Caitlin Deutsch, Paulina Budzioch and Kelsey Dalton McClellan – Heat, Light, Water Project

Gary Street Lights is an ongoing revitalization project, taking place in Gary, Indiana. The project aims to uncover, shatter and reconfigure the settled politics embedded in an artifact of urban infrastructure: the streetlamp. In conjunction with the Heat, Light, Water Project (HLWP), Gary Street Lights is an incremental project that over the course of the next two to fives years will, with the support of the HLWP artists and administrators install a series of responsive, networked and re-programmable RGB LED area lights.

As a group of students in the Arts Administration and Policy Program, Caitlin Deutsch, Paulina Budzioch and Kelsey Dalton McClellan worked with the Heat, Light, Water Project as student administrators for the Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 semesters. An Enrichment Fund Grant was distributed to the group to support the costs of transportation to and from Gary, Indiana throughout the school year in addition to supporting summer travel costs to facilitate prototyping sessions and general marketing for the Gary Street Lights project. The challenge of working with city and community representatives from a remote location posed significant communication problems for this project and the goal of this funding opportunity was to lessen the financial burden of developing important connections with project constituents. The group successfully worked in Gary, Indiana during summer and ongoing projects have been planned for the Gary Street Lights project as the artists and community move into the phase of installment for the prototypes.