This Enormous Bay Area Art Project Needs $1 Million To Keep Shining

A crowdfunding campaign for $1.2 million began through Crowdtilt today, with the goal of keeping the Bay Lights display lit through 2026.

Artist Leo Villareal first created the light display, which stretches the entire span of the iconic structure, in 2013. A group called Illuminate the Arts raised $8.7 million in private funding to make Villareal's initial project a reality, the San Francisco Appeal writes.

But costing about $30 per day, the 1.8-mile-long art project is set to burn out of light and money in 2015.

With today being the first day of the campaign, Illuminate the Arts has another 44 days to raise its money to replace 25,000 LED lights and maintain the skeleton structure, according to the project's site. Today the campaign has raked in $185,000.

Villareal's most public artwork has become a popular media subject. It was the subject of a feature-length documentary called "Impossible Light" and has been Instagrammed more than 4,000 times, according to the project's campaign site.