For decades, the organization now known as Nightlab, formerly Willamette Light Brigade, has helped shape how Portland is experienced after dark. What began with color lighting on the Morrison Bridge grew into a larger body of work that enhances Portland’s nighttime identity, fosters civic pride and builds community through light-based art.
The Morrison Bridge Lighting Program builds on that legacy. It gives the public a way to illuminate the Morrison Bridge in recognition of community celebrations, causes and events, creating an ongoing platform for visual civic dialogue and daily engagement with public art.
The Morrison Bridge Lighting Program is a program of Nightlab, a Portland-based nonprofit that advances nighttime placemaking through light-based art. Nightlab’s work brings together art, community and infrastructure to help Portland feel more vibrant, welcoming, connected and alive after dark.
Nightlab’s programs include the Portland Winter Light Festival, the Morrison Bridge Lighting Program, the Illuminate Bridge City initiative, and the Light-Based Public Art Program. Together, these efforts reflect a shared belief that light-based art can help create better cities at night. It can create joy, foster belonging, support artists, inspire civic pride, and contribute to the cultural and economic vitality of the city.
The Portland Winter Light Festival is a program of Nightlab and is a community-centered, family-friendly event that invites residents and visitors to explore light-based art installations, projections, performances, and participatory experiences across the city each February. The festival transforms Portland’s urban landscape into a luminous canvas and has become a beloved seasonal tradition that brings hundreds of thousands of people together while supporting cultural and economic vitality during the winter.
THE LIGHT REPORT
Read Nightlab’s storytelling platform exploring bridge lighting, public art, nighttime placemaking and the people helping shape Portland after dark. Through project updates, artist spotlights, behind-the-scenes features and community stories, The Light Report highlights the ideas, partnerships and creative work that bring Portland’s bridges and public spaces to life with light.
