San Francisco to Honor Orlando’s 49 Victims With Permanent Dedications on ILLUMINATE’s The Bay Lights

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In a show of solidarity with the families, friends and extended
community of the 49 people slain in Orlando’s Pulse nightclub attack, 49
lights will be dedicated on The Bay Lights in recognition of San
Francisco’s upcoming PRIDE celebration.

A single LED light will be dedicated in the name of each of the
deceased, allowing the love that defined that person’s life to
permanently shine in the San Francisco night sky.

The gift of the dedications will be made by ILLUMINATE, the non-profit
organization that presented The Bay Lights, a monumental public art
installation by artist Leo Villareal on the western span of the Bay
Bridge.

“San Francisco serves as a beacon of love and hope to the LGBTQ
community globally,” says ILLUMINATE founder Ben Davis. “In the dark
shadows that spawn acts of hatred, we are committed to spreading the
light of love.”

SF LGBT Center Executive Director Rebecca Rolfe, welcomed the Orlando
dedications as important and reassuring. “The desire to live free and
with dignity, to love fully without the fear of persecution, is a
transcendent human value,” she said. “We grieve for the LGBTQ, Latino,
and entire Orlando community and humbly acknowledge these dedications on
behalf of a vast global group of individuals who have long suffered
extreme violence for who they are and who they love.”

SF Pride Board President Michelle Meow said, “Rainbows are made of
light. And light is love.”

The first Orlando dedication can be viewed here: https://sif.illuminate.org/lights/10053

The remaining dedications will be posted between June 20 and June 27,
2016, and include hashtags #LGBTQ #ShineItForward and #SFPride. The
special dedications are being made through ILLUMINATE’s Shine It Forward
program, which allows anyone to dedicate one of The Bay Lights 25,000
LEDs in honor of a loved one or special occasion.

About ILLUMINATE

ILLUMINATE is a San Francisco-based non-profit arts organization that
aims to alter the arc of human history through the creation of
transformational works of public art. The group’s flagship project, The
Bay Lights, has become a permanent installation on the Bay Bridge.
ILLUMINATE’s next major project is LIGHTRAIL, an illuminated art
installation along two-miles of San Francisco’s Market Street. For more
information, visit illuminate.org.

Contacts

ILLUMINATE
Ben Davis, 415-786-4332
ben@illuminate.org
or
Spritz
Beth
Schnitzer, 415-221-2875
beth@spritzsf.com