Today marks the two-year anniversary of the first death from COVID in LA County. LA neon artist Tory DiPietro hopes she can help you see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel — literally. Her new neon art installation is lighting up the 3rd Street tunnel in downtown LA with the colors of the rainbow and her love for Los Angeles.
DiPietro’s piece sits above the end of the tunnel, and it features a 22-foot red neon heart with Los Angeles written across it. Each beam of the tunnel is filled with a different color of the rainbow.
Crew members helped set up the 22-foot red neon heart. Photo by Tory DiPietro.
DiPietro says she was motivated by all the darkness and hardships the world was facing together.
“I'm sure so many of us hadn't witnessed the entire world collectively going through something so dark. And so I thought in that moment, we just needed to make some massive, huge act of light and love,” she says.
Tory DiPietro’s piece sits above the end of the 3rd Street tunnel, featuring a 22-foot red neon heart with Los Angeles written across it. Photo by Tory DiPietro.
DiPietro says the project was entirely crowdfunded with the help of her producer Adolfo Nodal, the former general manager of the Cultural Affairs Department in Los Angeles.
The installation currently has a two-year permit, but DiPietro has hopes to make it permanent. She also has plans for a festival in June based on the tunnel.
Learn more about the installation on its Instagram page.