Last night, Rochester Love Notes teamed up with Greentopia to project lines of our letters onto the east wall of the Genesee River gorge. It was the largest Words on Walls event we’ve held to date, with two 20,000 lumen projectors illuminating the wall across from the Pont de Rennes bridge.
Don Casper at Epic 10 Film Productions animated the lines from the letters, and the projection was accompanied by Sound ExChange Orchestra.
The bridge and the gorge on a normal night are pretty amazing. But this night, one of the first cool nights of the season, was spectacular. The falls also were illuminated, and changed from blue to red to white. I borrowed a camera from my neighbor, so I could take pictures worth sharing.
When Laura, Ana and I talked about projecting lines of Rochester Love Notes onto buildings around the city this summer, we never imagined this scale. But Michael Philipson and Lewis Stess, Co-Founders of Friends of the Garden Aerial, think big. A chance meeting with Michael in May set the wheels turning for a collaboration. He understood what we are trying to do with Love Notes, and was already planning to project images onto the gorge.
This is Greentopia’s fourth year. The event is intended to bring awareness and highlight how our region is contributing to the sustainability movement. Greentopia has established its place among the region’s best festivals, but the vision of the event’s parent organization, Friends of the GardenAerial, is much larger than an annual festival. Here is their mission:
The Friends of the GardenAerial is committed to implementing a green infrastructure initiative that will both preserve and provide increased access for the general public to the Genesee River, the river gorge, and the 96-foot “High Falls” waterfall, all located within the High Falls Heritage Area, and is committed to including the High Falls Heritage Area into New York State’s first Eco-District.
Their long-term plan includes a loop trail around High Falls, the renovation of a building just to the left of the falls, a zip line, and implementation of a variety of projects that will reduce the carbon footprint of the neighborhood. Wow, right?
