In Kingston, where former factories now house studios and storefronts double as galleries, Lite Brite Neon has long occupied a singular niche. For more than 25 years, the neon fabrication studio has worked behind the scenes with some of the most compelling artists in contemporary art, bending glass and channeling high-voltage light into works that glow in museums, public plazas, and private collections around the world. Now, the studio is turning its infrastructure toward a new purpose: Opening the medium of neon to Indigenous artists through a $50,000 residency program called Native Neon.
Launched in partnership with the Walker Youngbird Foundation, a Native-led nonprofit supporting Indigenous artists, Native Neon is structured as an annual residency for one Indigenous artist who has not previously worked in neon. The selected artist will receive a $10,000 stipend and participate in a 7 to 10 day immersive residency at Lite Brite’s Kingston studio, developing and producing an original neon work with full fabrication support.
Neon carries a particular cultural weight. It is synonymous with signage, spectacle, and public presence—architectural in scale, electrically charged, and built for visibility. But it is also one of the most technically demanding mediums in contemporary art. Glass bending requires years of training; color depends on precise gas mixtures; transformers, electrodes, and high-voltage systems demand specialized knowledge. Few artist residencies can underwrite that level of infrastructure, effectively limiting neon to established studios or institutional commissions. Native Neon aims to dismantle that barrier.
The residency is designed not as an apprenticeship but as a teaching environment embedded within Lite Brite’s professional fabrication shop. Artists will work alongside the studio’s craftspeople, gaining exposure to the full lifecycle of neon production—from concept and glass bending to installation and long-term stewardship. The finished artwork remains the property of the artist, who retains full intellectual property rights. The 2026 pilot will culminate in a completed neon work and a public presentation in fall 2026.
For those unfamiliar with Lite Brite, the studio has built its reputation through collaborations with artists including Marie Watt, Glenn Ligon, EJ Hill, Lola Flash, and Demian DinéYazhi’. Founded by matteline deVries-dilling in 1999, Lite Brite has increasingly positioned itself as more than a fabrication shop: it operates as a collective invested in artists working within a broad queer and transfeminist framework, illuminating narratives often pushed to the margins. In recent years, with support from its nonprofit partner Queer|Art, the studio has shifted toward a model that foregrounds reciprocity and artist-led vision.
The Native Neon initiative extends that ethos. Artist Marie Watt (Seneca Nation) will serve as primary advisor during the pilot year, helping guide both artist selection and long-term vision. Watt has described neon as an extension of beadwork—glass as thread and bead, light refracting like regalia—drawing a throughline between traditional craft lineages and contemporary luminous forms.
Applications for the residency open March 5, with the selected artist announced in June and the residency taking place in September and October In a medium built for visibility, Native Neon proposes something larger than a single artwork: a reallocation of access, a redistribution of technical power, and a reminder that even the most industrial materials can carry cultural lineage when placed in the right hands.
