Monday, September 15, 2014

Friends in High Places


Saturday night, Rochester Love Notes teamed up with Greentopia to project lines of Love Notes onto the east wall of the Genesee River gorge. It was the largest Words on Walls event we’ve held to date, with two 20,000 lumen projectors illuminating the center of High Falls and people lining the Pont de Rennes bridge.

That pink logo.
Don Casper at Epic 10 Film Studios animated the lines from the letters, and the projection was accompanied by an original piece of music written by Sound ExChange Orchestra.


The bridge and the gorge on a normal night are pretty amazing. But this night, one of the first cool nights of the season, was spectacular. The falls were illuminated and changing from blue to red to white.

"I love you, you hot little secret, and I miss you all the time." Danielle Dagilis

Tanya's kids, up late and somewhat confused about what it was all about.

When we talked about projecting lines of Love Notes around the city at night, we never imagined this scale. But Michael Philipson and Lewis Stess, Co-Founders of Friends of the Garden Aerial, think big. A chance meeting between Michael and Tanya in May set the wheels turning for a collaboration. Without any explanation, he understood what we are trying to do with love notes, and the projection on the gorge was his idea.

This is Greentopia’s fourth year. The event is intended to bring awareness and highlight how our region is contributing to the sustainability movement. Greentopia has established its place among the region’s best festivals, but the vision of the event’s parent organization, Friends of the GardenAerial, is grander than I originally understood.

Here is their mission:

The Friends of the GardenAerial is committed to implementing a green infrastructure initiative that will both preserve and provide increased access for the general public to the Genesee River, the river gorge, and the 96-foot “High Falls” waterfall, all located within the High Falls Heritage Area, and is committed to including the High Falls Heritage Area into New York State’s first Eco-District.

Wow, right?  

We are proud to have had a small role in Greentopia, and in reimagining High Falls for one night. We are even more excited to have collaborated with a group of people that are working to transform a great little corner of the universe into a more vibrant neighborhood and the state’s first Eco-District. Thanks Michael and Lewis. Keep up the great work. And call us anytime.

A line from Tanya's Love Note, which documents the day Critical Mass came down her street.

Our favorite line from Roc_Guardian.