Meet Dionte Mercado: Lighting Designer & Technician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dionte Mercado and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dionte, what do you attribute your success to?
The most important factor behind my success is authenticity. I believe success can be achieved in many ways. I consider myself successful anytime I get lighting equipment to turn on in a venue… but my responsibility and passion go much further than that. Being an artist in the Lighting Design and Technology community, I am constantly making decisions on what seems “right” to me at any given time. To be successful at this, I must be my most authentic and truest self. I’ve found that in doing this, I don’t walk away with as many “what-if” questions. This process keeps my passion alive and it allows me to be proud of all my work knowing it came from a genuine place within my creative self.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My favorite part about my art is its ability to evoke so many different emotions. Lighting Design is a medium that is constantly evolving. As humans, our understanding of light and how we can manipulate it grows each day. The constant evolution of lighting keeps me looking for new ways to improve my style of design. Lighting Design sets me apart from other artists because it is one of the few arts that request the artist to make the intangible tangible. Every time I design, I consider questions like how does this make me feel? And how could I amplify this feeling? These questions help formulate the very basis of my design process. My passion for Lighting Design grew during my time in High School. I began as a spotlight operator for my High School’s fall play. I didn’t last one show before I was asking the designer about their design choices. By spring of that school year, I was fully designing productions on my own and responding to emotions that I felt from the artists on stage. Since then, I have evolved my style of design to other environments like concert and architectural lighting design. My emergence as a Lighting Designer & Technician has not always been easy. Furthering my lighting design education into college, I was faced with the fact that there are not many Black Lighting Designers in the positions I wanted to be in. Due to this, I spent a large portion of my career justifying my worth. The more I learn, the more I realize, YES in most situations I am the only black creative at the table, NO this does not mean I need to prove myself to anyone at that table. I am no longer scared of looking different from artists around me; I am now a positive representation of what could come after me. With each opportunity I take, I hope to encourage other black creatives that Lighting Design is an option for them. I hope to be a positive role model for black high school students wondering if their blackness would distance them from the world of Lighting Design and Technology.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well anyone coming to visit me knows I love food. I would first take them by my favorite pizza places O4W to experience their grandma pie. I’d take them by the Center for Civil and Human Rights one of my favorite museums in the city. Next up: the world of coke, not only because you get a free bottle of coke at the end but because it’s a cool place to interact with. To end the day with more food… I’d take them by Shawnee’s Goodies which has some of the best homemade desserts around. To hang I always recommend the beltline. The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to give a shoutout to my mom. There have been many times when I’d doubt my ability to fulfill my dreams, every time she has been there to reassure me that I not only could but would. As a kid, she was at every football, soccer, and basketball game I played in. Now, as an adult, she attends every production I am working on (with her notes on how well it went). I owe the world to her for helping me become the man that I am today. Ever since I could remember, she has always told me “be extraordinary”; I hope to continue the rest of my career and life being just that.

Website: http://www.diontemercado.com

Instagram: @DionteMercado

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtfpmCsE1oNQiKIpeQdVokw

Image Credits
subgalaxyphotography