For the Reporter

Mercerdale Park on Mercer Island will be transformed into an enchanted landscape of light and music when it hosts “The Prairie of Possibilities,” a temporary light art installation from maker-studio The Moonlight Collective. The installation will run from 6-10 p.m. Nov. 5-7 rain or shine.

Visitors will walk through a field of 1,470 glowing fiber-optic grasses, 140 feet across, set in the middle of the park, all animated and reacting to an immersive musical soundscape.

This unique installation is the vision of Mercer Island resident James Gwertzman, who co-founded the Moonlight Collective with fellow makers Casey Marvin, Paul McDaniel and Ed Allard. This piece has been in the planning for nearly two years, and will debut on Mercer Island as the first of several installations around the world.

“I am so excited that Mercer Islanders will be the first in the world to experience this immense installation,” said Gwertzman. “The past year and a half have been very hard on all of us, and I can’t think of anything more important than to literally bring light to the darkness at a time when social distancing and polarizing politics sometimes make it hard to realize we are all a single community, united by a love for our island.”

The installation is free to the public, and is funded in part by the city of Mercer Island and a grant from 4Culture. It has been approved and is supported by the Mercer Island Arts Council.

The installation is family friendly, but Gwertzman and his crew ask people to not bring any pets.