This summer Tahoe Public Art is launching a multimedia environmental art installation floating on the crystal clear waters of Lake Tahoe with data-driven storytelling about climate change and the Lake Tahoe Basin. 

"By sharing a set of values that guide behaviors to protect Lake Tahoe from the impacts of climate change, we instill a sense of responsibility in locals and visitors alike to ensure that the clarity and purity of this precious natural resource we experience today can be equally enjoyed by future generations,” says Mia Hanak, Executive Director, Tahoe Public Art.

LAKA'LELUP is a Wášiw (Washoe) term meaning “coming together for a common purpose.” The LAKA'LELUP program is a dynamic public art experience utilizing interactive technologies and custom audio and visual display systems that feature a curated set of data visualization designed to inform and activate audiences onsite and online about how we can come together individually and collectively to preserve and protect the natural grandeur of the Lake Tahoe Basin. 

By day the natural phenomena of da'aw - Lake Tahoe - such as water, weather, and sunlight bring life and light into play on the reflective facades of the ephemeral art installation, complemented with an ethereal soundscape. By night the installation transforms into an aesthetic multimedia experience with scientific data-driven storytelling and a musical score, intertwined with spoken word by the Wašíšiw (Wa She Shu), that informs audiences about the impacts of climate change as well as the solutions available to us. 

With community-based participation at its center, LAKA'LEUP provides a public platform that strengthens the connection between people and their surrounding environment by creating awareness, stimulating dialogue, and activating change that leads to long-term respect for coexisting with the natural ecosystem of the Lake Tahoe Basin. Audiences are encouraged to paddle board or kayak out to the installation, or just enjoy it from shore, to contemplate their relationship with the local environment. 

​Audiences can do a deeper dive into the data sets via the companion mobile website and interact with the installation by triggering content on it from their smartphones during the ambient mode, and register online to make their personal pledges to combat climate change, preserve water purity, and protect biodiversity in the Lake Tahoe Basin, or register via the satellite "land-to-lake" interactive installation and social media activation station. 

August 4 - 13, 2017    Commons Beach, Tahoe City, CA   
August 22 - 31, 2017  Ski Run Marina & Beach, South Lake Tahoe, CA