IU MFA Lighting Design Student Named Recipient of Hemsley Lighting Program Internship
Ashley Christensen, a 2026 Master of Fine Arts recipient in lighting design at Indiana University, has been selected as a winner of the highly competitive Hemsley Lighting Internship. Christensen was chosen as one of five finalists nationwide.
From July through February, Christensen will complete professional residencies with the lighting departments of the San Francisco Opera, New York City Ballet, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The Hemsley Internship is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious training opportunities for emerging lighting designers, offering early-career artists sustained mentorship within leading professional organizations working alongside top-tier designers.
Christensen learned about the program through faculty and previous IU Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance MFA students who had participated in the Hemsley portfolio review. The selection process included a portfolio submission, résumé, and statement of purpose, followed by in-person interviews in New York for the finalists. The distinction was just the latest in a series of achievements for Ashley, who was also named this year’s recipient of the Barbizon Lighting Company Jonathan Resnick Lighting Design Award which recognizes an exceptional lighting designer at the annual convention of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology.
She was drawn to the Hemsley program’s focus on opera and dance, disciplines where lighting plays a central role in shaping heightened theatrical worlds. “There is something so uniquely magical about the world of opera and ballet. By communicating solely through song or dance, the constraints of the everyday fall away, meaning the worlds we build around productions can be just as heightened as the style in which the story is told. They allow us to look into our own lives and experiences with just enough distance to allow for reflection on why these classic stories still resonate with a modern audience.”
In addition to lighting design, Christensen also works as a sound designer, and trained as a musician from a young age, holding a BA in Music History and Literature. From an early introduction to musicals and pop music she, “began to search for ways to feed a growing passion for music and theatre. In middle school I started playing in the band and also got involved in technical theatre, and the two have gone hand in hand for me ever since.”
She credits her interdisciplinary background with informing her approach to visual storytelling onstage, a practice that often emphasizes rhythm, timing, and musicality, particularly in transitions and collaborative processes.
During her time in IU’s MFA program, Christensen designed lighting for large-scale productions including this season’s The Prom and Merrily We Roll Along, and served as sound designer on several projects. Her fall 2025 production of Sanctuary City by Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok, garnered her the American College Theatre Festival’s Region 3 Award for Theatrical Design Excellence in Sound Design.
She says that these experiences have strengthened her collaborative skills and clarified her artistic voice. She credits the MFA program at IU with preparing her to work across disciplines and communicate effectively with diverse creative teams.
Following the internship, Christensen plans to remain in New York to pursue professional opportunities in lighting and sound design. She encourages students entering the field to embrace what makes their work distinctive and to prioritize generosity and professionalism. "The industry is small," she noted, "and one positive connection can be the difference between you getting called for the next gig or not."
Established in 1983, the Hemsley Lighting Programs honor the legacy of Gilbert V. Hemsley Jr. by supporting emerging designers as they transition from academic training to professional practice. For more than three decades the program has helped launch careers across theatre, opera, and dance. Several of the program’s alumni are among the top talents working in lighting design for live performance today.
The College of Arts