“Bay Lights” To Become Permanent
“Bay Lights,†a shimmery artwork of programmed LED lights strung temporarily across the Bay Bridge in San Francisco in 2013, appears to be on its way to becoming a permanent nighttime sight in the city. Illuminate the Arts, the nonprofit that conceived the work, created by the artist Leo Villareal, announced Wednesday that it had raised the $4 million in private funds needed to pay for new equipment and for a re-installation of the work after it is taken down next year to allow for maintenance work on the bridge cables. In an agreement with Caltrans, the state agency that owns the bridge, the light sculpture would be reinstalled by January 2016, in time, the arts group said, “to shine for Super Bowl 50†in February of that year. The work would then become the property of the State of California, which would be responsible for its maintenance.