By Cleo Vivas-Rojas
Winter is here.
The Christmas crowds are still lingering, the wind cuts through the streets, and New York feels colder and louder all at once. It’s the season when walking endlessly outside loses its charm — and when indoor experiences begin to matter more.
The city is full of museums and exhibitions, and I love them deeply. But in recent years, I’ve found myself drawn to interactive, digital, immersive experiences — spaces where art isn’t just observed, but felt.
New York offers endless ways to encounter art — from quiet galleries to grand institutions — and I’ve spent years moving through them. But immersive experiences felt different. They didn’t ask me to stand still or analyze; they invited me to slow down, look closer, and become part of the moment. Instead of walking past artworks, I found myself stepping into them.
That shift in how I wanted to experience art eventually led me to immersive exhibitions dedicated to Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Gustav Klimt.
What I didn’t expect was how deeply emotional and transformative those experiences would be.
Van Gogh: Where It All Began
Van Gogh was my very first immersive art experience — and it left a lasting mark.
I invited a friend as a birthday gift, without really knowing what we were about to experience. At one point during the show, she turned to me in tears and said she had never received such a beautiful and delicate present. That moment alone made the visit unforgettable.
The experience was so powerful that we watched the show twice, just to absorb everything unfolding around us. The combination of music and movement, the way the brushstrokes seemed to breathe and swirl across the walls — it was emotional, intimate, and overwhelming in the best possible way.
It wasn’t about learning facts or timelines. It was about feeling Van Gogh’s world.
Monet: Memory, Light, and Time
Monet has always been one of my favorite artists, so stepping into his immersive exhibition felt like stepping into memory.
I loved the studio recreation, the garden sequences, and especially the main showroom — a space where I could have stayed for hours and hours, completely immersed in light and color, even though it was a bit crowded
What made this experience so meaningful was how it connected to my own history with Monet’s work. I remembered paintings I had seen at the Museum of Modern Art, the Philadephia Art Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago. I even thought back to art classes, when slides of Monet’s paintings were projected on a screen while we learned about Impressionism.
The immersive experience didn’t replace those memories — it layered gently on top of them, adding movement, atmosphere, and emotion.
Klimt: Discovery and Transformation
Before the immersive Klimt experience, I wasn’t deeply familiar with his work.
That changed after watching Woman in Gold, which sent me running to the Neue Galerie on the Upper East Side to see The Woman in Gold in person. That visit sparked my interest, but it was the immersive experience that truly transformed my understanding of Klimt.
Seeing his art come alive at the Hall des Lumières was astonishing. His golds, patterns, and symbolic figures danced across the walls of an old bank, creating a striking contrast between historic architecture and flowing digital movement.
It wasn’t just an exhibition — it was an entirely new way of experiencing art, space, and time.
What Immersive Art Brings to the Table
These experiences didn’t feel like simplified versions of “real” art.
They felt like art expressed in another language.
Immersive exhibitions bring scale, sound, motion, and emotion into the conversation. They highlight details I had never noticed before and invite connection without intimidation. Rather than replacing traditional museums, they deepen the desire to return to them — to look closer, slower, and with renewed attention.
One experience that beautifully reinforced this for me was The Blooming Wonders: A Magical Escape at ARTECHOUSE at Chelsea Market, where light, movement, and sound came together to create a fully sensory environment that felt both playful and contemplative.
Immersive art reminded me that art doesn’t always need explanation. Sometimes it just needs presence.
Looking Ahead
Experiencing Van Gogh, Monet, and Klimt this way has also made me curious about how immersive art continues to evolve. I’m interested in exploring spaces like Arte Museum, which opened in September 2025, and Mercer Labs with its exhibition Maestros & The Machines. While I haven’t visited yet, I’m intrigued by how these newer spaces approach immersive art beyond painter-focused experiences — especially when engaging with historical figures like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo through a technological lens.
Those explorations will come in time, and always from firsthand experience.
Van Gogh opened the door.
Monet connected memory and light.
Klimt transformed space itself.
Together, these immersive experiences didn’t teach me art history — they changed how I experience art.
This is just the beginning of my exploration into immersive art and indoor experiences in the city. In the coming weeks, I’ll be stepping into new spaces and discovering how digital art continues to reshape how we experience art — especially when winter keeps us indoors.
This post is part of my Immersive Art & Indoor Experiences series.
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Leave a comment — what immersive or interactive art experience left a lasting impression on you?
Travel. Visit. Explore.
Everyday magic is just around the corner — let’s go find it.
Photography by Cleo Vivas-Rojas
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