NASHVILLE, Tenn (WTVF) — Months of planning went into this week's Presidential Inauguration, but behind the scenes, one Nashville man was charge of the lighting design at the National Mall.
When you hear the name Chris Lisle you may not recognize it, but you've probably seen his work. Lisle's talents have been seen on live stage events like Nashville's New Year's Eve celebrations.
And he got the chance of a lifetime at the Inauguration in Washington D.C. He'll be the first to tell you not all work came easy during the pandemic.
"The past 11 months have been such a journey for everybody the whole world but especially in our live entertainment industry," said Lisle. Since the pandemic he says he and other gig workers have been scraping to get by.
"Our industry was completely shutdown in mid-March and there were little waves of optimism throughout 2020; and now I think as an industry we’re starting to feel some what optimistic again," Lisle said.
However, optimism came in the form of a phone call from the White House.
"When I got the call early December to go do a portion of the lighting at the Inaugural event, I was thrilled," said Lisle, "Not because it was work but just because of the notableness of that event."
It was the call Lisle says he needed to give him the momentum to keep going.
That was until the President's Inaugural committee called.
Lisle and his team did the Flag of Fields and lighting of pillars at the National Mall during the Inauguration ceremony.
"When you're doing something that's going to be seen by the world that changes your whole mentality," said Lisle, "I've done a lot of events that were televised locally and nationally but when you get to the world scale, I definitely felt the pressure."
Lisle says the team spent four solid days just installing lights. There were more than 1500 lights just to light the flags and the beams in the air.
