For the past 24 years, hundreds of volunteers have gathered near the top of Twin Peaks to install The Pink Triangle, a beloved symbol of hope and inclusion. Led by founder and longtime LGBTQ+ activist Patrick Carney, this gigantic hillside installation can be seen from across the Bay every Pride Weekend. Once a symbol of hate and ignorance, the Pink Triangle is now a beacon of hope, resiliency, and remembrance.
But this year, the Pink Triangle’s 25th anniversary—which coincides with the 50th anniversary of SF Pride—social-distancing restrictions have put the status of this large-scale public art project in question. Fortunately, a community-driven effort has emerged to honor this historic occasion. Carney has teamed up with Illuminate (the nonprofit behind The Bay Lights) to Illuminate the Pink Triangle. This year, a small, specialized team will safely install more than 2,700 LED nodes, creating a vibrant acre of light and revealing a mesmerizing, elegant civic focal point.
A Global Grand Lighting is scheduled for Saturday, June 27, starting at 8 pm—the evening before Pride Sunday.
To complete the work, Illuminate the Pink Triangle has announced a $75,000 GoFundMe campaign. Contributions are 100-percent tax-deductible and go toward the Pink Triangle account at SF Pride, which has long been the project’s fiscal sponsor. Illuminate is providing services and expertise at no fee, with all the $75,000 going toward materials, staging, and installation costs.
“Part of commemorating any Pride Weekend is remembering where we have been,” Patrick Carney, the creator of the Pink Triangle, says. “It is a highly visible, yet silent, reminder of inhumanity. It recalls one of the darkest chapters of human history, yet it has been reclaimed, to become a powerful symbol of hope, inclusion, love, and resiliency.”
“Our City has lived through a modern-day pandemic, demonstrating great care and compassion,” says Ben Davis, Founder and CEO of Illuminate. “We have an important lesson to share now. Lighting the Pink Triangle is an opportunity to honor history, inform the present, and shape a brighter, more equitable future.”
“We couldn’t be happier that the Pink Triangle is celebrating its 25th anniversary this way,” says Fred Lopez, Executive Director of SF Pride. “I’m very proud to continue our longstanding relationship with San Francisco’s most prominent symbol of queer resilience. Like Pride, the Pink Triangle encourages us to choose compassion over fear.”
Pink Triangle Details
First year of the Pink Triangle: 1996
Size: Almost 200 feet in diameter, covering approximately one acre
Personnel: In previous years, 300 volunteers
Illuminated Pink Triangle: 2,700 LED nodes, 43 rows of lights
Measurements: 100 feet along top, 200 feet along sides
2020 Global grand lighting: Saturday, June 27, 8 pm at San Francisco’s Twin Peaks Social media hashtag: #ThePinkTriangle
https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/thepinktriangle
Iluminate
Established in 2011, in conjunction with the creation of The Bay Lights
Mission: “Illuminate rallies large groups of people together to create impossible works of public art that, through awe, free humanity’s better nature.” Notable Bay Area projects: Bay Lights, Harvey’s Halo, Conservatory of Flowers, Grace Light at Grace Cathedral.
https://illuminatethepinktriangle.org/
SF Pride
Established: 1970 as “Gay Freedom Day” Executive Director: Fred Lopez #Pride50 Celebration information: http://www.sfpride.org/
Published on May 20, 2020
Recent Comments