GALLERY OF ECHOES Set for Columbus Commons

Shadowbox Live's Gallery of Echoes: The CMA Experience premiered in the spring of 2014 to rave audience reviews and critical acclaim. It returned to Shadowbox Live that fall due to popular demand, and later that same year, snagged a slew of awards, including the coveted Artistic Excellence Award from the Greater Columbus Arts Council. And on Sunday, September 6th, you can experience Gallery of Echoes for absolutely free at the Columbus Commons!

"If there is one thing we know for sure," says Shadowbox Live Executive Director and CEO, Stev Guyer, "it's that this particular show needs to be seen by as many people as possible. It is just that powerful."

With a seating capacity of 10,000, a performance at the Columbus Commons offers exactly that opportunity. Gallery of Echoes will be the latest in a line of successful Shadowbox Live free performances at the Commons, including Back to the Garden and Bigger than Jesus, where audience counts ranged from 6,000 to nearly full capacity.

"It's a gorgeous outdoor venue," says Guyer, "We're lucky to have it in Columbus, and we couldn't be more excited to be able to perform Gallery of Echoes there."

Gallery of Echoes: The CMA Experience is a way to experience visual art that's never been seen before. A collaboration between Shadowbox Live and the Columbus Museum of Art, it is a multimedia, multidiscipline journey into 21 pieces from the museum's permanent collection.

Every individual piece of art is featured by immersive video created by the Shadowbox Live video department and projected on a large screen hung above the performers. The video segments are more than just mere photos however. Each is a work of art in itself as the images zoom in and out, sometimes appearing three dimensional or in motion.

Linda Bass McClelland studied art at OSU and CCAD, and is a former docent for the Columbus Museum of Art. "As a docent in the late 70's I became very familiar with many of the paintings in the museum, but sitting in the audience watching Gallery of Echoes, I felt I was seeing the artwork for the very first time. I actually had tears in my eyes at one point, seeing details in a vast landscape I'd never seen before."

The video is accompanied by original music written by Light, the Shadowbox Live band behind 7 Deadly Sins and the upcoming Tenshu Monogatari. The songs were directly inspired by each piece of art, either by the story told within the artwork or the life and environment surrounding the artist.

"Seriously, no matter how impressed you are by the show in general, you can't help being blown away by the music," writes Columbus theater critic, Richard Ades. "These pieces are in a class by themselves. The best ones complement their respective artworks perfectly, and are all flawlessly performed."

To further bring the visual art to life, roughly half the pieces are also complimented with choreography by Shadowbox Live Head Choreographer Katy Psenicka. A variety of dance styles can be seen in Gallery of Echoes, from a soft and forlorn version of soft shoe to violence inspired modern dance.

"As observers, we too often consider different disciplines of art as completely separate beasts," says Guyer. "But all art is connected at very base and very visceral levels. 'Art inspired by art inspired by art.' That is what Gallery of Echoes represents."

Shadowbox Live presents Gallery of Echoes: The CMA Experience at the Columbus Commons on Sunday, Sept 6th at 8:00 PM. Opening act Donna Mogavero will begin at 7:00 PM. Admission is FREE! Blankets and lawn chairs welcome, please leave coolers at home. For more Columbus Commons regulations, please visit columbuscommons.org. For more information on Shadowbox Live, please visit shadowboxlive.org.