A Beautiful Disruption: Experiencing the Bloch Galleries

Art Processors partnered with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art to create A Beautiful Disruption: Experiencing the Bloch Galleries, an immersive spectacle that showcases the Museum’s Impressionism collection in a way visitors have never encountered before.

This unique experience takes over the Museum’s popular Bloch Galleries to give guests a window into the insecurities and emotional struggles of the Impressionists through theatrical sound, storytelling, and lighting. As visitors journey through the galleries, timed lighting, audio, and special effects plunge them into the inner circle of the artists.

A Beautiful Disruption not only serves as a testament to the potential of technology when harmoniously integrated with art, but also as a beacon of what museums can aspire to in the modern era. Going beyond the superficial allure of mere visuals and sound, the experience was anchored in authentic artworks by legends like Monet, Cezanne, and Van Gogh. Instead of forgoing substance for spectacle, the Nelson-Atkins Museum chose a path that illuminated the stories, passions, and struggles of the Impressionists. By leveraging dynamic lighting and site-specific soundscapes, visitors were enveloped in tales of friendship, perseverance, and the timeless human spirit.

“We wanted to try something entirely new that breaks the model of a traditional audio tour and creates a social experience in our galleries that people can return to again and again,” explains Rachel Nicholson, Director of Visitor Engagement and Research at Nelson-Atkins. “We’re moving away from a didactic mode and instead inviting people to choose their own way to connect with the art, react and discuss with friends, and hopefully see these paintings and the artists in a new way.”

In the end, we created a journey of human connection where the paintings were still the foundation of the encounter, but where stories of deep friendships and personal reflection were at the forefront.