Shashi Caan, an artist, color consultant and architectural designer, holds a Bachelor of Arts (with Honors)
from the Edinburgh College of Art and Masters degrees in Industrial Design and Architecture from Pratt
Institute.
Ms. Caan has been on the design and art faculties of such educational institutions as Pratt Institute, the
School of Visual Arts and the New York School of Interior Design (where she has served also as a
Trustee). She has been on the Board of Directors of the United Nations Association of New York, the
Intersociety Color Council and has chaired two subcommittees on Interior Design of the American Institute
of Architects. Recently she served on the annual design awards jury of Interiors, a leading professional
magazine. She continues her participation in the industry by serving on advisory boards and design panels
related to the design of fabrics, carpet and furniture.
Ms. Caan’s art explores the use of color in three-dimensional design and its significance in designing wellbalanced and harmonious environments. In her teaching she has brought together the three different design
elements, i.e. color, light and form, into a coherent program. Her design and art work as well as this
personal process and visual research on light and color have been presented at national and international
conferences and has been widely published and quoted in, for instance, Aspects of Color, Helsinki, Finland:
University of Art and Design, 1996 and John Pile’s Color in Interior Design, New York: McGrawHill,
1997. Research on light, transparency, color and the use of glass block was conducted under a separate
grant from Pittsburgh Corning Glass Corporation. In 2000 a light sculpture titled ‘e-motion’ was installed
atop of the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. This installation celebrates the interaction of science and
art in the form of a 180 foot tall tensile structure that has been lit creatively.
Ms. Caan curated an exhibit "Virtual Color: Light, Hue and Form Integrated" at the New York School of
Interior Design bringing together well-known architects and designers to explore the different aspects of
integrating color into the design process. A catalogue and collection of essays under the same title
accompanied the exhibit. A collection of upholstery fabrics for both the commercial and the residential
market were introduced under the name "Shashi Caan" in 1997 and has been expanding ever since. The
introduction of a new collection is scheduled for this year.
As an associate and senior designer with several large New York architectural practices, ms. Caan has been
involved in and has directed large and small architectural and interior design projects. She is currently an
associate design director at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Architects in New York City.
Paul Gregory is the founder and president of Focus Lighting, Inc. of New York City. His projects cover a
wide range of building types in various parts of the world from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut to
the Entel Tower, the tallest building in Santiago, Chile. Among the restaurant projects are Michael Jordan’s
newest restaurant in Grand Central Station, NYC; David Copperfield’s four-story Magic Restaurant in
Times Square and Official All Star Cafés and Planet Hollywood Restaurants in many different cities. Such
famous New York restaurants as Le Cirque, Tapika, No-Bu, Vong, Monkey Bar, Christer's, and Le Bar Bat
are part of his portfolio. Showrooms and stores for which mr. Gregory has designed lighting include such
names as Armani, Ultimo, Frederic Fekkai, Knoll International and CBS. Other projects include multiplex
theatres, outdoor monuments, themed mall environments and private residences.
Mr. Gregory’s design work has received wide acclaim and multiple awards, for instance, the IALD,
Waterbury, and ASID Awards, as well as the Lighting Dimensions International's "Lighting Designer of the
Year" Award. Architectural Record, Interior Design, Interiors, Architecture + Light, Lighting Dimensions,
LD+A, Metropolis, Hospitality Design, Design Week, New York Magazine and the New York Times have
featured his work.
Trained in theatrical lighting at the Goodman Theatre School of the Art Institute of Chicago and in
Architectural Lighting Design at the Parsons School of Design in New York City, Mr. Gregory spent
several years working for regional theatres like the Alley Theatre, Stage West, and the Goodman Theatre.
After founding Litelab Corporation in 1975, he directed and designed major projects in museums,
restaurants, theatres, and entertainment facilities. An Illuminating Engineering Society member since 1982,
Mr. Gregory has spent the past twelve years working in architectural lighting design.
Chris Rainier is considered one of today’s leading documentary photographers. His mysterious images of
sacred places and indigenous peoples have been shown in such major publications as Time, Life, National
Geographic, Outside, Conde Nast Traveler, The New York Times, Smithsonian, Men’s Journal, Islands,
The New Yorker, German and French Geo, and in the various publications of the International Red Cross,
The United Nations, and Amnesty International.
The photographs and books have been exhibited and collected around the world in collections like the
George Eastman House in Rochester, The International Center of Photography in New York, the Museum
of Tolerance in Los Angeles, the Australian Museum in Sydney, The Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, The
United Nations, The Friends of Photography (Carmel, CA), The library of the Smithsonian Institution’s
National Museum of American Art, the library of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of
Fine Arts in Houston, the Chicago Cultural Center, the National Geographic Society Explorer's Hall and the
Houston Museum of Science.
Mr. Rainier’s photography has received considerable acclaim in the form of five Picture of the Year
Awards for his continued documentation of vanishing tribes, a Communication Arts award for his last book
on New Guinea, the Alfred Eisenstadt Award in 1998 for his photography of the Sahara desert, and an
International Golden Light Award in 1994 for his first book: KEEPERS OF THE SPIRIT. Mr. Rainier has
been included in American Photo Magazine's List of the 100 most influential people working in
Photography.
His second book: WHERE MASKS STILL DANCE: NEW GUINEA was published in 1996 together with
an exhibition that is presently touring museums in North America and Asia. Presently he is working on a
book that documents tattooing and scarification around the world in both traditional and contemporary
cultures. From 1980 to 1985 Rainier was photographic and environmental assistant to the late Ansel
Adams, the famous landscape photographer and naturalist.
Mr. Rainier continues to lecture and teach seminars both nationally and internationally on the use of
photography as a social tool. He lives among the mountains and streams of Aspen, Colorado.