by Courtney Henson, Creative Coordinator for the Community Light Project

Dan Flavin’s exhibition at the Pulitzer is now securely packed up and ready to ship away- a side that many never see, the space of a de-installation is a magical sort of thing where the work just disappears and new reappears but really… there is a whole group of individuals repairing and patching the little scars left on the walls of Ando’s building.  What does this all mean?  “Let there be light, and now, let it go away.” 

Perhaps the same could be true for the Community Light Festival that occurred on October 3.  Multiple school groups poured all their energies into creating light sculptures, making drums and showing off their place in the Grand Center community.  And what happens now that folks came and saw, what will happen when the Light Projects get de-installed on the 17^th of this month?  Will Light leave Grand Center- or will it leave a lasting trail and impression on the schools, the individuals the community that really came together in this time and in this place? 

Maybe I ask too many questions- it is my nature to remain curious about how all of these things manage to come together.  And it is my nature to remain hopeful that we are not just pushing forward on a superficial level but making actual deep and long-lasting changes in Grand Center and the Arts and Entertainment district.

I wait to see the light continue in its dialogue with the Old Masters installation–how does what we can’t see effect us?  Or rather over time what can be illuminated if we truly look and experience?