The festival that fills Napa with art and lights will come back for its eighth year, but one installation will combine the creativity of both the featured artists and locals.

The city of Napa asked people in the community to send their designs for emojis, with artist Alyssa Ringler choosing the best. She and her brother Andrew are the artists behind the interactive emoji-based installation. Alyssa draws the emojis and Andrew creates the digital and projection experience.

The siblings then select 15 designs to translate into emojis for their artwork, MyEmoji. The interactive work is being projected onto the Native Sons Building through Jan. 25. The 15 sculptural installations will be up through Feb. 15.

Community members were asked to design an image based on their favorite Napa landmarks, activities, local plants or local foods.

Cheryl Roberts, 46, began creating her own emoji, making an image with the help of artificial intelligence to combine grapes, vines and a California flower — a poppy.

“I quickly came up with an art image I believe to reflect the valley the most. It is the first time submitting any art. I love the light festival and bring my daughter down every year, so I thought it would be fun to contribute,” she said.

Roberts runs a wine tour company in the valley.

Sarah Winski, public art coordinator, said the staff and artists chose the artwork thinking of items that the artists who are not from Napa may not know about, but any local would.

“The majority of the emojis were designed by Alyssa and she interpreted the selected images to fit in with the style of the rest,” Winski said.

Antonio Meza, a Napa Valley-based artist originally from Puebla, Mexico, was invited by Winski to participate in the project. His artwork is deeply inspired by Napa Valley’s landscapes, seasonal beauty and agricultural workers, which makes him feel at home and grateful to live there. He describes the vineyards, sunrises, sunsets and daily life in Napa as sources of peace, magic and inspiration.

Meza weaves his Mexican roots into every piece, especially the two volcanoes, Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl, near where he was born and raised.

“Living here, I’ve seen hundreds of wonderful sunrises and sunsets that make me grateful to be alive. Whether walking, biking, or driving through its vineyards, passing by is pure magic and relaxation. Watching the workers among the rows reminds me of their daily struggle to survive and appreciate that these lands hold and give so much life,” Meza said.

“In every painting, I try to depict these two beautiful volcanoes, creating a combination of my past and present, of my birthplace and Napa, where I live. Together, they inspire me to create more art. It’s a combination of elements: air, water, earth and fire. It’s Mother Nature (Pachamama). This creation is a blend of my senses — what I observe, touch, smell and taste. It’s magic transformed into art,” he said.

Elizabeth Martinez, 30, submitted an entry for the Dia De Los Muertos banner contest a few months ago. She created a hot air balloon emoji that had the balloon as a bunch of grapes. She used purple because she enjoys drinking Cabernet Sauvignon.

“I created the grape hot air balloon emoji as it is on my bucket list of things to do as a ‘Napa tourist.’ Growing up and being raised in Napa, we sometimes overlook the tourist activities here. Sometimes, we may be waiting for local specials,” Martinez said.

She also created one that depicted the Napa Valley Wine Train as a bottle.

“I have been in the wine industry all my life; therefore, I was inspired by what this valley offers. Riding the train is a wonderful experience. Although I was not 21 years old at the time, I had the chance to ride the wine train with my family,” she said.

The Ringler siblings are originally from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Alyssa is a photographer and visual artist now based in Vermont, while Andrew is a Boston-based interactive public artist. Their project turns a building into a giant, live emoji-only chat where visitors can scan a QR code, select emojis on their phones and see them projected in real time.

The installation includes about 150 hand-drawn emojis, many created by the artists, with 12 Napa-specific emojis inspired by the community submissions and local landmarks such as “The Crusher” statue. The project was first shown in the Czech Republic in 2019 with support from the U.S. Embassy and is now being presented in the United States for the first time in Napa. The artists will attend the festival to document the work, interact with the public and experience how people engage with the installation.

“We really wanted to create something that people with differing backgrounds and different languages could use to communicate,” Andrew said.

“Seeing what people choose to highlight from their community is really interesting. It creates this opportunity to just be a part of something that’s fun and playful, and that really adds to the engagement of the piece,” Alyssa said.