The Bay Lights Art Installation

Being a native San Franciscan, we figure out at a young age that of the two Bay Area bridges, the Golden Gate Bridge is the prominent and celebrated actor while the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge is the sturdy understudy. Well the time has finally come for the Bay Bridge to step into the limelight with an ambitious, privately-funded art installation called “The Bay Lights.” Consisting of 25,000 LED Lights while measuring 1.8 miles wide and 500 feet high, it is currently the world’s largest LED light sculpture. Each night for the next two years from dusk to 2 a.m., the lights are individually programmed to show a random flow of lights as if shadows are floating to and fro between the towers.

Organized by Illuminate the Arts, a local nonprofit dedicated to presenting public art programs, they’ve raised $6 million to cover the installation costs and will need $2 million more to fund the lights through 2015. Costing only $15 a night to light up, the beautiful light sculpture is programmed by artist Leo Villareal who is internationally known for other light installations such as “Multiverse” in Washington D.C.’s National Gallery of Art and “Buckyball” at Madison Square Park.

To see more on “The Bay Lights” check out their web site here. To donate to this art project and personalize one of the lights check out the “Gift of Light” page.