Two new elements added to “Bright Lights for Winter Nights”

The Rose F. Kennedy Greenway Conservancy invites all to view “Bright Lights for Winter Nights” on the Greenway every evening through the spring equinox, March 20, 2010. “Bright Lights for Winter Nights” includes five new lighting elements and sculptures that highlight the Greenway’s four distinctive park designs.

New tonight: Bill Bell’s“Light Sticks, White” on Dewey Square Plaza (across from South Station) and the illumination of George Sherwood’s graceful temporary kinetic sculpture Botanica.

“Bright Lights for Winter Nights” reminds Bostonians that the Greenway is a park for all the seasons, and is another reason to bundle up and enjoy winter in Boston.

The elements include, from south to north:

• Colorful LED string lights adorn the plaza poles in Chinatown Park. Chinatown Main Streets, a community- based, public-private initiative for the Chinatown business district, graciously loaned the Conservancy the lights for this display and assisted in its design.

• Brookine, MA native Bill Bell’s “Light Sticks, White”, greets South Station commuters on Dewey Square Plaza with subtle scrolling images. The display presents an intriguing scene which can be read either as a fixed array of pulsating light or as a solid image traveling across the array, allowing viewers to fill in their own meaning.  This unanticipated and visually arresting duality is achieved by the synchronized switching of 1300 LED lights.

• George Sherwood’s graceful temporary kinetic sculpture Botanica, installed July 2009, is now illuminated in the Wharf District Parks thanks to a generous anonymous donor. The choreography of “Botanica” is governed by a set of basic movements, facilitated by an arrangement of rotating joints and aerodynamic surfaces. Wind and light provide unpredictable elements of improvisation.
• Also in the Wharf District Parks, the iconic Light Blades display a newly choreographed rhythm of color and pattern, changing each week. Two special programs will be created to feature the favorite colors of Massachusetts residents chosen at random in a free Conservancy raffle.

• White LED string lights adorn the branches of the Great Elm in the northern most part of the North End Parks. This elm, the largest tree on the entire Greenway and our State Tree, symbolizes our national independence and days past when these tall trees lined town greens. The Great Elm on the Greenway stands today in a contemporary town green, and symbolically connects Boston’s past and present. (Note: this element will be turned on in mid-February.)

The Conservancy is thrilled with the collaborative community effort that went into creating a high impact/ low-cost – and energy-efficient – show of light and color for all to enjoy. We invite residents and tourists alike to fight off the cold and dark by taking a brisk walk down the Greenway this winter and see all it has to offer.