Light Up Kelowna

Light, sound and video projections bringing a digital experience to downtown Kelowna

Light Up Kelowna Artwalk light projection

Light Up Kelowna is initiative in collaboration with FCCS and the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan (ARTSCO), with the support of the City of Kelowna. Light Up Kelowna is produced by Kirsteen McCulloch, ARTSCO Executive Director, with support from generous funding from Canada Healthy Communities, the United Way Recovery Fund and the BC Arts Council.

This vibrant installation illuminates the Cultural District, showcasing local artists and engaging the community in a celebration of creativity and connection. The exhibition consists of three elements viewed together – light projections along the Artwalk, an audio installation, and a three-channel video projected on the side of the Kelowna Community Theatre (KCT). Light Up Kelowna is a community project that showcases the work of emerging and established artists from the university and the local community.

Dr. Miles Thorogood and his team at SPIRAL have designed a cutting-edge wireless sound and light system that brings the Artwalk to life. The projections on the urban screen @KCT were created with curatorial oversight and design by Dr. Aleksandra Dulic and Dr. Yujie Gao.

Read more about Light Up Kelowna and ARTSCO

Current Exhibitions

Vanishing Point

With increasing temperatures brought about by climate change, fires in our local area, our natural environment is under threat. This work references the effect we have on our environment, and how the way we interact with nature can have consequences. This is a narrative work, a collaged landscape of the Okanagan depicting water, trees, animals that comes alive and shows the landscape changing overtime due to possible drought, fires and other consequences of the changing climate, showing the landscape degrading and burning.

This work was created by Alison Beaumont, Joanne Gervais and Shauna Oddleifson.

Light Up Kelowna ArtWalk

Light up Kelowna mushroom light projection along the Artwalk

Imagery taken from the animation are used in the Gobo light projections and sound installation along the Artwalk.

Light Up Kelowna @ KCT

The elements that make up the animated piece are hand drawn images, felted and crocheted pieces, digital drawing, along with photographs that are collaged, staged and brought to life through animation.

Past Exhibitions

  • Celebrating the Return: Gobo lights and sound installation ArtWalk exhibition highlights the cultural and ecological significance of restoring Sockeye Salmon and the cultural imperative of restoring Okanagan habitats, riparian systems, and biodiversity.

  • Okanagan Waterways is an immersive video installation, created by Drs. Aleksandra Dulic and Miles Thorogood, shows the beauty and sensitivity of various ecosystems throughout the Okanagan region, depicting the spawning salmon, flora and fauna in the area.

Urban Screen Projections

The initial Light up Kelowna project was an annual event of digital installations that were projected onto the outside of the Rotary Centre for the Arts that showcase images and sounds created by FCCS faculty and students. Projections were shown on the exterior of the Rotary Centre for the Arts from November to April, 2020 to 2023.

  • Autolume Acedia

    Autolume Acedia was show for the month of February, 2022. It is a hallucinatory meditation on the ancient emotion called acedia. Acedia describes a mixture of contemplative apathy, nervous nostalgia, and paralyzed angst.

  • Celestial Bodies projection 2021

    Celestial Bodies is a multicultural creation of animated media that tell ancient astrological stories, exploring the belief systems that make up Canadian and Indigenous society’s diverse fabric. Learn more…

  • The work of BFA and MFA alumnus Jacen Dennis was featured as part of Pride Week in November 2021. This animated artwork explores ideas of belongingness: in nature, in community, in one’s own body, spanning from a time early in his transition to the current day.

  • Kaytlyn Barkved Neuroqueer Imaging

    DAHU graduate student Kaytlyn Barkved showcased her work, Neuroqueer Imaging as part of Light Up Kelowna in March 2021. Learn More…

  • Same Neal LUK projection

    MFA student Sam Neal showcased his work, Inland Waters as part of Light Up Kelowna in March 2021. Learn more…