van Gogh Immersive Experience to stop in Albany

R. Garzone

Apr 4, 2022

If you know who Vincent van Gogh is, this exhibit will be for you.

All over the country, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, the van Gogh Immersive Experience has been on tour since 2017, but gained popularity in 2021 and 2022.

The exhibition allows visitors to step inside the world of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings. It features a 360°, 20,000 square foot light and sound display of the artist's most famous works, including Starry Night.

It also features a Virtual Reality experience, a studio, and a 3D recreation of the room from his painting, Bedroom in Arles.

Until now, the exhibit has been in major cities like Philadelphia, Houston, Seattle, Las Vegas, and more but the tour is stopping in Albany, NY this summer.

Because of the rapidly growing popularity of the event, it is expanding to smaller-market cities like Albany, Cincinnati, OH, and Grand Rapids, MI.

The closest it has been to upstate is New York City and Boston, and their exhibit is finished. Now, residents of the Capital Region will be able to see the display close to home.

While the exact location is still a “secret,” many people have already pre-ordered tickets when they went on sale on Thursday, March 17 to see the show for themselves.

Colonie students Molly Ryan and Mia Van Dyke say even though they are not particularly into art, they plan to attend the event because they’ve never seen anything like it.

“Nothing like that has ever been around here before, it will be a new experience for me,” Ryan said.

More than five million people have visited the Immersive Experience all over the world.

Halla Rhode and Emily Ellenwood, art students at Colonie High School, say van Gogh is one of their favorite artists and they are excited to see his work come to life in a different way.

“I am excited to go because there are not a lot of places to see art in Albany,” Ellenwood said.

The exhibition has rave reviews according to their website. Many have called it “mesmerizing.”

“The closest thing one can come to viewing heaven for the first time,” Doug O. from the reviews on the show’s website said.

Boys Track & Field coach, Lisa Paparone, has visited the exhibit in New York City and says that she would definitely go again because it was a great experience.

Tickets for the exhibit are on sale now and the event will take place from Thursday, May 26 to Sunday, August 28.