Thousands of people from all over the world participated in Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s OPEN AIR installation on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, making it the largest crowd-sourced public art project ever seen in Philadelphia. Commissioned by the Association for Public Art, OPEN AIR transformed Philadelphia’s night sky every evening from September 20 – October 14, 2012 with 24 powerful robotic searchlights directed by participants’ voices and GPS locations. To learn more about the project, visit www.openairphilly.net.

OPEN AIR Stats:

• An estimated 17,000 people visited the Benjamin Franklin Parkway throughout the project
• Close to 6,000 messages were recorded in over 20 languages (including Russian, Portuguese, Hebrew and Cantonese)
• The OPEN AIR iPhone app was downloaded more than 7,000 times
• Nearly 63,000 visited openairphilly.net from 92 countries throughout the world
• Messages from 127 famous Philadelphians were featured in the project’s pre-recorded “Voices of Philly” archive, compiled in partnership with WHYY

PRESS RELEASE: “Philadelphia’s Open Air inspires Memorial Tributes, Marriage Proposals, Lullabies, Rants and More, Draws Participants from 92 Counties, and Welcomes Thousands of Visitors to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway”