Eileen M.E. Pierce

Ms. Pierce joined Renfro Design Group, Inc. in January 2005. Ms. Pierce received her Bachelor of Art in Printmaking and Painting from American University in Washington, DC. She started her own lighting studio in 1996, designing custom fixtures for private clients and specialty boutiques before completing her Master‘s Degree in Architectural Lighting Design at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City.

Ms. Pierce’s arts background influences her approach to lighting. The psychology and the effects of lighting are considered in her design process. She uses Architectural Lighting not only to define form, but also to evoke emotion from a particular space. This philosophy has led Ms. Pierce to work with several prestigious architects and interior designers throughout the US.

Ms. Pierce’s recently completed projects include the Portico Enclosure Gallery and the Boucher Room at the Frick Collection; the McKim Building renovation at The Morgan Library and Museum; The Great Hall (Phase I) at The Brooklyn Museum of Art; The American Wing and the Islamic Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis at NYU. Her current projects include the Elevator Tower Addition at NYULMC Tisch Hospital in New York, NY; The SandRidge Energy Braniff Building and Site in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; National September 11 Memorial and Museum, Memorial Exhibition in New York, NY; and Lakeside Center in Prospect Park Brooklyn, NY.

In 2011, Ms. Pierce’s work on renovation of the McKim building at the The Morgan Library and Museum was recognized with several prestigious awards, which included a Lumen Citation from the Illuminating Engineering Society of New York Section, Award of Merit from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, The Edwin E. Guth Award for Interior Lighting Design (Award of Excellence) from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, Commendable Achievement from Architectural Lighting Magazine, and Excellence in Historic Preservation from the The Preservation League of New York State. In addition, Ms. Pierce was also acknowledged in 2008 by the Illuminating Engineering Society of New York with two Lumen Awards. The Fragonard Room at The Frick Collection in New York City was recognized with an award for the Integration of New Technology into a Historic Restoration and the Art Cave at Stonescape in Napa Valley, CA was recognized with an Award of Merit.

Before Ms. Pierce’s seven years as Project Manager and Associate with Renfro Design Group, she was a Lighting Designer with Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design. While there, she contributed to such projects as the Avery Hall - Center for Drama and Film at Vassar College, Port Imperial Intermodal Ferry Terminal in Weehawken, NJ, New Orleans Museum of Art Sculpture Garden and William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Ms. Pierce enjoys sharing projects, giving annual lectures for the Illuminating Engineer Society of New York and the Designers Lighting Forum. In the past, she has also been an educator teaching Introduction to Lighting for Interior Designers (BFA) at Parsons The New School for Design. Ms. Pierce is member of the United States Green Building Council and the Designers Lighting Forum of New York.