City Brights II - Temporary Public Art in Downtown Albuquerque
City Brights II
Learn more about the City Brights II Projects.
Learn more about the City Brights II Activations.
In 2019, the Albuquerque Public Art Program invited local artists to submit proposals for site-specific temporary art installations to activate downtown spaces with light-based installations for City Bright. From September to December 2019, four sites were lit up with installations, architectural interventions, sculptures, performance, and projections.
Five years later, the Department of Arts & Culture announces the launch of City Brights II. Eleven temporary light-based art installations envisioned by Albuquerque based artists will be placed in businesses and/or on city property, activating downtown in a unique way.
The City Brights II project encourages engagement between artists and the downtown community. Many of the installations are interactive featuring architectural light interventions, lighted sculptures, digital projections, and more. Viewable from the sidewalks of downtown, each creates a brilliant interactive experience for visitors and residents. The project will roll out beginning with the December, January, February, and March First Friday ArtWalks in Downtown Albuquerque, the installations will be on view through the winter of 2025.
Installations will be located in the broader downtown core, generally Lomas, Broadway, 12th, and Coal. Check out the ABQ ArtWalk map with City Brights II installation locations.
The Department of Arts & Culture is pleased to promote the City Brights II projects through ABQ Artwalk throughout the fall and winter 2024 and 2025.
Check out Public Art's Take Another Look podcast episode, "Activating Downtown with City Brights II" to learn more about the project.
Projects
Active Installations
- Celestino Crowhill, Occ Station 22
- David Santiago, Paige
- Dason Culver, Interefraction
- Zuyva Sevilla and Kirsten Angerbauer, Mirage (2025)
No Longer on View
- James Black, Rosenwald Faces
- Chris Casey and Kasra Manavi, Dispersion Immersion
- Aaron Mancha with Secret Gallery, Screen Time
- Jordan MacHardy, Robot Laser Show
- Michael Pino and Dusty Deen, Quannumthrows Presents
- Hong Yan, Flowers Bloom Because of You
- David Estes and John-Mark Collins, DIFFUSION
Rosenwald Faces
Artist: James Black
Location: 4th Street side of the Rosenwald Building at 320 Central Avenue SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
James Black will illuminate downtown with colorful, animated portraits of Albuquerque residents. Black's loosely drawn, thoughtful, and often humorous caricatures come to life using stop motion animation. The animations will be digitally projected onto the 4th Street side of the Rosenwald Building during the December, January, February, and March Artwalks. Black plans to schedule times during upcoming Artwalks where attendees may have their likeness sketched and transformed into an animated avatar. These drawings will be added to the ever-growing loop of Rosenwald Faces. Black will also send each willing participant their portrait to keep and to share.
Activation: December 2024 - March 2025
Artist links and social:
www.111t-shirtlab.com
Instagram: @jamesblackeyes
Paige
Artist: David Santiago
Location: Main Library, 501 Copper Ave. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, the 5-pane window facing the intersection of 5th Street and Copper Avenue.
Viewable day and night in the Main Library's front window is Paige. Paige celebrates her love of reading, glowing with the magic books bring to life. During the day, she offers a quiet place to rest and read in a tucked away corner of the library's second floor. David Santiago combines form and function in this large lighted sculpture that also serves as a comfortable bench to relax amid the bustle of downtown Albuquerque.
Activation: December 2024 - April 2025
Artist links and social:
stjameart.com/
Instagram: @stjame
Dispersion Immersion
Artists: Chris Casey and Kasra Manavi
Location: Front corner window 7th and Silver of the Levitated Toy Factory 700 Silver Ave SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Step into a world where your smartphone becomes a palette and your taps create a masterpiece. Access the Dispersion Immersion web page to control the artwork. Use this dynamic interface to release vibrant drops of ink into a cubic tank of water. As the ink dances through the water, cameras capture its mesmerizing journey from two sides, streaming the live footage to an illuminated light box in front of your eyes. Watch as your interactions transform into dynamic, ever-changing abstract art.
Activation: December 2024 - March 2025
Artist links and social:
chriscaseyart.com
Instagram: @chriscaseyart and @tiltedcollective
Screen Time
Artists: Aaron Mancha with Secret Gallery
Location: In the front window of 517 Central Ave NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
An arrangement of multiple television monitors from current and past eras constructs a unique display of digital artworks and camera-based interactive elements. The entire array functions as one singular display. Video and digitized works by local artists dynamically cycle through an ever-changing program. A street facing camera adds to the content with reactive live video as audience members become the subject of the temporal, morphing display. Onlookers are invited to take selfies, dance, and play with their images on the screens.
Activation: December 2024 - March 2025
Artist links and social:
Aaron Mancha
Instagram: @synthet.ii
Secret Gallery
www.secretgallerysw.com
Instagram: @secretgallerynm
0cc Station 22
Artist: Celestino Crowhill
Location: Corner of 3rd and Gold Streets. Activations on 3rd street side of building / NMCC Resilience Hub Occidental Life Building at 301 Gold Ave SW suite 201, Albuquerque, NM 87102.
Using open-source data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other remote weather sensors, Crowhill will create a visual real-time weather monitoring station on the columns of the Occidental Life Building. "0cc Station 22" is an urban lab where interaction with NOAA satellites will be used as architectural design to understand the current and imminent weather for populations that otherwise may not have access to this information. Lasers and prisms housed within 3-D printed trumpet vine blossoms installed on the building's exterior will light up and glow in reaction to the various data sources.
Activation: The best time to view the installation is at night, but the blossoms and the prisms in the windows alongside 3rd Street can also be viewed in the windows during the day.
Artist links and social:
Instagram: @celestinocrowhill
Interefraction
Artist: Dason Culver
Location: West wall of OT Circus, 709 Central Ave NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Large transparent colored hands attached to the side of the long wall on the side of OT Circus create colorful reflections during the day. LEDs mounted in the base of each hand create a gentle glow at night. Passersby will delight in the shadow play and wonder of these large lighted sculptures. The artist statement describes “A strong value of community is to reach out for help and to lend a hand to others, and the goal of this installation is to create dialogue on what community means, and how we can all lend our hands to build a resilient one.”
Activation: The installation will be visible day and night February - March 2025, with evening light program hours from dusk until dawn.
Artist links and social:
www.dasonculver.com/portfolio
Instagram: @coyoteculver
DIFFUSION
Artists: David Estes and John-Mark Collins
Location: Inside the 505 Central Food Hall, 505 Central Ave NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
DIFFUSION combines the carefully balanced sculptural mobile making expertise of David Estes with the technical wizardry of John-Mark Collins. Translucent ellipsoid discs hang and spin in constant motion in this large site-specific mobile installation. DIFFUSION will accentuate the interplay of digital and physical, highlighting depth, balance, movement and form of the physical structure and its augmented digital counterpart.
By day the beautiful undulating form of the sculpture itself is highlighted. At night, the mapped projections and precisely beamed lights create depth at the point of digital and physical intersection, transforming the sculpture into an ever-changing visual spectacle.
At night, the structure becomes more than just a sum of its parts by the synergistic interplay of digital and physical, creating a wholly new piece after the sun goes down.
Activation: February - March 2025
Artist links and social:
David Estes
davidestesmobiles.com
Instagram: @david_estes_mobiles_abq
John-Mark Collins
wonderandlight.com
john-markcollins.com
Instagram: @jmcjedi and @wonderandlightart
Robot Laser Show
Artist: Jordan MacHardy and Aaron Mancha
Location: In the front window of 517 Central Ave NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Three animatronic robots moving in unison work together to create a stunning light show. With lasers coming out of their hands and foreheads they communicate in the universal language of light and dimensional form. Reflections from a mirrored floor transform their complex geometric patterns into 3-D animated sculptures. The ever-changing display is sure to delight and surprise passersby the storefront windows.
Activation: February - March 2025
Artist links and social:
jordanmachardy.com
Instagram: @cafe.entropy and @_time_drop_
Quannumthrows Presents
Artists: Michael Pino and Dusty Deen
Location: Front windows of Studio 519 at 519 Central Ave NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Michael Pino (aka Quannumthrows) and Dusty Deen will project video art and animation onto the storefront windows Studio 519, transforming them into a giant video screen. Video art from Quannumthrows, Deen, and local Albuquerque artists such as Lady JennD will fill the windows, creating a stunning animated and immersive experience for viewers on the street.
Activation: December 2024 - March 2025
Artist links and social:
Michael Pino
Instagram: @quannumthrows
Dusty Deen
www.dustydeen.com
Instagram: @dustydeen
Mirage (2025)
Artists: Zuyva Sevilla and Kirsten Angerbauer
Location: Exterior entry of the Rosenwald Building at 320 Central Avenue SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 facing Central Ave.
Strips of lightweight reflective material, bird scare tape, is typically used agriculturally for deterring birds in fields. For this installation designed for the exterior entry of the historic Rosenwald Building in downtown Albuquerque, bird scare tape takes on a new role sublimely creating a site-specific dazzling architectural activation both day and night. Sevilla and Angerbauer create frames carrying multiple strips of the film and carefully mount them in various angular forms in immediate reaction to the installation site, drawing new lines that activate the location in unexpected ways. At night projections mapped to the structures create vibrant, dynamic light reflections. Wind and other elements produce an ever-changing display. Sensors designed to pick-up sounds and activity from Route 66 below, drive the lighting program, and along with the wind and the elements, produce an ever-changing display.
Activation: The installation will be active through May 22, 2025.
Artist links and social:
Zuyva Sevilla
zuyvasevilla.com
Instagram: @zuyva
Kirsten Angerbauer
www.kirstenangerbauer.com
Instagram: @k.angerbauer
Flowers Bloom Because of You
Artist: Hong Yan
Location: On the patio at Damacio's Bar and Tapas, 722 Central Ave SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Albuquerque artist and architectural designer brings to the City Brights II celebration “Flowers Bloom Because of You.” Giant lighted flowers open and close as passersby activate a hidden sensor in the stem. At night the flower’s center glows with larger-than-life intensity. Audience interaction fuels the blooms with the energy of life.
Activation: January 2025 - March 2025
Artist links and social:
www.linkedin.com/in/hong-yan-46834517b
Activations
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