The Arts Initiative and Miller Theatre Present MORNINGSIDE LIGHTS: NEW YORK NOCTURNE Tonight

The 4th annual MORNINGSIDE LIGHTS, presented by the Arts Initiative and Miller Theatre at Columbia University, kicks off on Saturday, September 19 with the theme NEW YORK NOCTURNE. Free lantern-making workshops, open to all, will be hosted daily at Miller Theatre from tonight, September 19, through September 25. The week culminates in an illuminated parade of community creations that will light up Morningside Park onSaturday, September 26. All are welcome to participate; information and sign-ups are available at www.morningside-lights.com.

Over the course of the week, visiting artists Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles of Processional Arts Workshop will help community members imagine and design vibrant lanterns inspired by New York City after dark. Fluorescent food trucks, Art Deco building spires, and decked-out party people are all fair game for inclusion in this year's procession. Kahn and Michahelles will also facilitate the production of the fleet of 100+ illuminated objects by teaching participants the artistic fabrication techniques needed to bring their ideas to life.

"What image defines New York at night? Is it the bustling nightlife of club-goers and hipsters, or rustling wildlife of raccoons, luna moths, bats, and owls? A glowing marquee or a backlit steam vent?" ask Kahn and Michahelles. "New York is many things to many people, but never more so than after dark. This year's edition of Morningside Lights will bring a host of nocturnal images into fleeting focus, as we once again gather to illuminate the nightscape of Morningside Park."

Morningside Lights is produced in collaboration with the Friends of Morningside Park and their annual Common Ground festival, which takes place during the day on September 26. The festival fills Morningside Park with performances and art-making, including a family-friendly craft table dedicated to creating lanterns for that evening's Morningside Lights procession - the culmination of a day of celebration.

From Saturday, September 19 through Friday, September 25, daily lantern-building workshops will take place at Miller Theatre, Broadway and 116th Street. Participants are invited to put their creative skills to use while building illuminated lanterns and fantastical sculptures.

Workshops are free and open to participants of all backgrounds and abilities. Activities are geared toward teens and adults, but children ages 8 and up are welcome if working with a participating adult.

Tonight, September 19 and Sunday, September 20, workshops will run from noon to 6 p.m. During the week, workshops will run from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday.

Those interested in taking part can visit www.morningside-lights.com for more information and to sign up for the build, the procession, or both.

Processional Arts Workshop (PAW), under the direction of Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles, creates site-specific parades, processions, and immersive theatre happenings worldwide. Inspired by diverse, global traditions of Carnivalesque street theatre, large-scale puppetry, and ritual pageant, PAW uses processional art as means to build and sustain community spirit and awareness, designing original works for established public events and festivals, as well as seeding site-specific pageant traditions in communities where no such events may have existed before. Drawing on regional cultures, history, folklore, ethnicity, and current sociopolitical concerns, PAW engages local residents in every stage of production, empowering them to identify and express the narratives that uniquely define "local" in their own community, against the modern tide of global homogenization.

Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy