Lumen and Forge maps West Virginia Capitol for America 250 celebration

Lumen and Forge completed a four-night projection-mapping show on the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston as part of the state’s official America250 celebration. The project blended national history with West Virginia themes on one of the country’s most technically challenging historic landmarks.

Why it matters: - The Charleston show turned a landmark civic building into a free public centerpiece for America’s 250th anniversary. - The project showed how projection mapping can replace or supplement fireworks at historic sites where noise, residue, fire risk, and crowd impacts are concerns. - The production also highlighted a model for state-level semiquincentennial events that is locally specific and reprogrammable for future anniversaries.

What happened: - Lumen and Forge completed a four-night projection mapping installation called "Liberty and Lights" on the dome and façade of the West Virginia State Capitol. - The show ran nightly from July 2 through July 5, 2026, during the America250 Capital City Celebration in Charleston. - The marquee performance took place on Independence Day. - Shows ran between 9 and 10 p.m. on a repeating schedule about every 15 minutes. - The format allowed tens of thousands of visitors to see the full narrative without waiting for a single viewing time.

The details: - The West Virginia State Capitol was designed by Cass Gilbert and dedicated in June 1932. - The building is faced in Indiana limestone, framed in structural steel, and topped by a 23-karat gold-leafed dome rising 293 feet above the Kanawha River. - The dome stands about five feet taller than the U.S. Capitol dome and is the tallest state capitol dome in the country. - The Capitol is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. - Gold leaf, curved surfaces, recessed windows, and Corinthian porticos created major projection challenges. - The protected structure could not be rigged, anchored, or physically altered. - Lumen and Forge began surveying the site months in advance using specialized drones to photograph the Capitol Complex. - The survey work produced a digital twin that guided content creation and projector placement. - The studio built and pre-visualized the show in a millimeter-accurate virtual model before load-in. - The team used Cinema 4D, AutoCAD, 3D Studio Max, Rhino, and SketchUp to validate sightlines, brightness, throw distances, blending zones, and audience positioning. - The show was written specifically for West Virginia and combined the nation’s founding story with the state’s history, industry, landscapes, and people. - State officials pointed to projection displays on the Washington Monument as the benchmark for the Charleston project. - The production had to work on a live public site alongside a 230-foot Ferris wheel, multiple concert stages, and a festival midway. - The Capital City Celebration also included the America250 Wheel, which the release describes as the world’s tallest portable Ferris wheel. - The wheel has 45 gondolas, one for each U.S. president. - The celebration featured free concerts by ALABAMA, the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and The Marshall Tucker Band. - Programming also included an official ceremony for Gold Star Families and veterans, historical exhibits, guided Capitol tours, artisan markets, fireworks, and Charleston’s Sternwheel Regatta.

Between the lines: - The project fits a broader shift in public commemoration toward immersive light shows that can handle historic settings with fewer physical and environmental downsides than fireworks. - The Capitol job also reinforces Lumen and Forge’s positioning in a niche where technical planning matters as much as creative content. - The company’s prior work includes projection mapping the Las Vegas Stratosphere twice, a full-building Nike and Air Jordan activation in Salt Lake City, a world-record video game screen at the Tropicana, a Dodgers tribute on the Hollywood Sign, Texas Tech’s 100th anniversary celebration, and a geodesic centerpiece for Travis Scott’s CactusCon. - Lumen and Forge says its portfolio spans work for brands and organizations including Nike, Toyota, Mastercard, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Verizon, Dell, HP, Jeep, Jaguar, John Deere, Capital One, EA Sports, National Geographic, the U.S. Marine Corps, Meow Wolf, the Venetian and Luxor resorts, among others. - The studio also designs and operates 360-degree dome environments, geodesic domes from 10 to 90 feet, and inflatable structures up to 200 feet.

What’s next: - The Charleston production offers a template for other states planning semiquincentennial events over the next several years. - Lumen and Forge is positioned to keep pursuing large-scale architectural projection projects where historic sensitivity and technical precision are both required. - The America250 celebration cycle will continue to create demand for public-facing installations that can be staged safely on iconic buildings and civic spaces.

The bottom line: - Lumen and Forge used a historic capitol dome to show how America 250 celebrations can be both locally grounded and technically ambitious, without relying on a single night of fireworks.