All Over Albany

Breathing Lights ends

The Breathing Lights public art project -- has been lighting vacant buildings in Albany, Schenectady, and Troy over the past two months -- is now officially over. The pulsing lights in the buildings will go out gradually as the batteries run out.

There are still handful of events related to the project coming up:

Inside Breathing Lights
An Inside Breathing Lights exhibit will be on display at the Hamilton Hill Arts Center through February 17 (open 3-6 pm weekdays or by appointment).

There's an opening reception for it this Friday, December 2 from 6-8 pm. Blurbage: "A behind the scenes look at Breathing Lights and last chance to speak with lead artist and architect and take a guided tour. Learn about the technology and concepts behind the breathing lights effect, how the project was sited and documented, and how it connects with neighborhoods across the region."

Building reclamation clinics
The series of clinics about how to buy and restore vacant buildings continues over the next few weeks with the "toolbox B" workshops. The Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy will be hosting a workshop December 8, the Schenectady County Business Center will also be hosting one that day, and the Capital South Community Center in Albany will have one January 28.

And the "toolbox C" workshop is set for February 8 at the Albany Barn.

Project finale and policy summit
There's a final event planned for April 7-8 at Proctors to review what was learned during the project and to show some of the works of art created in connection with the project.
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If there were lessons learned or information gained or relationships formed during this project, they're going to be just as -- if not more -- important as the art project itself. The neighborhoods and cities deserve a good faith effort to spin this attention and money into real, positive change.

Earlier on AOA: Breathing Lights begins