POSITIVE: An artist's impression of the City Evolutions project.
WATT Street is set to brighten up, as plans to introduce lighting installations to more than 10 buildings in the street has begun.
The $260,000 project, funded by Newcastle City Council, received more than 100 expressions of interest from both local and international artists.
It is set to operate automatically every night of the year for up to two years, in an effort to rejuvenate the inner-city centre.
City Evolutions, a tourism development project, was initiated in 2011 and was expected to be completed in 2012.
However, the lighting installations are expected to be in place by mid-2013.
The process to decide on a winner was described as a long and difficult task by City Evolutions project manager Paul Tibbles, who said he was 'rapt' with the final selection.
The winning design, a series of 10 site-specific light projections, came from Sarah Burns, director of design research consultancy ESEM Projects, who was contracted to produce the idea through the University of Newcastle.
"It was really important to combine history and creativity for this - we wanted to develop a number of designs that would engage everybody and unearth new stories.'
■ Novocastrians are being called on to email contact@cityevolutions.com to share their pictures, stories and videos of Watt Street with the artists.