The Glowing MORNINGSIDE LIGHTS Lantern Procession Returns 9/21

The 8th annual MORNINGSIDE LIGHTS, presented by the Arts Initiative and Miller Theatre at Columbia University, returns with the theme Island, a luminous archipelago comprised of 50+ community-built lanterns. Each one will be a unique, personal reflection on idyllic solitude or urgent interdependency, rising tides or vanishing landscapes, utopias or dystopias, abundance or scarcity. In a community procession through Morningside Park, the glowing islands will set forth through the darkness-a shared vision to remind us that, in the end, none of us is an island. Morningside Lights is part of Columbia University's Year of Water.

Free lantern-building workshops will be hosted daily at Miller Theatre from September 14 - 20. Workshops are geared toward teens and adults, but children ages 10 and up are welcome if working with a participating adult. A family craft designed for younger children will be hosted at the Down to Earth Farmers Market in Morningside Park on Saturday, September 21.

The workshops culminate in the illuminated procession through Morningside Park on Saturday, September 21. Information and registration are available at morningside-lights.com.

Co-produced by the Arts Initiative and Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts.

Saturday, September 21, 8 p.m. The Morningside Lights procession begins in Morningside Park at 116th Street and Morningside Avenue at 8 p.m. Meet at this time to walk in the procession or join anywhere along the route. The procession route is approximately one mile in distance, and reaches the Columbia campus at around 8:45 p.m.

Those who wish to carry a lantern can arrive at 7 p.m. for rehearsal at 120th Street and Morningside Avenue. Lanterns are assigned first-come, first-served beginning at 7 p.m. sharp.

From Saturday, September 14 through Friday, September 20, daily lantern-building workshops will take place at Miller Theatre, on Broadway at 116th Street. Afternoon and evenings workshop sessions will be offered. Those interested in taking part can visit morningside-lights.com for more information, including a detailed schedule, and to sign up for the workshops. Participants are invited to collaborate in forming their own islands, real or imaginary, while learning techniques for making illuminated art.

Workshops are free and open to participants of all backgrounds and abilities. Activities are geared toward teens and adults, but children ages 10 and up are welcome if working with a participating adult. Materials, tools, and techniques may not be appropriate for children under age 10.

A family craft table featuring a lantern-making project designed for younger children will be hosted on Saturday, September 21 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Down to Earth Farmers Market in Morningside Park. Children and their families are invited to create lanterns during the day for that evening's Morningside Lights procession.

"I am delighted to welcome a new year at Columbia with Morningside Lights, a beloved neighborhood tradition now in its eighth year. This year's theme is Island and is presented as part of Columbia University's Year of Water. Under the masterful direction of Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles of Processional Arts Workshop, participants will collaborate in creative workshops and an illuminated public procession. I can't wait to see the glowing island lanterns float through Morningside Park, conveying the complex and poetic relationship between humans and the natural world, individuals and the larger community. It is going to be spectacular."

Daily Lantern-Building Workshops: Sept. 14 - 20
Miller Theatre at Columbia University (116th St. and Broadway)

Family Craft Table at the Down to Earth Farmers Market:
Saturday, September 21, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Morningside Park (110th St. and Manhattan Ave.)

Illuminated Procession: Saturday, September 21, 8 p.m.
Begins in Morningside Park (116th St. and Morningside Ave.)

All events are free and open to the public

Sign-up at morningside-lights.com