Richmond's Solar Sidewalk!

I know I blogged about InLight, Richmond's first "Art, Turned On" addition to First Friday and celebrating 1708 Art Gallery's 30th anniversary last week.

But for you geeks like myself out there, thought I'd expound more on the technical green building/solar information as well as the volunteers whom made the Solar Sidewalk possible.

('Cause. I'mma geek. Better than playin' with Legos!)

Scott Kyle, the green building architect who created this piece, explains:


"A quick description of the system:

Two Kyocera 65 Watt PV Modules, 24V Solar Lighting Control, & two 12V Concorde SunXtender Deep Cell Batteries.

This is what is showing up in my truck and on the roof with the guys from Cityspace Construction (Richmondcityspace.com), who volunteered time and materials to the cause.

Thanks also to Kenny, whose rooftop apartment we have to go through every time we have to access the roof.

Next, there is 24V DC wired from the roof to inside the window seat at the storefront of 1708 where there are two 25W LED Fiber Optic Illuminators (http://lightbeaminc.com/illuminators_25_watt.html).

These are state of the art illuminators with very high light output and very low current draw, ideal for photovoltaics. If we would have used halogen, which is standard for fiber optic illuminators we would have had to have added four more PV modules (yes there is a lesson here for homeowners and their appliances and lighting).

The fiber optic (plastic filaments) bundles are divided into four smaller bundles from each of the two illuminators where they are brought to each of the eight concrete panels in metal conduit that are then covered in sidewalk cement.

That's Stan Webb of Concrete Ideas handling the fiber optic cables. Stan's company manufactured the fiber optic concrete panels in their shop in Richmond. The PV modules are illuminated at dusk and stay on for a set period of time (currently 8 hrs - long enough for staggering club dwellers to see their way home by). The PV controller takes care of the battery charging and control of the on-off cycle. "

Thank you, Scott, for sharing your wonderful project with us!!!!
Er, see ya at Green Drinks Thursday! : )





There is no photograph that can accurately freeze-frame/capture it, except to see/experience it.


Below is my video where I tease Scott (his wife has a degree in sculpture)...
but it kind of gives you the "experience" of seeing this nice addition to Richmond at night...

A great addition to the Richmond arts scene- it is a good time to be in Richmond!

 

InLight: A Celebration of 1708 Art Gallery's 30 Years in Richmond Art

Psssst! Hey, y'all...
Come see some art!
C'mon! It's Richmond's InLight!

And for once I'm not going to gab (er, too much) but instead just letcha see it all. (And please, please click on the videos! They're dark but there's music! A New Orleans band doing Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healin'! Oh yessss, brother!)

What a celebration of art, community, and spirit in honor of 1708 Art Gallery's 30th Anniversary and the resurgence of art and vibrancy in Richmond through First Fridays!!!!

I'd like to point out that 1708 Art Gallery is a non-profit space that emphasizes art for art's sake and is not reliant on selling XYZ artist at XYZ commission.

How fortunate we are to have galleries where they have art... just for art. I appreciated *every* wonderful gallery I visited tonight. If you follow the links above you can read all about the participating artists.



As a green business who appreciates green art, I would like to specially mention Scott Kyle, whom I help (poorly) with Richmond Green Drinks. Scott is a green building architect (Full Scale Architecture), very talented, and gives back to our community in SO many ways. (His wife is equally talented & educated in sculpture, hence the ribbing in the above video.)

Scott created a beautiful, ethereal solar installation that... when I saw it...
It just made me happy, it made me think... "Ahhhh. Hope and light." Like twinkling fireflies.
Completely different than what I expected: I had expected whole panels alight.

Scott Kyle went for happy special moments, beaming dancing light as pedestrians passed, rays reaching out to touch all of us... that is some beautiful, solar powered, green ART!
This beautiful solar powered piece bequeaths the city a soulful improvement: Permanent art, that literally and spiritually shines.
(That's high praise comin' from a cranky woman.)

Beautiful work, Scott.

So, below, are some photographs *and* videos (from a cheap ole "you can take this in the rain" camera)- just for fun. Hope you enjoy. I know it's all takin' awhile to load, it's a post full o' ART! : ) It's worth it.

There was high-fashion Wearable Art, music, performance art (yay, Starr Foster Dance Company!) and just... great art everywhere, people smiling, children marveling, students striding... All despite Hurricane Hanna's approach and ensuing rain.

Hope y'all can stop by in person next time.
CONGRATULATIONS to all the participating galleries, artists, and through whom, through your hard work, you all make our community better and more vibrant.





By the way, I also picked up my painting, a painting I *had* to buy when, last time we attended First Friday, I had seen The Secret of Roan Inish the week prior. When I saw this painting... well, in my mind, these words spoke and I immediately bought it. The artist was there- and we talked about his art, and I mentioned how the painting reminded me so much of The Secret of Roan Inish. The irony was that the artist had never seen nor heard of the movie.
This painting means so, so much to me, my love of misfits, the awkward, wild hidden silkie inside all of us, living between the seal and human skins.

 

Modern lighting... and recycling

I am searching for lighting.

We have been fortunate to find most of our lamps in thrift stores.

But I have been thinking of the casa ti we're building... and darned it, I'm itching for a little design! So, yes, I haven't even started construction, but this girl's got lighting on the brain.

I ran across a site, that has a great selection: http://www.gnr8.biz/categories.php?cPath=1_20&page=all

What I like about their offerings is that the lighting is modern, yet not too cutesy whimsical, or too "let's just copy something retro" and that there are a lot of affordable products. Would I *would* like to see are more environmentally friendly offerings... readers, do any of you have suggestions for these manufacturers to replace the polyether that is used in so many affordable, attractive lighting designs?

Here is one I could totally see over my dining table:



Love how the part that hangs down is at an angle so that you could easily see your fellow diners instead of, like many low hanging lamps, obscuring them.

And of course, just for fun, this train of thought led me to walk around snapping pictures of our own locally recycled lamps, ALL previously owned before finding their way into our household!

Here they are!

We actually have tons more in the basement in storage... it makes you realize *how much* you can do / decorate through recycling! (Pretty much any of the furniture you see was recycled as well) In fact, doing this just made me realize... I have never bought a new lamp! ... and... Wow, I have a lot of lamps!































Oops I forgot some:

(And yes, I'm realizing... I have a

WHOLE

LOTTA

LAMPS!)




Maybe I *don't* need to go lamp shopping after all... Geez Louise!