Ralph Brill, of the Brill Gallery, initiated the Hoosac River Lights - an outdoor artistic lighting project that drew crowds of thousands to its Inaugural Event on the evening of April 26, 2008. Support for the Project came from John Barrett, III the Mayor of the City of North Adams and the U.S. Corps of Engineers. The Hoosac River Lights Project celebrated the Hoosac River and brought it back into people's consciousness. Over time it might become an annual City of North Adams Event lasting several days. Once a dynamic river that powered the old textile and shoe mills in the region the Hoosac was placed in a concrete channel in the 1950s to prevent costly flood damages. Today, the Hoosac River remains largely unnoticed as it winds its way through the center of North Adams and past such well known landmarks as the Eclipse Mill, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) and The Porches Inn. This Inaugural Event took place between the Eagle and Brown Street Bridges.

The inaugural event was a collaboration between the Brill Gallery and the Lighting Research Center (www.lrc.rpi.edu) of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. RPI has the most advanced lighting school in the world. Professor Russell P. Leslie and Adjunct Professor Patricia Rizzo led a group of graduate and Ph.D. students from around the world to work on their 100 foot long River Revival Light Sculpture. Participating students include Keng Chen, Oindrila Hazra, Justin Hoin, Tracy Meyer, Nancy Qi, Leora Radetsky, Anurag Saxena, Aaron Smith and Lisa Yue.

The other Light Artists who participated in the Event were:

Sarah Michael; Los Angeles, CA

Emily Conrad and Jeff Galusha; New York City, NY

Rikayo Horimizu and Inhye Lee; Japan and Korea

Ralph Brill; North Adams, MA

Hoosac River Restoration Plan (PDF Document)

Hoosac River Restoration Report (MS-Word Document)

Hoosac River Dechannelization Proposal (MS-Word Document)