Whatever the ultimate fate of the Cubes — aka The Pavilion at Rivergate, the big box that was, for a little while, the future home of the Tampa Museum of Art — Lights On Tampa has enabled us to see the building in a whole new light. The hundreds of diodes in Erwin Redl’s “Fade III” bathe the window grids nightly in a range of hues from stoplight red to ice blue, an aesthetic accomplishment in its own right, but one that also draws attention to the overlooked beauties of the building’s architecture. Lights On Tampa managed similar revelations throughout the city, from Plant Hall to City Hall. Even more impressive, the project transformed downtown culture for a moment with its shockingly successful premiere: Streets filled with people! At night! On a weekend! There’s one more installation to come in 2006 — Janet Eichelman’s at the Poe Garage on Nov. 17 — and a new Lights On Tampa is scheduled for Jan. 10, 2009. Meanwhile, we think the city’s Public Art Program deserves a solid gold light bulb as reward for a bright idea.
This article appears in Sep 13-19, 2006.