and later, her business approach.

Following the economic downturn in 2008, Lew and her future husband, Ken Ventry, found themselves unexpectedly unemployed from separate lighting firms in New York. Rather than wait for new opportunities, the pair decided to start their own company from their Chelsea apartment dining table.

That company would eventually become Reveal Design Group.

“We had laptops, flash drives, and borrowed resources,” she said. “We were just trying to figure it out one day at a time.”

Since then, the firm has grown into an internationally recognized design studio known for its immersive and material-focused lighting work. Lew said the company still operates with the same “scrappy” mentality it began with nearly two decades ago.

Lew leads projects across hospitality, retail, and architectural spaces while continuing to approach design through the lens of storytelling, textures, and human experience. She said her theatre background continues to influence every aspect of her work.

“We like doing things for the joy of doing things. Not for the fame or the recognition,” she said.

For current Illinois State students trying to find their path, Lew encourages them to remain curious and resist the pressure to define themselves too early.

“Don’t say no to the things that interest you,” she said. “Run towards the things that scare you. Those are usually the things that teach you the most.”