Open Books and Open Minds: Annual Morningside Lights Illuminates the Night
The Handmaid’s Tale. The Secret Garden. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. These were just some of the novels that inspired the lanterns brightening the streets of Morningside Heights during Morningside Lights on September 30, 2023. Titled “The Open Book” this year, the annual outdoor procession paid homage to the open exchange of ideas while honoring the libraries that preserve access to vast catalogs of diverse works of literature.
Held in collaboration with Columbia University Libraries and The New York Public Library, this year’s event featured a radiant display of 50 community-built lanterns. Morningside Lights is led by the directors of Processional Arts Workshop, Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles, and is produced by Columbia University’s Arts Initiative and Miller Theatre. This year's theme invited participants to share the books that inspire, enlighten, and shape how they see the world, according to Melissa Smey, Executive Director of Miller Theatre.
“Open access to information and the freedom to read have been in the news a lot this past year, and libraries are such important resources for all in our community,” Smey said. “It meant the world to partner with the New York Public Library. I worked at the mid-Manhattan branch before I came to Columbia, and had long wanted to find a way to collaborate with local libraries.”
During a week of free public workshops, volunteers constructed lanterns while learning Kahn and Michahelles’s creative craft techniques from art instructors. The lanterns were assembled with papier-mâché and cheesecloth, and “colored” with layers of tissue paper to “bring the books to life,” according to Michahelles. The collective curation of a “great books list” allowed volunteers to reflect on books pivotal and transformative from childhood to adulthood.
Michahelles described the lantern-building workshops as incredible displays of blind collaboration—a term referring to an artist process where collaborators work on the same piece without actually seeing each other. For Michahelles, each lantern represented the efforts of dozens of different volunteers.
“Most people can’t come every day and follow a lantern through,” Michahelles said. “On the first workshop day, people brainstorm artistic visions and draft ideas and then other groups pick up the ideas and pass them on. It’s many hours of work for many hands.”
“New York City is so big and can be a busy place,” Smey said. “Morningside Lights workshops are a chance to contemplate ideas, meet new people, and make art.”
On the night of the procession, students, families, and members of the local community gathered in Morningside Park. Animated by a shared appreciation for the artistry and creativity of the showcased pieces, attendees carried and co-carried their own lanterns and lanterns made by others in a final moment of collaboration. They walked along Morningside Drive before migrating up toward the steps of Butler Library, their lit-up library accompanied by a transportative soundtrack. The evening culminated in a buoyant celebration of imagination and dedication, warmed by an atmosphere of connection among communities on campus and around the neighborhood.
