Breathing Lights Allow Capital Region Cities To Shine

It launched throughout Albany, Schenectady and Troy at the end of September. Maybe you've noticed while you've been driving through some areas that one house seems a lot brighter than another. It's not just because everyone is home. In fact, no ones living there. That's the point behind this project.

Some of our once most vibrant and booming cities are having issues with vacancy and abandonment. So, over the course of the last two years Artist Adam Frelin and Architect Barbara Nelson developed this project to bring communities together and inspire change. With the help of each mayoral office, arts community, business leaders and residents within the communities the Breathing Lights public art installation with run through the end of the month and is funded through the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge.

I've seen the installations myself. I drive through the city of Troy often and once the sun goes down, between the hours of 6-10pm within the participating communities what you see are your average lived in homes with a light on here or there. Then you'll see a home with fogged out type window bright as bright can be. And the saying rings true in this situation, the lights are on, but no ones home. It's amazing how eye opening this project truly is. You don't realize how many homes are vacant and unattended until the spotlight is shining on them. So how can we help make a change? Is it possible to liven up our once populated areas? What has caused the decline in population?

Learn more about this project here.