River of Lights is a captivating public light art installation created by Los Angeles-based lighting design studio Visual Terrain, Inc. at the City of Santa Clarita's Central Park, featuring 80 Anolis ArcDot pixel luminaires.
The installation was conceived to engage the public, inspire new ideas and encourage reflection and environmental awareness through the concept of beautiful, ephemeral and constantly flowing light. Its narrative follows the journey of water: flowing like a river, evaporating into clouds and returning once again as a storm.
Visual Terrain's team was led by principal designer Steven Young, who explains that the award-winning studio—specialising in lighting design for architecture, attractions and artistic projects—has built an excellent relationship with the City of Santa Clarita and has previously been involved in several other lighting projects there.
The ArcDot luminaires gently trace the path of a 172-step exercise staircase, leading visitors to a plaza where additional lighting connects the stairs with a new artwork located between the park's soccer fields and parking areas.
The project is the result of a collaboration between Visual Terrain, the City of Santa Clarita, the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency and New York-based artist Sujin Lim. Lim created the artwork When Cloud Met a Cloud, which anchors one end of the River of Lights experience, while the exercise stairs define the other.
The lighting installation also pays tribute to the Los Angeles Aqueduct Cascades, a well-known water feature and local landmark located at nearby Newhall Pass, which connects the Santa Clarita Valley with the San Fernando Valley. The Visual Terrain team used this landmark as the inspiration for a narrative lighting installation based on the natural water cycle and its continuous transformations.
One of the main challenges was finding a luminaire capable of seamlessly blending and animating colours that evolved with the hues and textures of Santa Clarita's spectacular sunsets, while recreating the flowing movement of water and the shimmering effect of a true "river of light".
The technical requirements called for IP-rated luminaires with pixel mapping capabilities and highly dynamic performance. After extensive testing and demonstrations, the Visual Terrain team selected the Anolis ArcDot.
Each ArcDot is mounted on a custom support approximately 90 centimetres high, jointly designed by Visual Terrain and the City. The luminaires are staggered along both sides of the staircase, with 39 fixtures on one side and 41 on the other. The entire installation is powered from electrical connection points concealed within the surrounding vegetation on the hillside.
Steven Young explains that the team at Visual Terrain had long known and admired Anolis products, having previously used Robe moving lights and LED luminaires—the brand's sister company—on other projects. This gave them complete confidence in the quality and reliability of the solutions. The studio had also specified Anolis colour-changing downlights for previous projects, always with excellent results.
Achieving the perfect lighting effect was essential for River of Lights. During the development phase, the team evaluated floodlights, lasers, theatrical fixtures, moving lights and other solutions to explore every possible way of recreating the sensation of water freely cascading down the hillside and flowing along the pathways. "We chose the ArcDot for its brightness, durability, size and aesthetics", explains Steven, adding that once illuminated, the luminaires can be seen "from miles away".
Integrating the lighting into the overall narrative of the project was a fundamental aspect of the design. To achieve this, the team created a 30-minute show divided into five movements, each representing a different stage of the water cycle. The sequence begins with rainfall. The gentle patter of raindrops gives way to streams rushing down the hillside. The third movement depicts a thunderstorm with lightning, which gradually transforms into shimmering raindrops before evolving into a cool, tranquil mist that envelops the plaza. Finally, evaporation begins, leaving behind only small puddles that gradually shrink until they disappear completely.
The permanent show is controlled by an ETC Mosaic controller. It starts automatically at dusk and runs until 10:00 p.m., when the park closes and the programme concludes with a specially programmed "goodnight" scene.
Visual Terrain also took full advantage of ArcDot's pixel mapping capabilities to showcase works by local artists through the system and create special lighting shows for celebrations such as the Fourth of July, Halloween and Christmas, among other festive occasions.
After more than a year in operation, the installation has proven highly reliable, with the ArcDot luminaires delivering flawless performance while becoming one of the community's favourite attractions.
The ArcDot installation was completed by electrical contractor Corey Hatch and his team at H&S Electric, who also praised the support received from both Lester Gomez of Linx Lighting & Energy Controls (Anolis' local representative) and the Anolis team, working directly with the factory in the Czech Republic and coordinated by Tal Janowitz from the Anolis North America office. The project integration was carried out by Digital Dots.
The ArcDot show was programmed by Visual Terrain's Steeve Vajk. Studio founder Lisa Passamonte Green served as the project's principal in charge, while Steven Young acted as principal lighting designer.
On behalf of the City of Santa Clarita, the project was led by architect Alan Stump, supported by a team including Cassidy Skelton, Carrie Lujan and David Knutson, the City's events administrator, who coordinates park events and the development of all special shows together with Visual Terrain.
Photos: Courtesy of Robe Lighting Inc.
