A quarter-mile section of Carbondale’s Rio Grande trail will be lined with farolitos, or small paper lanterns, this weekend as part of “Light The Night With Love.” The inaugural event features public art installations stretching from DeRail Park to the Latinx Folk Art Garden, and proceeds from tickets purchased as part of the “HeART Walk” go to the American Heart Association.
“February is American Heart Month,” explained event organizer Barbara Frota. “We wanted to create the event around something we all have in common because there’s been a lot of division lately. ”
She also noted that even though the final evening of “Light the Night with Love” falls on Valentine’s Day, it is inclusive for couples and singles coming together for a good cause.
The farolitos were created by members of the community in the weeks leading up to the event. Performance art, sculptures, light installations and mixed media art created by Colorado “HeARTists” will also prominently line the path for anyone that strolls through.
Keith D’Angelo is a metalworker, who was borned and raised in Carbondale and now lives outside Telluride. He incorporates fire into his sculptures, and will have two pieces in the weekend event. One is a flaming heart and the other spells out the word “love” in fire and metal.
“The element of fire that’s incorporated in them, it brings this passion to the pieces.” said D’Angelo. “It’s not like you can just see it, you can feel the flame, and love can be this really intense kind of feeling. I think it’s a really great opportunity in these troubling times to try and spread a little bit of love, spread the light.”
In keeping with the love theme, attendees will also receive “love lenses” that organizers said would have them seeing hearts as they walk through the exhibition. The outdoor event will cap group sizes at pods of 10, and masks must be worn during the HeART walk. Presale tickets are sold out, but tickets will be available for purchase at the start of the walk. More information is available at Carbondale Arts’ website.
