Napa slimmed down its first pandemic-era Lighted Art Festival and spread its schedule out over nearly two months for spectators’ safety, and those changes should allow the open-air downtown exhibition to return in mid-January as planned despite another surge in coronavirus cases, according to the parks department.
The festival’s long-delayed fourth edition is still on course to open Jan. 15 and remain on display nightly through March 13, according to the city’s recreation manager Katrina Gregory. A move away from animated projections onto buildings and toward a set of eight static outdoor-only light displays – as well an expansion of the viewing period from nine days to eight weeks, to spread out spectators over the greater part of winter – should allow the show to safely go on, she predicted.
“Thinking back to earlier this year, we knew there could still be uncertainty at this time of year,” she said of the revamped 2022 festival, which will include a fraction of the displays showcased each year since its debut in December 2017. “This is all sculpture art, where people can interact at their own pace. With this format, it lends itself more to our current environment.”
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Art installations will be displayed during the festival from 6 to 9 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, and from 6 to 10 p.m. Fridays through Sunday.
Through the fits and starts of a slow emergence from COVID-19 restrictions, music and theater gradually returned to local stages and audiences.
Organized by the city Parks and Recreation Department, the Lighted Art Festival has turned various downtown landmarks into giant canvases in light and video, crafted by artists from across the U.S. and as far afield as Great Britain, Germany and Italy. Highlights of the exhibition have included kaleidoscopic projections onto First Presbyterian Church and the Riverfront building; colorful animations developed by New Technology High School students; and interactive pieces like the “Angel of Freedom” that invited passers-by to stand among a glowing, seraphic halo and wings. (The installation by the OGE Group of Haifa, Israel will make a return engagement at the upcoming festival as one of four works by visiting artists.)
Two months after the most recent festival in January 2020, however, the global spread of the coronavirus halted triggered shelter-at-home orders across the U.S. and pushed the Lighted Art Festival – along with most other mass gatherings – into extended limbo. Napa canceled the event’s 2021 edition before refashioning it to eliminate indoor displays – hosted in past years at CIA at Copia, the Napa Valley College auditorium, and elsewhere – to keep spectators away from confined areas where COVID-19 might spread more readily.
Cities announcing the return of parades, festivals and gatherings from Halloween through Thanksgiving, Christmas and the new year.
Festival organizers have announced four of the 2022 festival pieces, including the returning “Angel” that will be shown at the First Street Napa shopping arcade. The other visiting artists who will be featured are:
– Lindsay Glatz and Curious Form of New Orleans, whose work “Cloud Swings” will be displayed at CIA at Copia
– Hybycozo of Los Angeles, who will exhibit “Lightforms” at Veterans Memorial Park
– Liquid PXL of Los Angeles, who will be represented by “Electric Dandelions” at Napa’s Riverfront
Video, lasers and music are giving an artistic bend to Napa landmarks during the city’s third Lighted Art Festival, which runs nightly through Jan. 19.
The remaining four festival sites are at Dwight Murray Plaza, the Brown Street pedestrian corridor, First Street Napa and the Goodman Library and will showcase the works of Napa artists, whose pieces remained under development as of this week.
Meet-the-artist gatherings with festival creators will take place on the event’s opening day Jan. 15. For dates, times and locations, visit Eventbrite.com and search NAPALIGHT.
During the festival, Veterans Park also will host a free one-hour vibraphone concert March 5, starting at 7 p.m.
Throwback Thursday: Napa Lighted Art Festival
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
An interactive entry at the third Napa Lighted Art Festival that opened Saturday is “Chroma Current,” where spectators’ movements in front of a scanner are converted in real time into silhouettes shifting against a multicolored background projected onto the wall of the Native Sons of the Golden West building at Coombs Street. The installation by David Sullivan of New Orleans will be displayed nightly through Jan. 19.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Sets of wings and halos comprising “Angels of Freedom,” a work by the Israel-based OGE Group on display at CIA at Copia, encourage spectators to stand in front and imagine themselves in seraphic form. The installation is one of 11 at the third Napa Lighted Art Festival, which opened Saturday night and continues through Jan. 19.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
“Open Note” by the London artist Pep Palau projected images of music notes, jazz trios and a saxophone onto the historic facade of the Blue Note Napa, combining the images with a jazz soundtrack. The exhibition debuted Saturday night as part of the third Napa Lighted Art Festival, which features 10 other installations downtown and runs through Jan. 19.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Spectators on Saturday stopped by the AT&T building on Clay Street to watch “Elemental,” a set of three animated shorts created by New Technology High School students, on the opening night of the Napa Lighted Art Festival.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Constantly shifting and pulsating abstract patterns, combined with a techno-music soundtrack, mark “Fault Line,” an installation projected onto the Napa Square building on School Street by Urban Projections of Nottinghamshire, England. The piece will be displayed nightly as part of the Napa Lighted Art Festival through Sunday, Jan. 19.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
“Prism” by Paris-based Jeremy Oury, one of 11 installations at the Napa Lighted Art Festival, transforms the appearance of the historic Goodman Library on First Street with a series of shifting abstract patterns, some of which appear to cause the facade to swing open like a door or spin on its axis.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Spectators on the opening night Saturday of the Napa Lighted Art Festival flocked to CIA at Copia to pose with “Angels of Freedom,” a set of eight seraphic creations by OGE Group of Haifa, Israel. The combinations of illuminated wings and halos are designed for passers-by to pose in front of them and imagine themselves as angels.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Returning to this year’s Napa Lighted Art Festival is “Night Bloom,” a trio of hot-air balloons on display at the Oxbow Commons park that light up as spectators trigger their flaming air heaters. The balloon exhibition is open only from 7 to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, while other festival attractions can be viewed nightly through Jan. 19 – from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and 6 to 10 p.m. Friday to Sunday.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Some of the younger spectators among the hundreds massing at the Oxbow Commons took brief turns lighting up the three hot-air balloons that comprise Night Bloom, one of the exhibits at the third annual Napa Lighted Art Festival.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
“First Light” by the London artists Ross Ashton and Karen Monid will be displayed at First Presbyterian Church during the third Napa Lighted Art Festival, which opens Saturday night and will run through Jan. 19. Images projected onto the church facade cycle viewers through the 24 hours of day and night, including the stillness of remote islands and the play of light over ocean waves.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
An interactive entry at the 2020 Napa Lighted Art Festival was “Chroma Current,” where spectators’ movements in front of a scanner were converted in real time into silhouettes shifting against a multicolored background projected onto the wall of the Native Sons of the Golden West building at Coombs Street. Social distancing rules passed during the COVID-19 pandemic have led the city to postpone the next festival by a year, to January 2022.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Children’s lunchboxes were converted into electronic controllers for Mike Gould’s “Lunchboxing with Lasers,” changing the speed and brightness of colored laser patterns cast onto the silo of the Historic Napa Mill.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
The Michigan-based artist Mike Gould converted old lunchboxes into control panels with which spectators at his exhibit “Lunchboxing with Lasers” can change the speed and brightness of red, green and blue lasers projected in abstract patterns against the Historic Napa Mill tower. The work is one of 12 featured at the Napa Lighted Art Festival, which began its third edition at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
“Lunchboxing with Lasers” by Mike Gould of Jackson, Michigan is one of a dozen installations at the third annual Napa Lighted Art Festival, which opened Saturday night. Spectators can change the speed at which the red, green and blue laser patterns change by turning knobs on consoles built out of restored lunchboxes.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
Napa’s Riverfront at the corner of Main and Third streets has been a backdrop for the Napa Lighted Art Festival since its inception in December 2017. For the third edition of the outdoor exhibition starting Saturday, the building will host “Partitura #01,” a creation by the Italian collective mammasONica that combines kinetic, abstract color patterns with a musical soundtrack, a feature a several other entries at the festival.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2020
The historic Napa County Courthouse on Brown Street, repaired after suffering damage in the 2014 earthquake, is the canvas for “Chaos” by Hotaru Visual Guerrilla of San Sebastián, Spain at this year’s Napa Lighted Art Festival in downtown Napa. Projectors create a constantly shifting pattern of optical and depth illusions, including the image of an abstract sphere appearing to smash the facade before it re-forms into new shapes.
Napa Lighted Art Festival
“Chroma Current” at Native Sons
Submitted by Dayana Tapia, Napa
Napa Lighted Art Festival
“Angels of Freedom” at CIA at Copia
Submitted by Daniel Basilio, Napa
Napa Lighted Art Festival
“Open Note” at Blue Note Napa
Submitted by Brittania Anoai-Gonzalez, Napa
Napa Lighted Art Festival
“Elemental” at the AT&T buidling (Clay Street)
Submitted by Rik de Lange, Napa
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2019
The second Napa Lighted Art Festival will include nighttime illumination of murals gracing the Vine Trail, including “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” at the back of the Napa Valley Register building at Soscol Avenue and Vallejo Street. Mural lighting, like the festival’s projected-light artworks, will be on display through Jan. 20.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2019
“Constellation” by the Oakland artist and musician Christopher Schardt is a 26-foot-wide canopy studded with hundreds of LEDs, which light up in constantly varying colors and patterns to the accompaniment of a classical music soundtrack. The installation debuted Saturday night in the courtyard of The Village at Vista Collina, as one of the exhibits at Napa’s second Lighted Art Festival, and will remain on display nightly through Jan. 20.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2019
Spectators gather at the Oxbow Commons park Saturday night for the exhibition of Night Bloom, an illumination of hot-air balloons tethered at the downtown Napa green space off McKinstry Street.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2019
One of the most visible exhibits at the second Napa Lighted Art Festival is “Hyperbinary” by the Triton Genos of Rajecko, Czech Republic. The abstract and geometric light projection went on display Friday at the Riverfront building, at Main and Third Streets, for a pre-festival walking tour.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2019
The historic facade of the Napa Valley Opera House is gaining a temporary skin of ever-shifting colors and patterns during the second Napa Lighted Art Festival, courtesy of the projected-light installation “Kinote” by mammasONica of Catania, Italy.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2019
Upstairs at CIA at Copia is “Fine Me Somebody to Love,” a pentagonal canopy topped with panels that flash with colored light when two people pass through its passageway. The installation by the Auburn artist Deanna Marsh is one of 16 exhibits at the second Napa Lighted Art Festival, which begins Saturday night and continues through Jan. 20.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2019
One of the two Napa Lighted Art Festival exhibits hosted at CIA at Copia this month is “Museum of the Moon” by Luke Jerram of Bristol, England. The illuminated lunar form is on display above the amphitheater at the back of the First Street venue.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2019
The historic facade of the Napa Valley Opera House is gaining a temporary skin of ever-shifting colors and patterns during the second Napa Lighted Art Festival, courtesy of the projected-light installation “Kinote” by mammasONica of Catania, Italy.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2019
“The Anti-Spectacle” at First Street Napa, a creation by Brian Brush of Berkeley, is one of 16 exhibits at the second Napa Lighted Art Festival, which begins at 6 p.m. Saturday. The outdoor gallery of light-projector exhibits will remain on display nightly through Jan. 20.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2019
Among the 16 exhibits at the Napa Lighted Art Festival is “Sound Bank” by the New Orleans artist David Sullivan, which is being projected onto the Napa Square building on downtown School Street across from City Hall.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2019
Returning to this year’s second Napa Lighted Art Festival is “The Language of Love” at First Presbyterian Church on Third Street, a display presented by Birgit Zander of Daniel Bandke of Berlin. The exhibit, which displays the words for love in numerous languages, was a highlight of the original Napa festival in December 2017.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2019
“Beyond Imagination,” an entry by New Technology High School students at this year’s Napa Lighted Arts Festival, incorporates a colorful and cartoon-like version of the famous wine country signs near Yountville and Calistoga. The projected-light exhibit will be shown on the side of the Native Sons of the Golden West building on Coombs Street through Jan. 20.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2017 – Line
“Line,” a light display and electronic soundtrack by Ross Ashton and Karen Monid of London, covers the Third Street side of Napa’s Riverfront building with a sequence of lines, angles and swirls, producing interference patterns that appear to constantly change the building’s shape. The installation is one of nine featured in the city’s inaugural Lighted Art Festival, which runs from 5 to 10 p.m. nightly through Dec. 17.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2017 – Flow
“Flow” is a light installation by David Sullivan that covers the wave-like front facade of CIA at Copia, 500 First St. It will remain on display, along with eight other light-driven artworks, from 5 to 10 p.m. nightly through Dec. 17 during the Napa Lighted Art Festival. Its three-dimensional animations are designed to take viewers from a molecular scale up to a celestial one in an abstract expression of natural processes.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2017 – germinate/cultivate/integrate
A light display, “germinate/cultivate/integrate,” by Andrew Wade Smith, is being displayed at the Napa River Inn, 500 Main St. The multi-image projection features macro-lens images of seeds germinating and plants growing, woven together with the visual artifacts of light and water.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2017 – Sleepwalkers
“Sleepwalkers,” by Courtney Egan, is on display at the Historic Napa Mill on Fifth Street and uses time-lapse photography to depict the Night-Blooming Cereus, a flower that blossoms after dark, is pollinated by nocturnal moths and then dies the next morning.
Napa Lighted Art Festival 2017 – Duette: Shared Vision Clear Water
“Duette: Shared Vision Clear Water,” by Marissa Carlisle of Napa, is being displayed on the side of the Winship Building at 942 Main St. The display merges intimate images of two people into one abstract presentation, in a form of symbolism meant to encourage civic engagement and community action inspired by compassion.
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You can reach Howard Yune at 530-763-2266 or hyune@napanews.com
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