Updates
Illuminating Downtown is as much a state of mind, as a series of projects that will be produced in San Jose, California. With the major goal of “Creating a downtown the looks and feels like the Capital of Silicon Valley,” many partners will be required to help move from a vision to a reality. The art program serves as a catalyst to creative thinking about who, what and where for downtown. We often find ourselves saying at events and meetings around the “Illuminating Downtown” project; illuminating can be as specific as light projects and as abstract as creating awareness around the changing landscape of downtown—and the role that everyone can play in the change.

Definitely our project is helping convince a broader group of stakeholders in the downtown that a place can have a different and better future—especially in combination with the other ArtPlace San Jose projects that have completed or are in process.

Recent Wins
The past couple of months have brought forward a number of “halo” projects that involve light. The San Jose Downtown Association is a partner in Dan Corson’s major gateway project for Illuminating Downtown that will launch in March 2014. This organization is a key partner in developing the downtown as an active, commercial, residential and retail destination, and they understand the value of art and artists in this equation. They are the producer of the annual holiday-time Downtown Ice skating rink, and this year they’ve added a terrific new light element called “the Halo,” creating a light & soundscape for the skating rink: http://sjdowntown.com/halo/.

Additionally, two new residential towers will be including exterior light elements to help identify their buildings and capitalize on the idea of creating a city center nightscape.

The City’s Office of Cultural Affairs was awarded a $200,000 NEA Our Town grant to collaborate with MACLA (another ArtPlace awardee) to deliver “SoFA Creates and Connects,” an activation strategy that is built on the groundwork of Illuminating Downtown as well as the ZERO1 and 1stACT ArtPlace projects to build a dynamic downtown arts district. The strategy of “building on our strengths and expanded outward” is truly proving to be an important focus for Placemaking projects.

And wayfinding—another of the four element of the Illuminating Downtown Project - is gaining significant steam beyond the ANTIVJ project. Within the City, at the Downtown Association and in recent policy studies by SPUR San Jose, the idea of engaging pedestrians as part of activation is getting lots of great attention, and there will definitely be new projects coming forward soon.

Speaking of ANTIVJ, they have brought forward an amazing proposal for an interactive wayfinding pilot project. An excerpt from the proposal:

Imagine walking around downtown after work. As the sun goes down, the walls of the city are slowly taking life. As you look at a wall across the street, you start witnessing all sorts of mysterious life forms coming and going from one wall to another. Some of them are growing, others multiplying, some are interacting with each other, giving birth to other life forms, and eventually disappear, all this creating an ever-evolving dynamic artwork. A whole ecosystem made of light seems to have established itself between buildings. As you look closer you witness somebody using his smartphone. All of a sudden a new creature appears on the wall. You quickly realize that the same thing seems to be happening at the end of the street where more people are gathered in front of another building.

This project will be an open, creative and collaborative experience, where the audience will be invited to participate in a large scale dynamic artwork on the city streets. The experience will take the appearance of an hybrid light installation, somewhere at the corner of the digital and physical worlds. Games have a huge potential in engaging people in collaborative activities, which is why the whole system will be conceived as a cooperative urban game. Designed as physical journey through the city, this platform is also an opportunity for people to reclaim public space through a real social experience.

We will be receiving the final proposal in December and look forward to reporting more for that blog post!

Insight/Provocation
Is permitting the death of activations big and small? The mantra of start small is starting to make a lot more sense, and as we realize what a project we took on through a multi-agency/organization collaboration with a unique funding strategy we’re learning an important lesson. That said, the funds that the San Jose Public Art has received from ArtPlace and NEA “Our Town” have been instrumental in considering cohesive programming for neighborhood and regional impact, particularly in partnership with the other local organizations that have also be engaging with ArtPlace and NEA Our Town.

What remains to be seen is the long-term impact of the catalytic nature of these projects to activating and inspiring others to action.