In January 2009, when the Minnesota Museum of American Art announced it would indefinitely close its doors, art lovers felt the loss of the downtown institution keenly. Of course, we wondered what would become of the museum’s eclectic, enviable collection of art, but with almost as much passion, I heard folks voice their sadness about the loss of the Minnesota Museum of American Art’s beloved summer art and music series, “Patio Nights.”

But even without a brick-and-mortar home to show its collection, things started to look up for the museum in the summer of 2009 with the hiring of an ambitious new director, Kristin Makholm. Since her arrival at the museum, Makholm and her staff have re-envisioned what a museum can be, launching a number of ingenious exhibition partnerships with a variety of institutions around the state to bring significant chunks of the Minnesota Museum of American Art’s fantastic collection, once more, into public view.

And this summer, for three evenings in June and July, the museum has even brought back “Patio Nights.” In the absence of a space of its own, it set up shop in the recently renovated City House on St. Paul’s Riverfront. With lovely fare by 128 Café and live music, this week by the gently rockin’ Mr. Rowles and Band, set against the backdrop of the river at dusk and Jim Campbell’s atmospheric installation, “Scattered Light,” in nearby Upper Landing Park — I daresay this summer’s revival gives even the much-loved original “Patio Nights” series a run for its money. A note about “Scattered Light,” in particular: This light sculpture, fresh from a four-month run in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, was commissioned by the Minnesota Museum of American Art for installation in St. Paul in honor of the recent Twin Cities-wide arts festival, Northern Spark.

Created by San Francisco artist Campbell, the piece is 80 feet long, 20 feet high and 16 feet deep, a “3-D matrix of light” comprised of more than 1,600 LEDs, which have been painstakingly encased in hollowed out, repurposed standard incandescent light bulbs.

The effect of the piece hinges entirely on one’s point of view. Walking through the installation (preferably in the full dark of evening), surrounded by all those old-school light bulbs, the lights feel festive, imbued with a touch of irony and fond farewell for this soon-to-be-obsolete fixture. Step away from the piece and the view is quite different: from one angle, it looks, as the title suggests, like scattered light. Find just the right vantage point, though, and you see that “the LED bulbs are programmed so that … they ‘play back’ in very low resolution a video of commuters in Grand Central Station.” The result is eye-fooling, low-fi magic. But if you want to see it for yourself, act quickly. After Friday night’s event, “Scattered Light” will officially end its stint in St. Paul.

The third and final installment in Minnesota Museum of American Art’s “Patio Nights” series will take place Friday, July 22 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., with music by Mr. Rowles and Band beginning at 8 p.m., and food all evening long provided by 128 Cafe’s “mobile café” (PDF); this will also be the final public showing of “Scattered Light” by Jim Campbell. The evening’s events will take place on St. Paul’s riverfront, in City House and Upper Landing Park, on Shepard Road and Old Chestnut Street along the river (PDF of map). Admission is free and appropriate for all ages.