about

Sam Eads (they/them) is a Chicago-based lighting designer, technician, and multi-disciplinary artist. Originally from St. Louis, they moved to attend DePaul University, graduating with a BFA in Lighting Design and minor in History. They now live in Chicago and are proud to call the city home.

Sam (like all artists) is a storyteller and, more importantly, is a communicator. In their opinion, art's most important aspect is the ideas, themes and/or feelings a piece imparts to the viewer. They specialize in an understanding of how humans perceive reality in our world through light, and how a changed perception can subconsciously impact emotion. As a designer, their goal is to guide an audience along a story's arc, using light to frame the narrative and reinforce themes.

As a historian, Sam believes the broad context of a work's creation is essential for understanding the story it seeks to tell. Dramaturgy and narrative structures of theatrical works, for example, are heavily influenced by an author's circumstances. Sam works to frame historical analysis with an intersectional and deconstructional methodology.

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Webpage last updated 7/20/2026