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    Light at Franklin Park Conservatory will enchant visitors

    Bruce Munro, whose exhibition Light opens tonight at the Franklin Park Conservatory.

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    The Franklin Park Conservatory continues to bring world-class art exhibitions to Columbus and British artist Bruce Munro’s Light is the next in the series. This exhibit is only his second in America. Light opens tonight and will be a special evening engagement through February 8, 2014.

    “I love the mystery of light,” says Munro as he talks about his work. “It allows you to create something that is quite gentle and doesn’t take over the space.”

    Always wanting to be an artist, Munro found his medium in light later in his life and now he is on the brink of world-wide exposure.

    “I never thought anything like this would happen to me, and I’m so thrilled,” he says about getting to show his art to the world. He feels the Franklin Park Conservatory is a beautiful exhibition space and has many settings for his pieces. There are ten installations that make up Light, and quite a few are making their debuts here.

    Much of his work is inspired by nature, and by life.

    “Life is looking,” says Munro, “and I look all the time and just keep getting all sorts of little surprises.”

    You may think you see tiny fairies dancing over the globes in Field of Light. It’s a piece that will allow your imagination to explore every part of the garden, several times over as the darkness falls. Looking into the Sculpture Garden form the upper levels provides an all new view.

    Those who love lighting will enjoy finding a spot to relax (I recommend the stone ledge between the waterfall and Chihuly’s Sunset Tower) and take in Lightning Storm. It brought back childhood memories of laying in the cool grass, enjoying the show that is a hot summer’s lightning in the darkness of the countryside, an uncommon phenomenon in the middle of the city. Until now.

    “This is what art should be,” says Munro. “From your heart, your mind, your spirit. This exhibition is from the heart. You can have a wonderful experience here.”

    Field of Light, a landscape-scale installation. 2,750 lighted glass spheres rise from the ground in the Sculpture Garden.

    Light Shower consists of over 1,000 strands of optical fiber each ending in a teardrop shaped diffuser. Installed in the Himalayan Mountains in the North Conservatory.

    Whizz Pops. Forty-five glowing spheres in a spectrum of color gleam in the Zen Terrace.

    Field of Light at dusk, left. On the right, Chindi, a site-specific installation created to mimic dust devils in the Desert Biome.

    Photos by Pam Reece.

    Light at Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens will be on display starting September 25, 2013 through February 8, 2014. The Conservatory will be open in the evening hours on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays during the exhibit. To find out more information, visit fpconservatory.org.

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    Anne Evans
    Anne Evanshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-evans/
    Anne Evans is the Co-Founder and Director of Operations for The Metropreneur and Columbus Underground. She regularly contributes feature stories on both sites, as well as Mega Weekend each week. She has started and grown businesses, created experiences, forged community partnerships, and worked to create opportunities for others. She loves meeting new neighbors and those making an impact in our community. Want to connect?
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