/// Stories
Nō Studios
Milwaukee, WI
In a building overflowing with creativity, vision, and artistic energy, Nō Studios needed one thing it didn’t yet have: a reliable AV foundation strong enough to support everything happening within its walls. The building — part of the historic Pabst Brewery complex — had been purchased by John Ridley, the Oscar-winning screenwriter and Wisconsin native, to become a multidisciplinary art collective supporting film, performance, gallery exhibitions, and community arts.
Ridley’s aim was clear: transform a former industrial building into an active home for storytelling and collaboration, with film screening, production offices, gallery space, and a rooftop lounge that could host events. But the facility’s AV systems were falling short of that ambition. The existing Dolby Atmos theater system wasn’t performing to the standard the space required, leaving it underpowered and unreliable. The fourth-floor rooftop had no AV or lighting infrastructure, and the ground-floor gallery’s PA and lighting were inadequate for live events.
Having previously maintained an office within Nō Studios, Avenue Systems saw firsthand how the building’s AV gaps affected its full potential and day-to-day operations. Avenue quickly established clear priorities in collaboration with Nō Studios: first, make the gallery reliable for performances and events with a professional PA and stage lighting; second, remediate the theater so it could deliver true Dolby Atmos screenings; third, outfit the rooftop lounge with distributed audio and dynamic accent lighting to make it a usable event space.
In a building overflowing with creativity, vision, and artistic energy, Nō Studios needed one thing it didn’t yet have: a reliable AV foundation strong enough to support everything happening within its walls. The building — part of the historic Pabst Brewery complex — had been purchased by John Ridley, the Oscar-winning screenwriter and Wisconsin native, to become a multidisciplinary art collective supporting film, performance, gallery exhibitions, and community arts.
/// Details
Dolby Atmos theater: Fully optimized for immersive sound.
Gallery AV: Martin Audio PA and Chauvet Professional stage lighting.
Rooftop lounge: Distributed QSC audio and LED accent lighting.
Unified control: Q-SYS and Crestron integration via a single iPad.
Dynamic lighting: LED tape and strip lighting for gallery and rooftop.
Passion & purpose: Partnered with John Ridley to bring his creative vision to life, empowering artists and strengthening Milwaukee’s arts community.
Ridley’s aim was clear: transform a former industrial building into an active home for storytelling and collaboration, with film screening, production offices, gallery space, and a rooftop lounge that could host events. But the facility’s AV systems were falling short of that ambition. The existing Dolby Atmos theater system wasn’t performing to the standard the space required, leaving it underpowered and unreliable. The fourth-floor rooftop had no AV or lighting infrastructure, and the ground-floor gallery’s PA and lighting were inadequate for live events.
Having previously maintained an office within Nō Studios, Avenue Systems saw firsthand how the building’s AV gaps affected its full potential and day-to-day operations. Avenue quickly established clear priorities in collaboration with Nō Studios: first, make the gallery reliable for performances and events with a professional PA and stage lighting; second, remediate the theater so it could deliver true Dolby Atmos screenings; third, outfit the rooftop lounge with distributed audio and dynamic accent lighting to make it a usable event space.
// Project Gallery //
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