Thu 8/7 – Sat 8/9
Downtown Cleveland is about to become illuminated. AHA! Cleveland is a brand-new multi-day public art lighting event seeking to show off the city in, well, a new light. Stationed mostly in Mall B, the fest seeks to bring the city together to demonstrate what is possible for our beloved public spaces through art and large scale lighting installations.
Aside from the art, there will be public participation events starting on Thu with the ever popular image-heavy presentation event Pecha Kucha. Then get out your yoga mats for Friday and join in Believe in CLE’s mass yoga class or hop on a bike and join the East Meets West Glow Ride. It’s all a part of LAND studios’ project to showcase the city in innovative, new ways. Cuyahoga Arts & Culture put out a call for new, never before tried art and cultural programming to engage a broad spectrum of Clevelanders and LAND studios responded with AHA!
Greg Peckham the Managing Director of LAND studios says, “…[W]e really thought about the amount of energy happening in downtown Cleveland and this is really an opportunity to invite people to revisit or see downtown in a whole new light.”
It’s also an opportunity to make a fantastic first impression on people arriving from around the world for the Gay Games.
The first thing people will notice? Probably the giant Global Rainbow, a set of laser beams shooting out from the city that can be seen 20 miles away.
“The Global Rainbow is intended to be a beacon that people can see from a long distance that will peak their interest and sort of make them wonder whats going on downtown,” says Peckham.
There will also be 3D mapping on the Public Auditorium and the Pool, described as an environment of giant, concentric circles created from interactive circular pads.
“This is about lighting up Cleveland,” says Peckham. “It’s about putting a new fresh face on downtown and doing that with innovative public art, large scale lighting displays, and public participation events that include yoga with more than 2000 people on a grass lawn in downtown Cleveland, a bike ride that’s going to unite the east and west sides of Cleveland, and one of the most spectacular public art lighting fests in the country this summer.”
Bring the whole family watch the city light up. Participating artists Yvette Mattern, Obscura Digital, Jen Lewin, and Iván Juárez. Feel the energy.
Cleveland, OH 44114