Vision: Cultivate public space to promote the arts, strengthen community, and enrich downtown business.
Mission: Promote street performers and visual artists to make use of public spaces in downtown raleigh.
Dan Nelson's Journey into Streetlight
For many years two contrasting impulses had tumbled inside me: the desire to hole-up in my studio and just paint . . . and the inexplicable urge toward publicity stunts.
About ten years ago I began taking steps toward merging these two inclinations. I devised a way to do 8-by-10-foot paintings outdoors in public. With a few lights, a little music, a few stories, and lots of audience participation, and I was on my way. I did the artwork on vinyl, so every single painting was washed off when it was done. It was very, very primitive, but very, very "real".
I worked like this off and on for nearly four years. I washed more than 100 beautiful paintings from that vinyl. I learned how to paint big, and fast, and with an audience. I also began to absorb a lot about city life. I gained a whole new respect for "downtowns"--for city-centers, and especially for city-center streets. "Downtown-ness" really got under my skin.
I began to realize that it is the street-life in the heart of downtown that gives a city its personality. Read this list of names: Rome, Paris, London, Santa Fe, New Orleans, New York . . . anyone can predict with remarkable accuracy the image that came into your mind when you read those names. Unless you experienced some delightful or traumatic event in one of those places, you saw street scenes. That is significant. And its not just because of travel posters or gimmicky ads. The soul of a city is reflected in its city-center streets. The movers and shakers in a city might live in the suburbs, but they congregate and work downtown. As I stand on the main street of my city, I am passed by business people, attorneys, bankers, the mayor, the governor, sight-seers, news reporters, and, of course, the homeless.
Like most people who take the notion of community seriously, I want my hometown to be prosperous, safe, fun, and beautiful. I want it to be a cool place to visit . . . and a cool place to live. That means the streets of downtown need to have ART.
It was this insight--in the spring of 2002-- that caused me to start building what may be "The World's Largest Portable Art Kit"--2000 pounds of painting equipment, an electrical generator, lights, sound, musical instruments, a stage, an umbrella, weather-proofing, and an 8-by-11-foot canvas. I also began asking the City Council to let me perform on the main street of our city. Many months, lots of calluses, and several Council meetings later I was ready to go.
My goal has been to help develop a culture of street performing where there has been almost none. This has led to the formation of Streetlight Productions, Inc., a non-profit organization who's stated goal is to "Cultivate Public Space to Promote the Arts, Strengthen Community, and Enrich Downtown Business."
Streetlight Productions is a 501(C)(3) organization. All contributions are tax deductible.
