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'Lights On Tampa' Exhibit To Brighten City's Skyline

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 5, 2009

TAMPA - Several downtown buildings will be transformed into works of art this month.

Beginning Saturday, the city's "Lights On Tampa" exhibit gets under way with installations that will remain up through Feb. 1, coinciding with the Super Bowl and Gasparilla events.

The event will feature five large-scale installations throughout the city, including a ring of mirrored, lighted balls that will illuminate the Tampa Convention Center, the Dick Greco Transportation Center, Riverwalk and University of South Florida Park.

Nearby, windows on the south side of the former Tampa Bay History Center will feature scrolling images of Tampa Bay, Florida's largest estuary, on a massive LED screen. At Cotanchobee Fort Brooke Park, along Riverwalk, a giant mood ring will be displayed.

There will also be about a dozen smaller exhibits at sites across the downtown.

"Lights on Tampa" is expected to cost roughly $800,000, with the city picking up about 40 percent of the price tag. Grants and private sponsorships will offset additional costs.

In 2006, hundreds walked downtown's streets to see artist Jorge Orta's light installation at Plant Hall, Stephen Knapp's lights on city hall and Erwin Redl's blue and red lights on the Pavilion at Rivergate Tower. About a dozen artists participated in the first exhibit.

The event gets under way at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Fort Brooke Parking Garage, 107 N. Franklin St. For information, call (813) 259-8531 or visit www.lightsontampa.org.

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