The next two years are big ones for the waterways and bridges of the San Francisco Bay area.

Oakland, San Francisco and surrounding cities will host boats and tourists from the America's Cup Races from the fall of 2012 through the spring of 2013. The Port of San Francisco celebrates it's 150th anniversary in 2013 and will open several renovated buildings on the Embarcadero, including the Exploratorium Museum. And the Golden Gate bridge turns 75 on May 27 of this year.

For Oakland, perhaps the most dominant party involves the Bay Bridge, our dual span connection to the West. The bridge first opened to traffic on Nov. 12, 1936, making 2012 it's 75th anniversary. (The new eastern span is anticipated to open in 2013.)

Communications professional Ben Davis has been working with the California Transportation Commission - creating projects like a book of poetry inspired by the current bridge or an app showcasing the new eastern span. One afternoon he was sitting at the Ferry Building, musing on the bridge itself.

"It's a hardworking blue collar bridge, but sometimes overlooked," Davis said. "It has lived in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge. The Bay Bridge connects us, provides us with mobility and a sense of sharing back and forth." 

As he watched the traffic ebb and flow, he had a creative flash - what if the Bay Bridge were a canvas? Was there a way to allow an artist to paint on the structure, without permanently changing it or affecting traffic? Coincidentally, artist Leo Villareal was exhibiting at the San Jose museum. When Davis saw the undulating led lights that make up Villareal's work, the idea began to take shape. After the two men met together, Villareal made a video mock up of how the bridge might look with 25,000 energy efficient lights secured to the north side of the western span.

"The rendering exceeded my vision for what I thought was possible," Davis said. He named the project The Bay Lights. 

The first hurdle was convincing officials and bureaucrats that the idea could work. Davis was an optimistic realist.

"I have some knowledge of how this works within CalTrans," He thought to himself "Who would kill it?" and then was surprised by this "transcendent project."

"The whole process has been an unexpected series of delights," he said. "The perfect person at the perfect place."

According to Davis, the bureaucrats were just as inspired by The Bay Lights as he was and helped him to find ways to get to "yes."

Now that all the permissions are in place, the next big hurdle is funding. Although local solar provider - Clean Path - has committed to donating all electricity for the project, this is actually one of the smaller budget items. (About $15 worth of electricity per 24 hours is anticipated.)

Villareal and Davis said they anticipate five to six months of work to install the thousands of LED's and supporting technology. Villareal developed his art as a part of the Burning Man community. The team is committed to hiring local crafts persons, partnering with experts at The Crucible and Friends of the Gateway, among others. After all, hanging from the bridge to secure optical cables in wind and fog requires a certain combination of tech and strength. 

To date, the team has raised more than $7,000 of a $50,000 goal on the Causes crowdfunding website. They are also planning to raise more funds through private donors - not only for this project, but for subsequent support of Bay Area artists. By bringing high scale, high quality art to the region and through their fiscal sponsor - nonprofit Zero1 - The Bay Lights' creators say they hope to support other local arts organizations, in San Francisco, Oakland and beyond. After all, as Davis puts it, "Oakland is the future of art." 

Davis said he looks forward to the day of the lighting ceremony, when East and West can come together to see a large scale public art project.

"This is your project. This is our project. It elevates the arts across the Bay Area and beyond," Davis said. "It's not a Picasso for a few guests. It's art that everyone can see for free."