The Bay Lights Are Coming Down On March 5
With your help we'll unveil "The Bay Lights 360" on Labor Day Weekend
With your support, The Bay Lights- with new 360 degree visibility – will return.
Illuminate is again spearheading the effort, which will double the number of LED’s to nearly 50,000, making it visible on both sides of the bridge and to drivers entering San Francisco on the bridge. Once the work is complete, The Bay Lights 360 will be viewable throughout San Francisco, Treasure Island, Yerba Buena Island, Oakland and in other parts of the East Bay.
$11M is needed to fund this six-month effort. Illuminate is seeking support at all levels. Please make your gift in support of this stunning piece of public art or for more information contact Illuminate CEO Ben Davis at ben@illuminate.org.
The Golden Mile Project
At the close of 2022 Illuminate spearheaded an ambitious activation of a 1.5 mile-long stretch of JFK Promenade in Golden Gate Park. Come out and experience it!
This fast-moving effort brought together a tapestry of civic groups, diverse artists, and community partners and revealed the promise and potential of the former roadway, which was closed to cars but threatened by a November ballot measure. Two competing measures (Prop J and Prop I) were placed in front of voters. Fueled by the extraordinary new energy and joy created on The Golden Mile, San Franciscans voted to keep the space closed to cars by nearly a two-thirds majority.
Activations include 13 massive street murals, two large-scale art installations, live music on two stages every Friday, Saturday and Sunday (now closed for winter), a weekend beer garden (also closed for winter), grand pianos in the middle of JFK, the addition of 100 golden Adirondack chairs, a coffee kiosk, street games, culinary delights, a 14-stop StoryWalk, street performers, and more. Visitors to The Golden Mile Project are immersed in a whimsical kaleidoscope of art, music, food, play, relaxation, and beauty.
Illuminate raised $500,000 to spearhead this partnership with the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department. A link the The Golden Mile website can be found here.
MONUMENTAL RECKONING
Illuminate and artist Dana King have unveiled “Monumental Reckoning,” an extraordinary new installation in Golden Gate Park.
Monumental Reckoning fully encircles the memorial to Francis Scott Key that was partially toppled by protestors last Juneteenth by placing “350 ancestors” standing in judgment. The 350 individual statues all linked together around the Key memorial represent the first slaves that came to the US from Africa.
In a ceremony that drew more than 1,000 people into the park, San Francisco Mayor London Breed formally unveiled King’s dramatic presentation.
A temporary installation, Monumental Reckoning will remain in the park for two years.
Grace Light
Filling the iconic Grace Cathedral with a mesmerizing curtain of moving light and music.
Grace Lights is an unparalleled immersive installation that immediately upon its debut became one of San Francisco’s most sought-after experiences.
Featuring an original score by Gabriel Gold, the 100-foot curtain of shifting light offers an extraordinary, almost other-worldly experience. As light emanates from the uppermost eaves directly above Grace Cathedral’s famed labyrinth, a slight atmospheric haze envelopes viewers in a colossal curtain of gorgeously shifting light.
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Revival!
Illuminate’s renovation of the bandshell in Golden Gate Park is complete.
Formally called the Spreckels Temple of Music, the bandshell was slated to debut in time to celebrate the Park’s 150th anniversary in April but the project was halted in March due to Covid-19 restrictions. When restrictions on work were finally lifted, work commenced again and final work on the massive upgrade was completed. The full renovation features a brilliant new multi-level stage, professional-grade theatrical lighting, and a state-of-the-art new sound system.-
This project, led by philanthropists Carla and David Crane – with support from JP Conte – marks a new beginning for this long-dormant and underutilized jewel for public performance. When it’s safe to return fully to the park, a sparkling new Spreckles will be front and center.
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Conservatory of Flowers
Experience the nightly brilliance of Photosynthesis in Golden Gate Park. Illuminate and SF Rec & Park are lighting up the famed Conservatory of Flowers again this year. Come out and see it after dark!
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The Bay Lights
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Illuminate is proud to announce the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund has joined us as our newest Illuminary providing critical operating support. Thank you for your extraordinary commitment to public art in San Francisco.
Learn more about our Illuminary program
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ILLUMINATE
Illuminate's mission is to rally large groups of people together to create impossible works of public art that, through awe, free humanity's better nature.
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