The Project:

Sky Space Project activates urban spaces through temporary installation and performance events around viewing the night’s sky. It’s central focus is an event series called Night Lights, that brings telescopes and other community tailored activities to dark, empty outdoor public spaces in Baltimore City for simple enjoyment.

Music, posters, dance and workshops from local artist is an interactive, family and arts friendly element integral to the project. It is a sweet way for any adults to spend an evening together, neighbors to chat and it also exposes lots of kids to astronomy in a very personal way – in their neighborhood.

Purpose:

Its purpose is to illuminate dark spaces with people rather than lights and to connect with the universe!

Borrowing from Jane Jacob’s idea of “eyes on the street", the event also aims to promote safety and street life in numbers. In the past year, the stargazing events have taken place in vacant lots, community art spaces and gardens.

It is easy to forget the landscape or natural context for a city, but the night’s sky can be enjoyed anywhere!, especially darker parts of the city. In this way, the darkness of poorly lit streets can be a resource for this kind of activity and street life. Some visitors have also noted a cosmic experience that they take from Night Lights and their subsequent associations with the city’s public space and nature.

About:
Sky Space Project is an ongoing project I started in 2009 and continues to grow. The project was showcased as part of the exhibition Baltimore: Open City and Designing Baltimore at the American Institute of Architecture in 2010 and 2011. See the website for details, contact info (to organize one in your neighborhood!) and other upcoming events!

Links:

Our facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/SkySpaceProject

Check out some of the neighborhood associations and artists involved :

http://lessergonzalezalvarez.com/
http://www.greenmountwest.org/
http://betterwaverly.org/about/better_waverly_arts
http://www.stationnorth.org/

It was featured in this exhibition: http://eds.mica.edu/index.php?/artwork/image-gallery/

Press:
http://stationnorth.wordpress.com/tag/sky-space-project/
http://www.juxtapoz.com/Gaia/Night-Lights-A-Sky-Space-Project