Mel Tanner

Mel Tanner was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1925. After serving in the Army during World War II, he enrolled in art school under the G.I. Bill. He attended Pratt Institute, and studied painting at the Brooklyn Museum Art School with John Ferren and Max Beckman.

While a student at the Brooklyn Museum, he met Dorothy. They married and moved to Syracuse, NY where they opened the Syracuse Art Workshop, teaching painting and sculpture.

In 1963, they returned to New York City and founded an artists co-op, Granite Gallery, on East 57th Street. The Granite Art Association organized seminars, forums, and exhibitions. "The New Face in Art" Forum took place at the Loeb Center at New York University. Participants were Louise Nevelson, Red Grooms, and Norman Carton.

In 1965, after traveling extensively in Europe, they established a studio in Miami. Their interest in plexiglas and its unique light transmitting quality engaged both Dorothy and Mel in experimentation that led to the major element of the Lumonics art form...light.

The Lumonics Theatre opened to the public in Miami in 1969. It was a new art form that combined painting, sculpture, fountains, live projection, electronics, aroma, and music. This project became their main focus and dedication.

From 1969 to 1978, The Lumonics Theatre continued to be developed. There were ongoing performances for audiences ranging from student groups and planetarium directors to drug rehabilitation groups. Several art/technology installations were commissioned for the United States and South America as well as home and office environments.

The next major development was video. Through videotape, the multi-media projection could now be preserved. They were no longer limited to a real-time format.

In 1979, a federal grant was accepted to create a future ecology demonstration center in San Diego, CA and to produce videotapes for cable television.

In 1981, the Tanners were commissioned to create a Lumonics environment in Bangor, Maine. A reporter wrote, "Mel and Dorothy Tanner and their associates, a remarkable group, have turned the old Canal Bank on Broad Street from a stodgy place of business and high finance into a place of genuine magic."

In 1982, the Tanners and associates moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. WBZ-TV commissioned a world map; and Boston public television station WGBH commissioned sets for Frontline and Nova.

In 1985, the group returned to Florida. The Tanners mounted a successful exhibition at the Patricia Judith Gallery in Boca Raton. A new wing was added to house their light sculptures.

The Tanners opened their Fort Lauderdale studio to the public in 1988. It became home to the new Lumonics Theatre. Both the art and the performances were given much critical acclaim.

Mel Tanner passed away in 1993. Dorothy and associate Marc Billard have continued to expand and develop the Lumonics concept.

In 2005, "The Art of Healing" Exhibition at the Coral Springs Museum of Art featured Tanner art and the video art of Tanner/Billard.

The art of Dorothy and Mel Tanner was exhibited at Edge Zones Art Center during Art Basel Miami Beach Week in Dec. 2007. The exhibit was extended to March, 2008.