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About Us

Our Mission

The Stein Luminary invites the Boise State community to explore creative arts, cultural sites, and scientific phenomena from around the globe. We foster interdisciplinary collaboration and research-based innovation by featuring exhibitions, performances, and installations of emerging media. Our participatory content generates vital and meaningful conversations about arts, humanities, technology, and science.

The Stein Luminary collaborates with Downstream, a global expert in experiential design headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and advances Downstream’s expansive portfolio of integrated digital and physical experiences in global tech hubs, flagship retailers, major sports venues and other destination spaces around the world.

For questions, please email luminary@boisestate.edu.

Inside the Luminary

In this video, learn more about the Keith and Catherine Stein Luminary from Interim Director, Lisa Hunt. This video is available with captions and a transcript.

Video Transcript
visitor observing art exhibit
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About Keith and Catherine Stein

Catherine Stein is the owner and CEO of Stein Distributing Company, which was founded by her late husband, Keith Stein. Over the years, Keith and Catherine invested philanthropic gifts to help build and enrich several Boise State University programs and facilities.

To continue Keith’s memory and their support of the arts at Boise State, Catherine sponsored the creation of the Keith and Catherine Stein Luminary – a cutting-edge digital museum with immersive and interactive screens that feature arts, cultures, and emerging media from around the world.

In 1986, Keith and Catherine revitalized the Broncos’ marching band, now called the Keith Stein Blue Thunder Marching Band. The Keith & Catherine Stein Band Hall opened in 2006. The couple were also the recipients of the 2003 Boise State Silver Medallion Award.

People

  • Portrait of Lisa Hunt in the stein luminary

    Lisa Moore Hunt, Ph.D.

    Interim Director of the Keith and Catherine Stein Luminary

    Lisa Hunt has twenty years of experience teaching the history of art in higher education, with emphases in Medieval, Renaissance, and Islamic arts and architecture, as well as museum studies. Her research and publications on medieval illuminated manuscript books took her into the collections of monasteries, municipal libraries, and national museums of northern Europe where she worked with the latest digital photographic technologies and archival databases. Her current work explores the pedagogical power of immersive, digital, and experiential learning, through mining museum and archival collections and rethinking curatorial narratives for new museum audiences.

    Hunt earned a B.A. in Art History and Museum Studies from Rhodes College in Memphis,Tennessee, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Art History and Archaeology from University of Missouri-Columbia. Her dissertation and subsequent publications were supported by a Fulbright grant to Belgium and awards from the Samuel H. Kress and the Belgian American Educational Foundations, among others. Hunt founded and directed the Museum Studies minor and Art History major at University of Wyoming before moving to Idaho to teach in the University Foundations and Art, Design, and Visual Studies programs at Boise State.

    School of the Arts

    Lisa Hunt has twenty years of experience teaching the history of art in higher education, with emphases in Medieval, Renaissance, and Islamic arts and architecture, as well as museum studies. Her research and publications on medieval illuminated manuscript books took her into the collections of monasteries, municipal libraries, and national museums of northern Europe where she worked with the latest digital photographic technologies and archival databases. Her current work explores the pedagogical power of immersive, digital, and experiential learning, through mining museum and archival collections and rethinking curatorial narratives for new museum audiences.

    Hunt earned a B.A. in Art History and Museum Studies from Rhodes College in Memphis,Tennessee, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Art History and Archaeology from University of Missouri-Columbia. Her dissertation and subsequent publications were supported by a Fulbright grant to Belgium and awards from the Samuel H. Kress and the Belgian American Educational Foundations, among others. Hunt founded and directed the Museum Studies minor and Art History major at University of Wyoming before moving to Idaho to teach in the University Foundations and Art, Design, and Visual Studies programs at Boise State.

  • Steve Cutchin headshot

    Steve Cutchin, Ph.D.

    Director of Research Computing, Professor of Computer Science

    As the software architect of the Stein Luminary, Steve Cutchin brings to Boise State his leadership experience in visualization and supercomputer facilities at King Abdullah’s University of Science and Technology, University of California-San Diego, California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, and Walt Disney Feature Animation.

    Cutchin has published articles on computer graphics and visualization, created animations for Discovery Channel, and produced images for SIGGRAPH and supercomputing conferences and journals. He received his doctorate from Purdue University in Computer Science.

    Office of Research Computing

    As the software architect of the Stein Luminary, Steve Cutchin brings to Boise State his leadership experience in visualization and supercomputer facilities at King Abdullah’s University of Science and Technology, University of California-San Diego, California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, and Walt Disney Feature Animation.

    Cutchin has published articles on computer graphics and visualization, created animations for Discovery Channel, and produced images for SIGGRAPH and supercomputing conferences and journals. He received his doctorate from Purdue University in Computer Science.

The Stein Luminary Working Group

The Stein Luminary Working Group is dedicated to the development of digital content, programming, and community engagement for the Stein Luminary. Boise State faculty interested in proposing a project can contact a committee member to learn more.

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