City Aglow: Dearborn to Host Interactive Nighttime Art Project

The holiday lights are all taken down, but one street corner in Dearborn will be lit up once more on Friday, Feb. 3, when the first-ever Glow project takes place in downtown west Dearborn.

The interactive art project will light up the northeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Brady street from 7-10 p.m. Comprised of more than 2,000 glow sticks, the experience will invite visitors to walk through the field at the corner, rearranging lights as they go.

The project is a collaborative effort between the Dearborn Historical Museum and the Dearborn Community Fund, designed to highlight–literally–the west downtown district.

The idea for the project, described as a “celestial field,” originated with Dearborn resident Paolo Mastrogiacomo, a University of Michigan graduate student in architecture, and his colleague Ariya Kelly.  In addition to providing a unique experience, they see the potential for this type of project to provide the community with an opportunity to stop, play and become engaged while calling attention to west Dearborn.

Mastrogiacomo and Kelly–along with a group of volunteers including designers, artists and people from the community–will install the interactive display.

Visitors will be encouraged to walk through the field and to move the glow sticks at will resulting in a constantly changing pattern. Three sculptures, part of Dearborn’s Midwest Sculpture Initiative which continues through April, are also featured on the site.

The Dearborn Historical Museum will be open to welcome visitors to tour and enjoy light refreshments.

The event is open to the public at no charge. In the event of heavy snow accumulation of more than two and a half feet, the project will be rescheduled for Friday, Feb. 17, at the same location. 

Additional information is available by contacting the Dearborn Community Fund at 313-943-5478.