InLight Richmond makes for a spectacular show you won’t forget.
Bridge of Signs by Medeology Collective: Alessandro Imperato, Jim Gladman, and Kelly McClung at InLight 2013.
Photo by Terry Brown
If you’re looking for a chance to get out of the house this winter and experience one of Richmond’s hidden gems, try InLight Richmond on Nov. 15 and 16. This year, the event will take place at Chimborazo Park in Church Hill. The event, sponsored by 1708 Gallery, “is a free, public exhibition of light-based art and performances,” and includes sculptures, videos, interactive projects, and more.
Each year, InLight focuses on a different theme and invites artists to submit their ideas and art to be featured in the exhibition. The event kicks off with a Community Lantern Parade, in which anyone can take part and which is perfect for children. 1708 Gallery provides a number of lantern-making workshops, as well as a list of sites that you can use to learn how to make your own lantern. Lanterns can be made of papier-mâché, milk cartons, tissue paper, tin cans, or even paper bags.
Treehouse by Woodrow Collective: Joan Biddle, Kristi Tortoritis, Hannah Kirkpatrick at InLight 2014.
Photo by Terry Brown
The very first InLight Richmond exhibition took place in 2008, on the 30th anniversary of 1708 Gallery. Eleven years later, the light show and gallery is still going strong. Last year’s theme was “community,” and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts hosted the event, as it did in 2015. Juror Kimberli Gant, the McKinnon Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, selected 2018’s Best In Show: Leila Ehtesham and Carl Patow for their project, River City Reflection. The public selected Amy Smith and her Community Garden as the winner of the 2018 People’s Choice.
This year’s site, Chimborazo Park, was home to the largest Confederate military hospital during the Civil War, and later a Freedmen’s community following Emancipation. Today, the rolling hills of the park are home to the Chimborazo Medical Museum.
See Richmond in a whole new light on Nov. 15-16, 7-11 p.m. 1708Gallery.org/InLight
