About

Nightlab is a Portland-based nonprofit that advances nighttime placemaking through light-based art. For more than four decades, the organization has shaped how Portland experiences itself after dark, bringing together art, community, and infrastructure to reveal the beauty, connection, and possibility of the city at night.

Nightlab’s programs include the Portland Winter Light Festival, the Morrison Bridge Lighting Program, the Illuminate Bridge City initiative, and the Light-Art Rental 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.

Nightlab is the new name of the Willamette Light Brigade, a forty-year-old organization. The new identity reflects the experimental, nighttime-oriented placemaking work the organization has been doing for the past decade. Nightlab is working towards transforming Portland into a national leader in nighttime placemaking through light-based art.