Two Immersive Van Gogh Art Experiences Are Now Open in NYC

Here's what you need to know about each of them.

By tae yoon

Published on 07/06/2021 at 08:52 PM

The legend of Dutch artist, Vincent Van Gogh, continues to captivate the world even 131 years after his death. Born in 1853, Van Gogh’s legacy includes the association of many familiar tropes that are often romanticized with his art and life story: he was a tortured artist unrecognized for his talents when alive, he struggled with mental health issues, and cut off a part of his left ear after an incident with the artist, Gauguin.

In addition to his talent, legends like these make it no surprise that, globally, interest in the artist and his work only continues to soar, including through two immersive world-touring Van Gogh art experiences that are now open in NYC. Here’s what you need to know about each.

What are the two Van Gogh art experiences in NYC right now?

The first is Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, which debuted on June 5 and will run to October. Located at the venue, Skylight, at 300 Vesey Street in Downtown Manhattan, and featuring a 30,000-square-foot space, this program is run by Exhibition Hub and has previously toured through international places like Barcelona, Beijing, Tel Aviv, the UK, and more.

The second is Immersive Van Gogh, which is expected to debut on June 10 and will run to September. Located at Pier 36 between the Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge, this program touts itself as “the largest Van Gogh exhibit in the world” featuring a 75,000-square-foot-space. Created by Italian contemporary immersive artist, Massimiliano Siccardi, and also operated by Lighthouse Immersive, this show has previously toured in Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

How are the two exhibitions different?

Expect more than the standard museum visit-through elements of sight, sound, lights, technology, and and also real-life replicas (like one of van Gogh’s The Bedroom), both Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience and Immersive Van Gogh offer a dazzling experience in which visitors will be captivated inside a multi-sensory universe centered around the works and story of Vincent Van Gogh.

At Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, elements include a sunflower display upon entrance; an animated version of Starry Night with a bench for viewing; a 360 degree, two-story projection along with narration featuring some of the artist’s most important works; a VR experience; a special artist table where visitors can color their own Van Gogh-inspired pieces to then upload for display onto a virtual wall; and more, for an experience totalling 60 to 70 minutes.

At Immersive Van Gogh, expect an experience made in collaboration with Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award nominated designer David Korins (Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen), with over 500,000-cubic-feet of projections. According to their website, visitors will “wander through entrancing,” and “moving images that highlight brushstrokes, detail, and color,” through some of his works like The Potato Eaters, Starry Night, Sunflowers, and more.

How do I buy tickets?

For Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, tickets are available through Fever

For Immersive Van Gogh, tickets are available through their website.

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Tae Yoon was born and raised in Queens, and is the Editor of Thrillist New York.

New York

Scavenge for Peeps Cookies and More Fun Treats in NYC This Easter

The best Easter desserts in NYC this spring include Easter Bunny Churros and Carrot Cake Macarons.

By alaina cintron

Published on 03/04/2023 at 09:05

As spring makes its way through New York City, not only do we get to enjoy beautiful weather, stunning cherry blossoms, and cool activities priced at $Free.99, but it’s also the perfect time for some limited-edition desserts.

With Easter fast approaching, bakeries are filling their shops with tons of chocolate eggs, carrot cake-flavoured everything and all types of flavours that offer both nostalgia and innovation within the city’s dessert landscape. After you’ve picked up a cake from the city’s best new bakeries, from Easter Bunny Churros to Carrot Cake Macarons, here are 8 Easter desserts to try in NYC right now.

Magnolia Bakery

Throughout April
Various locations
There’s great news for devotees of Magnolia Bakery’s Classic Banana Pudding: For Easter, the spot is mixing up the iconic dessert’s vanilla pudding with some carrot cake. The Carrot Cake Pudding is filled with freshly grated carrots, coconuts, pineapples, raisins, and walnuts. And if both bananas and carrots aren’t your thing, they’ll be offering their Classic Vanilla Cupcakes in pastel colours with a Cadbury chocolate egg hidden inside.

Funny Face Bakery

Through Easter Sunday
NoHo and Seaport
Known for their celebrity face and meme-worthy decorated cookies, fans of Funny Face Bakery know that a new fun design is always just around the corner. For Easter, they’ve created the adorable Hoppy Easter decorated cookie that resembles a classic box of marshmallow Peeps. Along with that, they also have the return of their fan-favourite Caramel Pretzel Chip cookie flavour, plus a set of three mini-decorated cookies perfect for gifting.

The Doughnut Project

Friday, April 7 through Easter Sunday
West Village
With the ever-changing flavours at The Doughnut Project, it’s super easy to miss out on trying out a new debut. But this Easter weekend, there will be two new flavours available. One is of course, a carrot cake doughnut topped with a cream cheese glaze, and the other is known as the Doughnut Nest-a French cruller “nest” with a cream-filled doughnut hole “egg” in the centre.

The Fragile Flour

Wednesday, April 5 through Easter Sunday
East Village
For stellar vegan desserts this holiday, head to The Fragile Flour, a plant-based bakery and dessert wine bar. They’re known for going all out for each holiday with a variety of new pastry options that you can pair perfectly with a glass of wine. This Easter, they’ll have a whole dessert menu that’s both delicious and gorgeous for posting on IG. The menu includes Stuffed Carrot Cake Cookies, a Lemon Cake (whole or by the slice), some festive cupcakes, and specialty macarons.

Kreuther Handcrafted Chocolate

Through mid April
Midtown
For a luxurious take on Easter chocolates, browse the selections available at Kreuther Handcrafted Chocolate. You can even pick the Easter Signature Chef’s Selection for a special box curated by award-winning chefs. For something other than chocolate, choose between the Carrot Cake Macarons or the cake flavored Easter Marshmallow Trio, both of which are almost too cute to eat.

La Churreria

Throughout April
Nolita
This churro-centric spot is putting the cutest Easter spin on their crispy cinnamon churros by twisting them up into bunnies and bunny ears. At Churreria, choose from a Bunny Churro Lollipop topped with your choice of chocolate or dulce de leche and sprinkles, or the bunny ear churros in the Ube and Matcha ice cream sundae or the Ube Milkshake, both of which are made with ice cream from il laboratorio del gelato.

Lafayette

Throughout April
NoHo
You’ve surely seen this croissant tons of times while scrolling through IG or TikTok, whether it’s the Pain au Chocolat one or the latest of the month. Known as Suprêmes, these filled croissants went viral and continue to live up to the hype each time a new flavour comes out. April’s flavour-sour cherry amaretto with a Luxardo custard and toasted almonds. While you’ll have to be super early and wait in line during one of their three drops of the day to get a taste, we promise you it’ll be worth it.

Levain

Seasonal
Various locations
We all know the iconic cookies from Levain-they’re gigantic, perfectly crispy and chewy, and well worth the long lines. For spring, the shop is launching a new flavour: Caramel Coconut Chocolate Chip. Filled with gooey caramel chips, fresh shredded coconut, and melty dark chocolate, it’s one you’ve got to try while it’s still around. To further celebrate the new season, all of Levain’s storefronts will be decked out in spring floral displays, serving as the perfect backdrop for pictures.

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Alaina Cintron is an Editorial Assistant at Thrillist. Her work can also be found in Westchester Magazine, Girls’ Life, and Spoon University. When she’s not at her desk typing away, you can find her exploring a local coffee shop or baking a new recipe.