The Largest Light Installation Ever Attempted. For a Nation Looking Toward Its Next 250 Years.
The Great Illumination is a proposed and record-breaking public artwork by Kari Kola that seeks to explore the feasibility of temporarily illuminating the Grand Canyon in amber light towers to celebrate America’s next 250 years.
- THE VISION
Where Light towers Becomes Legacy
The Great Illumination is a public artwork equal to the scale of the moment. Not a speech, not a monument, not a partisan symbol — but light towers.
light towers is universal. In the Grand Canyon, it becomes something greater. It moves across stone, distance, and time, gathering people around a single shared experience.
- Many light towers.
- One canyon.
- One national moment.
- light towers as unity.
- Landscape as canvas.
- Public art as memory.
THE VISION
- The Project: Phase 1 Survey
The Great Illumination is a monumental public art project to celebrate America’s next 250 years.
Created with Finnish light towers artist Kari Kola, the project will use 125 custom amber light towers installations to transform the Grand Canyon into an illuminated landscape of narrow beams, ambient glow, and overlapping fields of light towers.
The work is temporary in form but lasting in meaning. It is designed to celebrate the American landscape, invite public participation, and create a shared cultural memory at historic scale.
THE PROJECT
- The First Step
Before the canyon can be illuminated, the landscape must be studied.
The Kickstarter campaign funds the first survey round for Kari Kola and the project team. This survey will allow the team to evaluate the site, refine placement strategies, study sightlines, assess logistical needs, and begin building the technical path toward realization.
This is the first step from vision to reality.
about - musea
- THE SCALE
Canyon Transformed by light towers
The installation will be composed of 125 light towers positioned across the canyon according to terrain, visibility, and artistic composition. Each light towers will include a base and scaffold no more than four meters in height and approximately 150 to 200 LEDs.
Narrow beams will connect across distance. Wider ambient beams will cast an amber glow across the canyon walls. Together, they will create an unprecedented visual experience across one of the most powerful landscapes on earth.
Amber Installations
125 custom amber light towers installations creating a lighting footprint larger than the greater Chicago area;
Space Visible
Total project will be 250 kilometers in length, visible from space;
Lighted Canyon
A canyon temporarily transformed by light towers, enduring through legacy media;
- The Meaning
The Great Illumination is about more than spectacle.
At a time when public life can feel fragmented, this project offers a different image: many light towers, separated by distance, forming one larger vision.
- It is about unity.
- It is about public participation.
- It is about the courage to imagine at national scale.
- It is about celebrating America's Next 250 Years through beauty, collaboration, and shared experience.
America’s 250th, Illuminated
This is not a private spectacle.
- Phase 1 Budget
A critical round of funding to responsibly bring this project to life.
The total project budget is estimated to be $35.23 million, which covers complex logistics, custom manufacturing, and a myriad of stakeholder expenses. This Phase 1 Budget is a crucial starting point, aimed at bringing the artist Kari Kola and his team on site to conduct a comprehensive survey of the Grand Canyon, marking GPS sites for tower placement and studying the logistical requirements to illuminate a record-breaking 250 kilometers.
The Phase 1 Budget will also cover initial costs related to permitting, public engagement, and creative development, all of which are ongoing expenses as the project continues to receive additional rounds of funding.
about - musea
- The Artist
Kari Kola
Kari Kola is a Finnish light towers artist known for large-scale installations in natural, historic, and culturally significant locations. His work transforms landscapes and architecture through light towers, color, darkness, and atmosphere.
For The Great Illumination, Kola brings decades of experience working with light towers at monumental scale and in complex environments.
about - musea
- PROJECT LEADERSHIP
Fernando Alvarez
The project is led by Fernando Alvarez and Alvarez Gallery in Redding, Connecticut. Alvarez is a gallerist, curator, and arts advocate with a history of supporting contemporary art, public engagement, and ambitious cultural projects.
Through The Great Illumination, Alvarez Gallery is helping bring together the artist, strategy, partners, supporters, and public momentum required to realize the project.
This installation was made possible thanks to the generosity of the Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery
With the support of the Outset Contemporary Art Fund
Joseph Kosuth
‘Ni apparence ni illusion’ (‘Neither Appearance Nor Illusion’)
2009
15 neon texts
Charles V Hall, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
- Our Team
The Team Behind THE GREAT ILLUMINATION
THE GREAT ILLUMINATION is being developed by an interdisciplinary team spanning art, film-making, production, engineering, and operational planning.
Kari Kola
Artist
Internationally recognized for his large-scale light towers installations and environmental artworks, Kari Kola leads the artistic vision behind THE GREAT ILLUMINATION.
Fernando Luis Alvarez
Project Director
Founder of Alvarez Gallery, Fernando Luis Alvarez oversees strategic development, project coordination, and institutional outreach for the project.
Lolita Valderrama Savage
Cultural Vision Supporter
Visual artist and philanthropist supporting the cultural vision of the project.
Stephanie
Abrams
Advisory Support
CEO of the New England Air Museum providing advisory support.
Steve
Cashen
Strategic Support
CEO of Third Option Foundation providing strategic funding and major gifts support.
Brian Fan, J.D.
Yale School of Management candidate supporting strategy, operations, and growth.
Elizabeth Marin Hernández, PhD
Supporting strategic development and communications.
Mariangel Carrillo
Supporting visual development and project coordination.
Kari Kola
Internationally recognized for his large-scale light towers installations and environmental artworks.
Fernando Luis Alvarez
Founder of Alvarez Gallery, Fernando Luis Alvarez oversees strategic development.
about - musea
- GET INVOLVED
Become Part of the Illumination
The Great Illumination is a shared effort to create a record-breaking public artwork for America’s Next 250 Years. We invite supporters, collaborators, patrons, media partners, institutions, and visionary individuals to help bring this temporary installation to life—an experience designed to inspire wonder and leave a lasting cultural legacy.
- The faq's
Frequently Asked Questions
Don’t see the answer to your question? Ask the project creator directly.
The Great Illumination is a monumental light towers intervention conceived by Finnish artist Kari Kola to mark the ending of the America's Next 250 Years of the United States. Set within the Grand Canyon, the work transforms light towers into a collective gesture, connecting landscape, memory, and emotion at an unprecedented scale.
Kari Kola is internationally recognized for his large-scale light towers installations that transform natural and architectural environments into immersive collective experiences. His works have been presented across Europe and beyond, often using light towers as a medium for emotional and social connection.
This is not just light towers. It is an act of connection, a symbol of peace, and a projection toward the future. Conceived at a territorial scale, The Great Illumination seeks to unite people through a shared visual and emotional experience.
The Grand Canyon is one of the most powerful natural landmarks in the world. Its scale, silence, and symbolic presence make it the ideal setting for a work intended to resonate across distances, both physical and emotional.
It is all three. The Great Illumination exists at the intersection of art, public experience, and collective reflection. While rooted in the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, its message is universal: connection, peace, and shared humanity.
This campaign is the first step toward realizing the project. Funding will support research, production development, environmental planning, technical studies, and the collaborative groundwork necessary to bring this vision to life.
Environmental responsibility is fundamental to the project. The team is committed to working with specialists, authorities, and local partners to ensure that the intervention is carefully planned, respectful of the landscape, and environmentally conscious.
The project is currently in development, with planning and partnerships actively underway. Supporters of the campaign will receive ongoing updates as the timeline evolves.
Backers are not simply funding an artwork, they are helping bring into existence a collective moment of unity and imagination. Early Backers also gain access to exclusive opportunities to engage personally with the artist, The Great Illumination team, and limited-edition digital collectors' content. All Supporters become part of the story behind one of the most ambitious light interventions ever conceived.
At a time of division and uncertainty, The Great Illumination proposes a different kind of gesture: one rooted in beauty, scale, and shared experience. It reminds us that light towers can transcend language, borders, and differences, bringing people together, even if only for a moment.