Faded ‘ghost signs’ given new life in Astoria

If you happen to stumble across a vintage hand-painted sign on the side of a building some night, and it suddenly comes to life with colorful, animated light, you’re probably witnessing the work of Portland-based light artist and experiential director, Craig Winslow.

He’s created work for Nike, Adobe, the Portland Trail Blazers and film director Tim Burton. With Burton he helped create a dazzling series of illuminated installations at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas.

But his passion is a project he calls “light capsules.” The capsules are intricately mapped projections that resurrect ghost signs, the faded historic advertisements painted on the sides of buildings. Winslow says his project title is a play on words. “It’s as if we’re surrounded by hidden time capsules” that are only revealed with light.

Winslow has created nearly 40 light capsules in cities around the world. Usually these creations last one night only — vanishing by sunrise. But Winslow recently premiered his first permanent U.S. light capsule in Astoria, Oregon, restoring some of that city’s hand-painted signs to their turn-of-the-century glory.