The Bay Lights to Go Dark After 10 Years. Will They Return?
The Bay Lights is set to finally go dark after 10 years.
When exactly will the lights go dark?
Sunday, March 5, 2023 at 8pm – On Sunday night, Ben Davis (founder of Illuminate) will make a few remarks just before he gives the signal to shut them down around 8pm.
Best viewing is in front of Epic Steak on Embarcadero near Folsom just south of the Ferry Building and Rincon Park
According to KRON4, Illuminate, the group behind The Bay Lights, hopes to bring them back bigger and brighter than ever unveiling The Bay Lights again on Labor Day Weekend 2023. But that’s in doubt if $11 million isn’t raised. Otherwise the planned six-month shutdown could mean it’s permanently lights out.
The Bay Lights Fundraiser
Widely considered one of the world’s great public art projects, The Bay Lights’ current system of LEDs is failing at a rate faster than can be repaired. They must be replaced with a new system that is custom engineered to perform in the harsh environmental conditions of San Francisco Bay. On March 5th, on the 10th anniversary of its initial Grand Lighting, the artwork will go dark.
Donate to the cause – As of 3/2/23 it’s not looking great… only $2,400 has been raised.
In total, $11M is needed for their return. We are raising ten $1M gifts from major philanthropists. This crowdfunding campaign seeks to raise $1M in smaller gifts, allowing everyone to participate.
The good news: with your help, The Bay Lights by artist Leo Villareal will return more magically than ever. The number of programmable LEDs will double to nearly 50,000, making the artwork visible to communities around the Bay. And for the first time, we seek to have the lights be safely visible to drivers on the Bay Bridge, creating a world-class nighttime public art portal into San Francisco.
The San Francisco-based art nonprofit Illuminate is leading this effort. Please join us in helping return this public art masterpiece. Your gift of any size will help. We will do this collectively, one dollar, one hundred dollars, or $1M at a time.
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