Lumen is an annual festival featuring art installations that explore the interplay of light, art and technology. Established in 2018, the free, all-ages event is run by the City of Waterloo’s Arts and Culture team, Create Waterloo. After pandemic-related modifications to programming for 2020 and 2021, Lumen returned with a full-scale festival in 2022.

To help expand and enhance the Lumen festival, the City of Waterloo received $60,000 from the Government of Canada’s $23.25-million investment in My Main Street through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario). The City of Waterloo received this funding as part of the My Main Street Community Activator program, administered by the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI), to support projects that engage local residents and attract visitors to communities across southern Ontario.  

The 2022 edition of Lumen showcased the contributions of more than 70 local artists and partnerships with 15 local arts and community organizations. In total, there were 38 visual, new media and performance-based installations. Sonya Poweska, Culture Program Specialist, says the installations were designed to be interactive.

“It's not just that there's a piece of art there,” she says. “It's that you engage in an ephemeral moment where you are participating as part of the art.”

On the night of Saturday, September 24, 2022, more than 34,000 people wandered through the uptown Waterloo neighbourhood where Lumen’s vibrant installations were clustered.

Although most of Lumen’s installations were temporarily exhibited for the one magic night in September, funding from the My Main Street program supported two long-term installations: The Musical Swings by Daily Tous Les Jours, and The Anglerfish by artist Ryan Longo.

The Musical Swings featured a series of 10 swing sets that lit up and played music. By riding on the swings, participants created different sounds and melodies. Not only did each swing create its own tune, but the swings also interacted with each other. Swinging in unison, for instance, would play a melody; swinging in unison for 10 seconds would play a chord. This interactivity encouraged strangers to play and collaborate with each other.

Poweska says the swings sparked joy in people of all ages. She recalls one woman in her 60s who was moved to tears; she hadn’t experienced something so whimsical since childhood. Many people sent emails and pictures, and one mother sent a thank you card from her 6-year-old.

The playful exhibit was a huge hit. Over the course of one month, more than 50,000 people took a turn on the swings. In addition to delighting participants, the Musical Swings enchanted onlookers.

“We would go to the square all the time, and we would see the same people there, and they weren't even swinging,” says Poweska. “They were watching other people swing because that is part of the magic of it.”

The Anglerfish installation was equally mesmerizing. From a distance, the exhibit looked like an enormous metal anglerfish with giant metal teeth and scales that lit up. Up close, visitors could peer through the fish’s plexiglass “windows” into the belly of the beast — which was, in fact, artist Ryan Longo’s studio. Plus, people could access controls to change the installation’s colours and lighting patterns.

The Anglerfish was positioned at the opening of the Waterloo Park promenade, an area used by more than 2500 people every day. Poweska was amazed at how many people would sit on the benches and just stare at the fish.

“Every single person along that trail who saw that fish was enamored by it,” she says.

Poweska says Lumen focuses on offering small moments of joy, where people can participate in something beautiful.

“They might not recognize it as art. They might not recognize it as community building. They might not recognize it as placemaking. But that's really what we're trying to do. 10 years from now, I imagine that little girl who wrote us a thank you note is going to remember going on that swing.”

Photo Credit: Taylor Lalonde

Photo Caption: A group of three to four people look up at a glow-in-the-dark light exhibit (The Anglerfish by artist Ryan Longo)