The Tampa Museum of Art has commissioned digital light artist Leo Villareal to design an installation for the facade of the new museum that should light up downtown at night.
The exterior of the new Museum of Art exterior features programmable LED lights 45 feet high and 300 feet long, embedded within two-layers of perforated aluminum panels. The museum is scheduled to open in early February.
"As we finalized the plans for our new building, we became more committed to the incorporation of a permanent public art component as part of the building," Todd D. Smith, the museum's executive director, said in a statement. "We wanted a bold pronouncement."
In daylight, the museum's facade creates a moiré-like pattern formed by two sets of parallel lines. At night, Villareal's LED installation will illuminate downtown Tampa.
Villareal's work, "Sky (Tampa)," premieres Feb. 4 as part of the museum's grand opening. It will remain on view every evening as part of the museum's permanent collection.
"I am inspired by the building's clean, minimal expanse," Villareal said in a statement. "Sky (Tampa) will reflect the life and activity around it, functioning as a mirror to a diverse audience."
Villareal, of New York, will create the work in Tampa over the next two months. The museum will organize a temporary exhibition of Leo's works for summer/fall 2010.
The new Tampa Museum of Art is under construction in downtown Tampa's Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. The 66,000-square-foot Cornelia Corbett Center building is scheduled to open on Feb. 6.
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