Discovery Green sees the light with new art installation After years as a frustrated painter, British lighting artist Bruce Munro raided his bank account a decade ago to create an outdoor installation at his home. He and his wife had just bought the property, and the house needed repairs, but that had to wait. Inspired by the way flowers bloom in deserts after rain, he filled their field with a garden of lights made from thousands of small frosted glass spheres atop slender stems connected by fiber-optic cable. Munro knew his life had changed when a stranger who saw it burst into tears. "I had always wanted to make art but felt it was indulgent. I wanted it to be something important," Munro said Friday at Discovery Green, where the latest version of "Field of Light" was blooming under an allée of oak trees dripping with Houston rain. Munro has designed other large public installations, but "Field of Light" has become a signature. With a 13-member studio team and local volunteers, Munro has re-created it at parks across the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

His work resonates at a time when many cities see their public spaces as assets that can enhance quality of life and contribute to economic stimulation - if they're people magnets. Experts often cite Discovery Green as one of the nation's shining "place-making" success stories. Some think there's no better - or more accessible and readily available - people magnet than arts and culture. Owned and managed by the private Discovery Green Conservancy, the vibrant 12-acre urban park next to the George R. Brown Convention Center attracts more than 1.2 million visitors a year. Some want a break from conventions. Others come to hear concerts, see films, take exercise classes, walk their dogs or let their kids play. Discovery Green programming director Susanne Theis believes art is essential to the equation. "People need art and want art in their lives," she said. "They respond to it." Performances and public art drive foot traffic that supports local stores and restaurants, said Jamie Bennett, executive director of ArtPlace America, a collaboration of foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts that accelerates creative place-making projects.

Arts and culture are proven economic drivers, he added. "They contribute 3.2 percent of the gross domestic product - about $504 billion annually - equal to the construction and tourism industries." Discovery Green has several iconic permanent artworks, including the "Synchronicity of Color" boxes that double as doorways to the underground parking garage and Jean Dubuffet's "Monument au Fantome" sculpture, which used to sit at the corner of McKinney and Smith streets downtown.what is a good exterior paint brand When: Opens 5:30 p.m. Saturday, through Feb. 8where to buy home decor in perth Where: Brown Promenade, Discovery Green, 1500 McKinneyhome decor ideas south africa

But temporary art installations keep people coming back. Theis has programmed quite a few in the park's five years, but until recently she didn't have a committee dedicated to finding and funding them regularly. Munro's "Field of Light" is the first project of Discovery Green's public art program. Chair Judy Nyquist said Munro's work hits all the right buttons. "It's lyrical and has a great sense of poetry," Nyquist said. "You might see it as dragonflies or fireflies. best paint for exterior of a houseIt conjures up memories for many people, but it's abstract enough it could be almost anything."which paint for exterior walls "Field of Lights" utilizes 4,550 of the spheres, and the fiber-optic cable that brings them to life at dusk lays across the ground like a shiny spiderweb.home decorating stores chicago

Theis said that Discovery Green's Facebook page typically gets 200 or 300 "likes" when it posts photos of art projects. The first hour it showed "Field of Light," it got 2,500. Light-based art seems to touch a chord. Discovery Green has delighted visitors in the past with local artist David Graeve's large illuminated spheres, and people have lined up both times the internationally-known group Architects of Air has set up its monumental inflatable environments at the park. 'How we define time' Munro understands he's working with a powerful medium. "I love the ephemeral nature of it," he said. "It is what makes life and how we define time. There's something sort of pure and simple about it." That visitor to his field a decade ago was dying of cancer, and her reaction brought a revelation: Munro realized he could use the materials he handled best - not paint on canvases - to help people feel connected to the world, a part of something bigger than themselves. "I don't want it to be chocolate-boxy, but I'm trying to say it with truth and emotion;

to take moments that are sometimes cliched but re-present them in a way that can't be sneered at, where they can be felt en masse," Munro said. "Art can make a positive difference to peoples' lives."EverLights - App Enabled Permanent Christmas Lights Salt Lake City, UT EverLights have a sleek, permanent, and weather-resistant design that you can install once and enjoy for years to come. Nearly-invisible, keep them off or light up a custom show for any special event, including birthdays, showers, or game day. Be the first on the block to have Christmas lights up and running. Only takes a simple touch of a button. Mobile Control - Discover Smart Convenience With a simple touch to your mobile phone or tablet, you can customize each light to any color and add your own color sequence. Your home is about to get a lot smarter. With the EverLights app, you can design custom patterns for your house with over 16 million colors available. Don't just use any blue on your house to celebrate the KC Royals World Series victory, use Royals blue by entering the RGB values of 018, 055, 143 into the app.

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