'Whimsy & wonder:' Mysterious glowing maze, rainbow fort appear in Downtown Cary

Mysterious and wondrous pieces of art are popping up around downtown Cary again.

This weekend, kids (and kids-at-heart) were seen running through a twirling kaleidoscope maze, playing hide-and-seek inside a rainbow glow-fort and star-gazing from hammocks around downtown Cary.

It's all part of the annual GLOW art installation, which kicked off with the Under the Silver Moon Lantern Parade, in which families with homemade lanterns marched around the new Downtown Park. Each year, glowing exhibits pop up around downtown Cary – often with no warning and no corresponding event – and then vanish again after a week or two. Part of the whimsy and wonder is that locals never know when a new piece will appear... or how long it'll last before disappearing just as mysteriously as it appeared.

"The intent is to surprise and delight viewers when the artworks are discovered," says the Town of Cary's website.

As such, there's no way of knowing exactly when each of these glowing pieces will appear. However, several are up right now – and we don't know when they disappear.

Three layers of wavy lights, constantly shifting in color, create a landscape of movement and prismatic color against the dark night sky. Children and families walk through the maze of fiber optics, taking photos and getting lost in the lights.

A small glowing fort – that looks like a stained-glass window on the outside and twinkling fairylights on the inside – is adding a touch of wonder to the post office on Academy Street.

Called 'Glowfort 1" by artist Max Dowdle, it's meant to "capture the whimsy of childhood and the wonder of dreams" as an "interactive installation that promises to amaze visitors."

The piece is meant to immerse kids (and kids-at-heart) by encouraging interaction and exploration.

A pair of hammocks has recently appeared near the glowing fountain at Downtown Park. At first, it may look like just a simple spot to rest – but there are stars hidden within.

"Constellations" by artist Erik Beerbower aims to give a clearer look at the stars and planets so often dimmed by light pollution, by projecting a star map on an interactive sculpture.

The interactive piece allows people to lay back in a hammock and gaze up at a star map, which shows the names and placements of constellations in the night sky.

"My goal is to remind people that there is a vast universe out there and that once upon a time human beings looked towards the heavens a lot longer than they stared at their phones," writes the artist.

This year, the Town of Cary website has a list of exhibits that will appear now and in the future -- including video-mapping of Downtown Park, allowing animations to be placed onto natural details, and around 100 hand-fabricated hanging lanterns pulsing colorful light sequences at the Cary Arts Center.