Worcester Business Journal
November 2024
An empty retail space at Worcester’s Mercantile Center has been transformed into an immersive experience featuring the art of 19th century Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, in a move that City officials and those involved in the project are hopeful will draw thousands of visitors to Worcester.
“Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience,” brought to Worcester by Belgium-based event production firm Exhibition Hub, opens to the public Thursday at 201 Commercial St. The immersive exhibit uses digital displays, sound effects, projection technology, and virtual reality headsets in an attempt to bring the post-impressionist painter’s work to life.
The interactive exhibit has previously toured many of the world’s largest cities, including a stint in Boston that began in the Fall of 2021. With the tour now focused on hitting medium-sized markets, Worcester’s central location made it a prime location, according to John Zaller, executive producer of Exhibition Hub.
“We have had Worcester in our mind for a couple of years,” Zaller said, noting he’s visited the City about a half-dozen times over the past two years in the search for an ideal venue, “I think that everybody sees this as an opportunity to put an exclamation point on what’s already been done in this particular part of the city, where you really now have a city center again that you can come to.”
Zaller said the space’s centralized location in Worcester and cooperation from Franklin Realty Advisors, the company which owns Mercantile Center, made the venue the best choice for the exhibition, which requires wide open spaces and a minimum amount of columns or other structures which can complicate fitting the exhibit in a particular space. Zaller is hopeful the exhibit will attract people from as far away as Western Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Speaking at a preview event on Wednesday night, Worcester City Manager Eric Batista noted the transformation of the 20,000-square-foot space where thousands of Central Massachusetts residents received COVID-19 tests and vaccines during the worst of the pandemic.
“Many of you may remember four years ago what we had to go through [with] the lines and the masks… It was a much different immersive experience that we went through in this building.” Batista said, referencing the intrusive nose swabs required as part of COVID-19 testing.
The bare concrete floors and walls made of plastic sheeting seen during the site’s days as a testing and vaccine site are long gone, replaced with carpeting, high-quality lighting, and temporary amenities including a gift shop, snacks, and a pop-up bar hosted by Salem-based Notch Brewing, which ran Mercantile Center’s beer garden during this past summer.
The exhibition will be from Thursday through Monday each week, with tickets currently available through the end of January. The venue is handicap accessible and open to all ages, with ticket costs of $34.90 for adults and $27.90 for children. Group and other discounts are available.
The Exhibition Hub has found other ways for the public to enjoy the space, including “Paint & Gogh” art lessons and yoga sessions which take place in the exhibition’s largest room.
Exhibition Hub’s lease for space was brokered by Todd Alexander of Worcester real estate firm Kelleher & Sadowsky.
Todd Alexander
