His work was never done.
Those who collaborated with lighting designer and former Southern Theater artistic director Jeff Bartlett will tell you that in his mind he never completed any of his projects.
“A show would be closed, the artists would have moved on to their next works, but he’d still be talking about how to finish the lights to his satisfaction,” said Sandy Moore, who worked with Bartlett for over 20 years as Southern’s development director then managing director.
That diligence often resulted in sharp, sometimes stunning lighting on actors, dancers and musicians, not just at the Southern, the Minneapolis theater where Bartlett worked for 40 years, but also at venues in New York, California and elsewhere when he went on tour with Minnesota arts troupes.
Bartlett died at 73 on June 26 after a stroke. As was his wish, he died in Alstead, N.H., his family’s spiritual seat, where he had gone for his closing act.

Four years prior, he had been diagnosed with melanoma, Moore said.
As a mentor and artistic midwife, Bartlett also helped usher the birth of many performing arts companies. It’s hard to overstate the impact that Jeff had on artistic ecology of the Twin Cities, said Wendy Knox, founder of Minneapolis’ Frank Theatre.
“He and his team at the Southern helped so many groups grow up,” Knox said. “Theatre de la Jeune Lune started out there, Zeitgeist, Frank.”