Art News

Company that brought Immersive Van Gogh to Dallas files for bankruptcy

Immersive Van Gogh will go no more.

Photo by Michael Brosilow

Lighthouse Immersive, the digital production company whose "immersive" exhibits became a buzz during the height of the pandemic, has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy.

According to Bloomberg News, the company, which put on multiple high-profile immersive art exhibitions across the U.S. including Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, was last profitable in 2021; but attendance dropped off after the pandemic.

Founded in Toronto in 2019, the company helped spearhead the immersive fad, first and most famously with its 2021 Van Gogh exhibit, followed by multiple digital light shows across Dallas and the U.S. including Frida Kahlo, Monet & The Impressionists, King Tut, Nutcracker, and its most recent, the immersive Disney Animation Experience.

However, in June, the company abruptly canceled the Disney show, both in Dallas and Houston — a move that appears to have been an omen of the company's financial woes. Oddly, that exhibition remains open in San Antonio through August 13.

Industry publication The Art Newspaper expressed surprise at the bankruptcy given the company's business model.

"Given the high cost of tickets ($35 a piece) and the low cost of using images that had entered the public domain, Lighthouse Immersive's operations were widely believed to be a profitable concept," says the publication.

However, these exhibits were not cheap to produce: Organizers quoted startup costs at a minimum of $1 million all the way up to $15 million to create an immersive pop-up, with expensive gear such as fiberoptic cables and Panasonic projectors.

The company has not revealed its plans nor what will happen to the venues they used in each city; they did not respond to a request for comment.

closings exhibitions-visual-arts

Museum News

National Medal of Honor Museum offers preview at downtown Dallas event

AT&T

The AT&T Discovery District hosted a mobile museum pop-up.

A high-profile museum opening in 2025 offered a preview in downtown Dallas: It's The National Medal of Honor Museum, slated to open in Arlington, at Nolan Ryan Expressway and AT&T Way in the Stadium district in spring 2025.

To give folks a preview of coming attractions, the institution dispatched a mobile museum to make a visit to the AT&T Discovery District on November 20, during lunchtime when foot traffic is brisk.

Imagine the sense of wonder and amazement that downtown Dallas denizens must have felt upon the sight of a double decker bus, parked in the District, equipped with video and historical information about the Medal of Honor award, stories of the recipients, and a rendering of how the museum in Arlington will look.

The National Medal of Honor MuseumCourtesy rendering

The goal of The National Medal of Honor Museum is to inspire Americans by honoring and preserving the history of the highest military decoration awarded for valor in combat.

They hope it will serve as a national landmark, illustrating the historical thread of sacrifice and patriotism that runs through all U.S. military service members, past and present.

Beyond its state-of-the-art, interactive experiences, a critical part of the Museum’s mission will be to use the stories of Medal of Honor recipients to inspire their fellow Americans.

It will incorporate the AT&T Virtual Recipient Theater, an augmented reality experience where visitors can interact with with Medal of Honor recipients. The space will be equipped with cutting-edge conversational AI technology complete with voice recognition to allow museum goers to have a conversation in a 3D format with medal of honor recipients living and past.

It will also have AT&T Branded Wi-Fi throughput the museum.

Interior of the mobile Medal of Honor Museum.AT&T