San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie recently announced that “7×7”, a free public art installation that will shoot 49 beams of light above Civic Center Plaza, will be on display from Sunday through July 4.
The city of San Francisco hopes that “7×7”, created and produced by public arts organization Illuminate, will welcome visitors from around the world to the city for summer events such as Pride weekend and the FIFA World Cup.
The display’s name, “7×7”, describes the seven-by-seven grid of light beams that characterizes the art installation. A reference to San Francisco’s long-standing nickname as the “7-by-7 city,” each of the work’s 49 beams symbolize one square mile of the city.
“We have always been a city that leads with our values and we’re demonstrating that with this installation,” Lurie said. “Whether you live here or you’re coming to visit, whether you’re in one of our neighborhoods or coming downtown, there’s so much to be excited about in San Francisco this summer.”
The city’s summer events, taken together with the Super Bowl hosted by the Bay Area in February, have created what the mayor’s office feels has been a “historic summer” for the city.
Recently, Lurie has celebrated increased tourism and economic activity linked to these major citywide events.
“Whether you live here or you’re coming to visit, whether you’re in one of our neighborhoods or coming downtown, there’s so much to be excited about in San Francisco this summer.”
Mayor Daniel Lurie
In its Thursday news release, the mayor’s office reported that SF Travel, the official tourism marketing organization of San Francisco, projects the city to welcome 24.2 million visitors in 2026, exceeding 2025’s mark of 23.7 million.
The mayor’s office also referred to a study completed by the Bay Area Host Committee in 2024 that projected $1.4 billion in economic activity for the region as a result of hosting NBA All-Star Weekend in 2025 and the FIFA World Cup and Super Bowl in 2026.
With the art installation, the city will also add an additional light display to its celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary on July 4. Lurie previously announced plans for a fireworks display launched from the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge, marking just the third time in the bridge’s history that fireworks will have been used at the landmark attraction.
“7×7” is just the latest temporary public light display installed by the city in recent years with the help of Illuminate.
Earlier this year, The Bay Lights, a 1.8-mile art installation illuminating the entire western span of the Bay Bridge, returned to the city in March after a three-year absence beginning in 2023.
In May, Illuminate helped produce a four-night installation that created the illusion of laser beams being shot through the Transamerica Pyramid.
For the upcoming Pride weekend beginning on June 27, WelcomeSF, a 4-mile light display dubbed by the company to be the world’s largest Pride flag, will return to San Francisco’s Market Street. The display will shine alongside “7×7”, blasting the rainbow colors of Pride into the sky.
