"Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience," running from Nov. 14 to Jan. 31 at the Mercantile Center, is "exactly what it sounds like," said John Zaller, the producer overseeing the exhibition.

"From the minute you enter to the time you leave you are immersed in the world of Vincent van Gogh like never before," Zaller said. That includes using 360-degree projections and virtual reality where you are "bathed" in the artist's work and world.

Zaller envisions the show immersing, and helping, the downtown Worcester community. "It does become a community event. 'Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience' is right in the heart of Worcester," Zaller said.

The award-winning exhibition has been touring since the world since 2017, ranging from London to Boston with over 5,000,000 visitors.

A home for the holidays

Its latest stop is Worcester, as a 20,000-square-foot two-story light-and-sound spectacular. Visitors standing in a circular gallery dwarfed by van Gogh's famous sunflowers or looking up at stars may be among the unique sights that define the 2024 holidays in the city.

"We had been looking in the Worcester market for a couple of years looking for the right location," Zaller said. "We discovered the Mercantile Center. I just thought it was the perfect location."

Zaller is executive producer of Exhibition Hub , an international curator and distributor of immersive exhibitions. Zaller was speaking on the phone recently from Madrid, where he was attending a conference of immersive experience producers.

Worcester is welcoming the show with open arms. “The City of Worcester is thrilled to welcome 'Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience' to our downtown," said Worcester's Cultural Development Officer Fabian Barracks.

"This exhibition isn’t just a world-class artistic event; it’s an invitation for our entire community and visitors to step into the beauty and emotion of van Gogh’s work. We’re excited to see how this immersive experience will energize our city, draw in new tourism, and highlight Worcester as a vibrant destination where art and innovation thrive together," Barracks said in a written statement.

Similarly, Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District board chair Julian Wade said, "This exhibit brings an exciting new attraction that aligns with our vision of a dynamic, culturally rich downtown Worcester, and helps solidify downtown as a go-to destination for residents and visitors alike."

The Dutch Post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh (1853-90) created over 2,000 artworks but could not sell his paintings and died in poverty and despair in France at 37 after an infection from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Yet his works such as "The Starry Night," "Sunflowers," and his many self-portraits are now among the most familiar and valuable in all art history.

The exhibition shows van Gogh's use of art as a therapeutic tool and a testament to the healing potential of creativity. In pieces like "The Starry Night," painted a year before his death, he turns his pain into something beautiful, demonstrating how art can be a form of personal catharsis. Van Gogh once said, "For my part, I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream."

Van Gogh's reputation ultimately moved into the realm of mass culture with Irving Stone's biographical novel ``Lust for Life,'' published in 1934 a year before van Gogh's first major U.S. retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1935. "Lust for Life" was adapted into a film starring Kirk Douglas in 1956.

However, "you have to travel the world to experience all these paintings," Zaller said of viewing van Gogh's most famous art in person at venues such as art museums.

Using 3D digital projection mapping technology, "Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience" is showing more than 400 of the artist's works, Zaller said.

An accompanying narrative that takes visitors on a journey through the artist's life brings to life Vincent van Gogh's deep relationship with his brother, Theo, documented in hundreds of letters.

The experience in Worcester is spread across seven rooms/galleries, Zaller said.

One artist, many dimensions

The self-guided tour begins with a more traditional exhibit of the artist’s work with information about his life through short video clips and blurbs and then becomes increasingly digital and immersive. A bust of van Gogh sees his face change through his many self-portraits, while a small gallery projects different flowers onto a single vase. Another room has a documentary about Van Gogh continuously playing.

The largest area is an immersive gallery on two stories which Zaller called "the crown jewel" of the immersive experience. Van Gogh’s artwork like "Sunflowers" and "The Starry Night" is projected ceiling to floor all around the gallery in shifting images as music and narration plays on a continuous 35-minute loop. Visitors can find a place to rest and contemplate.

"That is a place where people will stay. It is an incredible experience," Zaller said. The immersive gallery will also be used for activities such as yoga classes during the course of the exhibition's run. "It's a great space," he said.

In another room, a virtual reality tour invites guests to look at the world through van Gogh’s eyes, bringing them to eight locations in the south of France that inspired iconic paintings by the artist. "It's about a 10-minute experience walking through the countryside and seeing eight of his iconic paintings come to life," Zaller said.

Also at the exhibition "you can be the artist" where you color your own version of van Gogh prints and scan them in to be projected.

The average time someone spends at "Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience" is about 60 to 90 minutes, but "you can stay as long as you like," Zaller said.

"I think that this is a new way to introduce well-known art to new audiences. It's certainly a new way to introduce art," Zaller said.

In particular, the show "creates interest and accessibility for younger audiences ... They spend a lot of time in the digital realm," he said. The immersive experience approach to art "makes it fresh."

Zaller has overseen a number of immersive shows such as "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition," "Jurassic World: The Exhibition" and "Star Trek: The Exhibition." He has been working with Exhibition Hub for more than a decade and is responsible for the implementation of all Exhibition Hub properties in the United States.

However, "Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience" is not the only show of its kind produced by a commercial company featuring a famous artist. Indeed, it isn't the only show traveling produced by a commercial company in recent years that has focused on van Gogh.

Art, or spectacle? Can it be both?

Not all of the immersive shows have received good notices.

In England an article in January in The Guardian said, "Leading digital artists have claimed that some of the most popular commercial immersive experiences, particularly those based on the work of deceased artists, such as Van Gogh and (Salvador) Dalí, are a money grab that provide little reward to visitors beyond Instagrammable moments."

When "Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience" was in Boston in 2021, Murray White in a review for The Boston Globe wrote that “'The Immersive Experience' has little to do with art, and everything to do with spectacle, running on the vapors that a famous name can provide."

On the other hand, the exhibition was awarded best 2021 immersive experience by USA Today and ranked among the 12 best immersive experiences in the world by CNN.

A review in the London Voice Magazine UK called the show "stunning, interactive and relaxing."

Zaller said, "We're providing an experience of art that resonates really powerfully with the public. We create a top-quality experience wherever we go.'

He noted that some other immersive shows by other companies are no longer touring.

Admission to "Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience" in Worcester depends on the day and starts online at $24.90 for adults and $17.90 for children. There are packages and group rates. "We feel our pricing for that is accessible," Zaller said.

"We are a commercial company but 'money grab' is not how we approach it." The company uses revenues to develop new experiences and new equipment for projects, he said.

"The intent behind it is to bring van Gogh's art in a new way and bring a new form of art and entertainment in a way that today's consumers are really looking for."

As such, "one of the things is how many people it draws to a location," Zaller said. "Downtown Worcester, all the restaurants, businesses and shops are going to see increased traffic."

Besides yoga classes during the exhibit, there will also be activities such as an art market and "paint like van Gogh" classes," Zaller said.

A community partnership

In the course of bringing the exhibition to Worcester, Zaller engaged discussions not only with the Mercantile Center but the city.

The city's Festival of Lights, which begins Dec. 6, includes featuring the exhibition as one of its activities Dec. 7 and 8.

"We’re thrilled to offer cross-promotional marketing to extend the reach of 'Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience' as part of our city's broader cultural celebration," said Barracks. "We’re excited to package the van Gogh exhibit into a weekend-long event, kicking off with the Festival of Lights on Dec. 6, where special community discounts will make it more accessible to everyone. For the duration of the exhibit, Worcester stands to benefit tremendously, not only from increased tourism but also by showcasing the depth and vibrancy of our city’s cultural landscape.”

Wade said, "The arrival of 'Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience' at Mercantile Center is a testament to downtown Worcester's reputation as a cultural destination ... We expect that this popular, interactive art experience will not only captivate audiences but also drive more foot traffic to our local businesses, contributing to the vibrancy and economic vitality of our neighborhood."

"Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience" is set for Nov. 14 to Jan. 31 at Mercantile Center, 201 Commercial St. Tickets depending on the day from $24.90 adults 13 and older; $20.90 seniors 65 and older, students 13 to 26 and military personnel; $17.90 children 4 to 12. VIP and bundle/group packages available. To learn more, visit vangoghexpo.com.