First published in the Sept. 10 print issue of the Burbank Leader.
The city of Burbank Parks and Recreation Department and Cultural Arts Commission recently partnered with Arloopa, an augmented reality app and game development company, to host the “Virtual Brush” Art Gallery — Burbank’s first-ever virtual art exhibit featuring digital art, fine art and augmented reality presented by 22 local artists.
Opening day of the augmented reality art exhibit will was held Wednesday night in Downtown Burbank near the AMC walkway and will run for one year.
Members of the public can visit the physical space, bring their smartphones or tablets and view fine art pieces in the virtual art gallery through augmented reality. Viewers will need to scan a QR code available on a floor placard located at the AMC Walkway and download the Arloopa mobile application to view the gallery.
Participants can then view the paintings, click on the description to learn more about the artist, and have the opportunity to purchase the artwork. The exhibition features 22 works of art, a short video about the Burbank Cultural Arts Commission created by New York Film Academy instructor and Cultural Arts Commissioner Eric Conner, and original music composed by Thomas Pease.
The “Virtual Brush” Art Gallery Exhibit features local artists Yvonne Jongeling, Anet Abnous, Arpi Krikorian, Varouj Hovakimyan, Annie Wood, Stefanie Girard, Krikor Tchay, Lusine Saakyan, Leo Marti, Zepure Jerahian, Joanna Lewis, Roberta Levitow, Helena Julin, Alica Asmar, Mariam Tamrazyan, Carina Kouyoumji, Hayk Manukyan, Roza Tarzyan, Lilit Vardanyan, Lilit Buniatyan, Lilit Martirosyan and Arwestanoc.
Burbank Cultural Arts Commissioner Lucy Simonyan along with the Marketing Sub-Committee members Eric Conner, Suzanne Weerts and Rajasri Mallikarjuan have worked to bring together the “Virtual Brush” Art Gallery to the city. The Parks and Recreation staff, Burbank Cultural Arts Commissioner Stefanie Gerard helped curate the collection, and Yeva Manucharyan, founder of Anahit Co, provided expertise in augmented reality, working in conjunction with Arloopa — an augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) app and game development company which provides advanced AR and VR services.
Arloopa uses augmented reality, image-recognition and computer vision technology to convert the real world into a content-rich, interactive experience. To learn more about Arloopa, visit arloopa.com.
