All On Productions deploys 72 Nexus Uplights and Squares at Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington
The CATSPY Awards are the University of Kentucky’s annual celebration of its student-athletes and their achievements. It’s a broadcast-quality awards ceremony staged at the Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, a venue that demands production value to match its 75+ year history.
For the 2026 edition, lighting and production designer Rob Moyer of All On Productions set out to deliver a classy, ESPY-inspired look. This meant creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere as guests arrived and transitioning into a cool, sleek presentation environment for the awards ceremony itself. To achieve that shift across the recently renovated arena with complex rigging logistics, Moyer turned to two fixtures from the Nexus Lights range– 72 Nexus Uplights and 60 Nexus Squares.
Moyer has worked on the CATSPY Awards for about 15 years, progressing from lighting technician to his current role as overall lighting designer, programmer, and production designer. His long familiarity with the event and the venue shaped his approach to this year’s production from the outset. Historic Memorial Coliseum’s recent large-scale renovation has made it a visually impressive space, but rigging is labor-intensive and time-consuming. Moyer needed to add visual interest to the audience seating area without taking on additional rigging infrastructure. “I was looking for a way to add some pizazz to the seating area without rigging additional trusses,” he says. “The Nexus Uplights allowed me to create some fun looks across the tables while avoiding the additional rigging logistics.”
The Nexus Uplight is a wireless, battery-powered uplight built around a 40W RGBL LED chip, featuring a fully integrated zoom mechanism that shifts from a narrow 13° spotlight to a wide 66° wash with a simple twist of the outer ring. No attachments are required. The fixture offers up to 24 hours of continuous runtime on a single charge and operates via the iQ.Mesh wireless protocol. This eliminates the need for power or data cabling in table deployments. The Nexus Square is a compact, battery-powered LED panel, well-suited to integration within scenic elements and set pieces and a part of the wider series of Nexus Shapes.
The 72 Nexus Uplights were deployed as table centerpieces across the audience seating area. Each fixture was topped with a custom 3D-printed column incorporating the University of Kentucky logo and Wildcat branding rendered in vinyl appliqué. These columns were designed and fabricated entirely in-house at All On Productions’ own shop. Development was based on a base 3D model provided by GLP, which Moyer’s team modified to produce a shorter profile, keeping the University of Kentucky logos clearly visible to those seated at the tables. The adapter ring connecting each column to the fixture was also 3D-printed from a model supplied by GLP. “It is low-profile and makes changing the column out quick and easy,” says Moyer.
The 60 Nexus Squares were integrated into a custom-fabricated downstage center stair unit providing award winners with access to the stage from the audience. “We always need an easy way for award winners to enter the stage from the audience, so we typically have a downstage center stair unit,” Moyer explains. “It needs to be both a functional method of ingress as well as a visually pleasing scenic element.” The stairs were designed from the outset to accommodate metric-sized lighting fixtures, with the Nexus Squares specifically in mind. Battery operation removed the need to route cabling through the stair structure, simplifying the installation and producing a cleaner finished look.
Programming the two fixture types followed separate but complementary approaches. The Nexus Squares were all assigned the same DMX address, with pre-built effects running across the entire stair facade via a Nexus Bridge Tx connected to the lighting console. This workflow saved considerable time during programming, while still allowing effects to play across the full facade. The Nexus Uplights were addressed individually and controlled wirelessly via DMX through a second Nexus Bridge Tx, with Moyer building custom effects on the console and transmitting them over the iQ.Mesh network.
The fixture selection was also driven by the demands of broadcast coverage and the need for the room to read well on camera throughout the event. “The Squares are compact, yet scalable, which make them perfect for placing into set pieces,” says Moyer. “They make great eye candy for camera shots as well. The Uplights, combined with our 3D printing capabilities, are very customizable.”
For Moyer and All On Productions, the project points towards a wider capability that the Nexus range opens up. “I am excited about the new possibilities these Nexus fixtures create,” he says. “Combined with our 3D printing capability, we can now offer textures, logos, and other branding customized exactly to our customers’ needs.”
