The Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership recently received a $2,250 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to support Craig Winslow’s project, “Light Capsules,” which seeks to virtually restore the remnants of eight ghost signs along Route 66 in Oklahoma.
According to a news release from the partnership:
The Road Ahead will use this grant to sponsor a pilot project by artist Craig Winslow, which will be part of its ongoing centennial celebration of Route 66. Winslow’s project will take him across the state of Oklahoma to identify and document the current condition of faded advertisements along Historic Route 66. These faded advertisements are known as “ghost signs.” Once documented, Winslow will determine which ghost signs can be revitalized via “augmented restoration”, a process that uses light through projectors as a restorative art medium.
Winslow is an artist and designer who employs light to create narrative-driven visualizations and immersive experiences. The revitalized ghost signs from this project will also be included in Winslow’s ongoing, worldwide augmented restoration project known as Light Capsules. His work can be found at craigwinslow.com.
A few months ago, we featured Winslow’s vivid work with old neon signs in Las Vegas, Nevada. I wrote at the time:
One can envision how a small town or business district can use these technologies and projectors to seemingly bring defunct neon signs back to life.
Full restoration obviously still is an option. But if money or cooperation from a property owner is lacking, this is an alternative to bring Route 66 travelers to the past.
(Courtesy image of Craig Winslow by Armando Garcia)