Borman Square Park in Gary was a flurry of activity recently as students and their teachers from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago assembled a display of lighted artwork created by 15 students from Thea Bowman Academy to hang in the windows and foyer.
As the March 31 event began, a hands-on workshop allowed participants to build their own lighted art project using batteries and conductor thread.
More Top Picks Best Spinning Wheels
The event was organized to draw attention to the first of six to eight programmable solar-powered lights to be installed as part of the Gary Streetlights project. Mounted on a typical light pole in the parking lot, the first solar-powered light can change colors and be programmed in numerous ways. It can also respond to sound. The remainder of the lights will be placed in other locations to be determined.
Gary Streetlights is a project of the Gary Heat Light Water Project, a collaboration of artists led by Jan Tichy, assistant professor at the School of the Art Institute.
Last year, Gary Streetlights received $55,000 in grants from National Endowment for the Arts and the Legacy Foundation.
David Rueter and Marisa Lee Benedict are the lead artists for the project. According to Rueter, the newly installed solar-powered light is not meant to replace the typical lights used to light up sidewalks and streets.
“It’s to call attention to light in public places,” said Rueter. “It is an invitation to participate in defining infrastructure, in having a city facility encourage dialogue through art.”
Tichy explained the effort is a long-term project and will include workshops this summer where residents can learn how to create projects using the technology.
By having the exhibit at Borman Park, “we are trying to create an event to get the word out and to work with kids and teach them about light in public places,” Tichy said.
“It’s about creating an awareness and getting involved and understanding about the technology combined with the artistic side of it,” said Kelly Anoe, of the Legacy Foundation.
“It’s imperative we use the park pavilions as community centers,” said McKenya Dillworth, park superintendent. “The light is important. When it is dark, all the young people leave. Now this light will encourage more engagement.”
Earlier in the month, Tichy and Lindsey French, lecturer at the SAIC, brought 15 of their students to work with the Thea Bowman Academy art teacher William Thomas’ students.
“The kids had to create the artwork,” Thomas said. He said his students were not present for the setup of the exhibit because they were away for spring break. “They learned how to do the wiring and the coding behind the light source. That was something they had to do. That’s what the professors from the Art Institute worked with them on.”
Thomas said it was inspiring for him to see the joy on a student’s face when she figured out a solution to a puzzling problem as she developed her project.
“She had never done anything like that in her life,” Thomas said. “They had to conceive it and plan it. Take if from their imagination and translate the creation to something tangible for them to share with others.”
He documented the project with video and photos and said he provides the images to students for their portfolio. He said he thinks it helps them remember how they had to work to solve problems.
“Sometimes kids forget the struggles they had to get to the point where they could make it work. Then they have amnesia,” he said. “That’s what I like about art: the journey.”
He said he also liked the concept of bringing together art and lighting technology.
“It’s a perfect metaphor for letting our inner light shine,” Thomas said.
Nancy Coltun Webster is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.