Celebrate the Napa Lighted Art Festival in Downtown Napa

The lights will shine brightly from Jan. 20 to Feb. 18 with the return of the Napa Lighted Art Festival. The free outdoor experience – held in Downtown Napa – uses light and light technologies as an art medium, and the results are truly spectacular.

The celebration of creative arts, technology and lights will include 10 lighted art sculptures during the five-week event, as well as projection artwork on three downtown buildings for the first nine nights of the event, from Jan. 20-28.

Prior to the festival’s opening at 6 p.m. on Jan. 20, there will be a free meet-the-artists get-together from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Aerena Gallery, located at 600 Main St. in Downtown Napa. Several of the artists whose creations will be on display will be on hand to describe their artistic process and the story behind their installation, as well as take questions from the audience.

Then make sure you’re wearing comfortable shoes as you peruse Downtown Napa in awe of the festival’s incredible lighted works. We’ve showcased some of the works below. The festival is held from 6-10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 6-9 p.m. Sunday through Thursdays.

Martin Taylor: “Touch the Sky”
Location: Napa River Inn (500 Main St.)

Sculptor and visionary Martin Taylor dazzled us all last year with his work “Seed of Dreams,” and you can expect to see similar spectacular work from him this year. His sculptures feature metal origami techniques he developed which allow contemporary forms to be created from metal with the same elegance as paper. His work at this year’s festival, “Touch the Sky,” is made of stainless steel, steel with patina and gold paint.

Peter Hazel: “Octavious”
Location: Riverfront Fifth Street Plaza

Fascinated by the wonders of the sea and nature growing up in Half Moon Bay, California, Peter Hazel enjoys creating large, magnificent sculptures. “Octavious” is one such piece. The 7-foot-tall, 24-foot-wide and 30-foot-long octopus sculpture is covered in thousands of handmade and hand-painted ceramic tiles, as well as suction cups and LED lights.

Peter Hazel: “Desert Shark”
Location: Riverfront Promenade

In keeping with Hazel’s deep love and fascination for marine life, this year’s festival also features his work “Desert Shark.” This 25-foot-long, eight-foot-tall sculpture is – you guessed it – a metal rendering of a shark, created from glass, steel and brilliant LEDs. This aquatic sculpture was also on display at Burning Man 2022, fulfilling its title as a desert-dwelling shark.

Matley Hurd: “3 Sisters”
Location: Bus Depot (1151 Pearl St.)

A visual artist who mainly works in mixed media painting, digital illustration and large-scale murals, San Francisco-based Matley Hurd incorporates elements from comic books, anime, mythology and more. This piece, featuring three of Matley’s popular “Star Goddess” characters, surrounds the Bus Depot with Matley’s signature abstract-wavy style, the UV lights providing an ethereal glow to the entire artwork.

OGE Group: “House of Cards”
Location: Veterans Memorial Park (800 Main St.)

Consisting of 128 light boxes, this amazing structure by the OGE Group – previous visitors to the Lighted Art Fest might recognize their work “Angels of Freedom” from past years – features a different design on every card, each created by internationally acclaimed street and visual artists from all over the world. The exhibit refers to a structure built by people and their relationships, ideally pursuing a common goal of a safe, enjoyable and creative environment.

OGE Group: “Humani Luminae”
Location: Opera House Plaza (970 First Street)

Similar to their “Angels of Freedom” piece, OGE Group also brings an interactive light art installation which gives viewers an opportunity to pose as a colorful butterfly of the night. “Humani Luminae” is a celebration of life, with the butterfly serving as a symbol of joyfulness, emotions, celebration, spring, journeys, endurance, change, hope, rebirth and the circle of life.

Charles Gadeken: “Entwined Napa”
Location: Dwight Murray Plaza (1100 First St.)

Featuring a grove of radiant trees and twinkling shrubs, “Entwined Napa” by Charles Gadeken is purposely large and welcoming. Able to support many people gathering together, it is a place for meeting, talking and interacting. Millions of colors move through the tree’s leaves in waves, with the raised root structure providing a climbing surface and nooks to rest and marvel at the light show.

Stéphane Masson: “Aquarium Car”
Location: First & Brown Street – South

Injecting a bit of poetry and magic in our everyday lives, Stéphane Masson takes mundane objects and transforms their environment. In “Aquarium Car,” he uses an automobile and modifies it into a virtual aquarium. The car fills with water and giant fish until the water disappears and the cycle begins anew.

Stéphane Masson: “Magic Circle”
Location: Goodman Library (1219 First St.)

In “Magic Circle,” Masson utilizes video projection on an invisible screen, creating an amazing holographic effect. Audiences will see an elephant nonchalantly hovering approximately 16 feet over their heads.

Chad Rice: “The Heart and the Hollow”
Location: Brown Street – North

Described by the artist as “painting across three dimensions,” the sculptural work of Chad Rice is created with hand-painted imagery that stretches across multiple planes. The full image of “The Heart and the Hollow” can only be “realized when the surfaces are visually aligned from a specific viewpoint,” according to Rice. This forced-perspective installation challenges viewers to consider the line that separates man and machine in a world that is ever-evolving to be more technologically advanced.

Big Art & Building 180: “The Doors”
Location: First Street Napa (1300 First St.)

A women-led, global art production and consulting agency, Building 180 specializes in public art, among other talents. The team designs, curates and produces amazing and unique art installations from the idea to the completed project. Their goal is to “support both artists and designers to bring projects to life through thoughtful curation.” This year, they bring their fan-favorite piece, “The Doors,” to the festival, though with new configurations to keep guests old and new constantly guessing.

Craig Burrows | Southern California – Botanical UV Photography
Location: Main Street Parking Garage (1231 Main St.)

Craig Burrows started photography in 2010 after being interested in nature, particularly the small details of bugs and plants. Over the first few years he became interested in exploring the world through the media of altered light- infrared and ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence which became the core body of his work.

Since 2014 Craig Burrows has been practicing UVIVF photography which has been a path to learn about nature and connect with many interesting and knowledgeable people working in the fields of botany and ecology. The desire for subjects to photograph led him to become a horticulturist with over 100 orchids in his collection as well as an eclectic variety of other plants.

Available for the first 9 nights of the festival only.

Josh Miller and Angela Fraleigh: “Sound the Deep Waters”
Location: Native Sons Hall (937 Coombs St.)

A collaboration between Josh Miller and Angela Fraleigh, “Sound the Deep Waters” is an interactive “Victorian flower language dictionary,” or floriography, where the use of flowers are a means of expression. Visitors to the work are invited to submit secret messages via an onsite tablet, which are then projected as bold, larger-than-life flowers associated with their meaning.

Hotaru Visual Guerrilla – “Biotechture”
Location: First Presbyterian Church of Napa (1333 Third St.)

Celebrating the connection between nature and architecture, “Biotechture” was created by Hotaru Visual Guerrilla, an independent creative studio. The projection mapping artwork illustrates the fusion of architectural frameworks and organic elements. The studio’s work has been awarded numerous times and shown around the world.

High Resolution Events – “A Journey Through Time”
Location: Napa County Superior Court (825 Brown St.)

A captivating projected display, “A Journey Through Time” lives up to its name. This amazing feat of technology and artistry takes viewers through a mesmerizing narrative, inviting them to contemplate, as they marvel at the masterful use of colors, textures and details, the nature of time, and the cyclical path we all experience as human beings.

JOIN THE PARADE

If you’ve always wanted to be part of a parade procession, now’s your chance. Using your creativity and imagination, design a lantern and show it off as you take part in the Napa Lighted Art Festival Lantern Parade, beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 10. This parade is a fan-favorite event for locals and travelers alike, and this year will be no different. The half-mile parade route starts and finishes at Oxbow Commons Park, located at 1268 McKinstry St. in Napa. A lantern creation station will be held at the park from 2 to 5 p.m. The event is free for all ages; strollers are allowed but no bikes. 

COME STAY AWHILE

There is so much to do in Downtown Napa – special outdoor events and activities, world-class restaurants and wine establishments, art exhibits, spas and shopping venues, to name a few – it’s a great time to book a stay for several days or a week. There are a variety of lodging choices, from bed-and-breakfasts to resorts, and some offer special packages. Come for the lighted art festival, but stay and enjoy all Downtown Napa has to offer.