DAYTON, OH.- The latest exhibition in The Dayton Art Institute’s Experiencenter family gallery explores the creative space where music and art overlap.

The artistic urge to merge the language of visual art with musical notation, composition and sound is particularly pertinent today, as many artists frequently and freely cross disciplines in their work.

I See the Rhythm features an interactive, 20-foot sound sculpture, Delirioso by Anthony Luensman, along with displays of several 20th century works of art from the museum’s collection and musical instruments from around the globe. The exhibition is curated by The Dayton Art Institute’s Director of Education Susan Anable.

Hands-on gallery activities explore visual and musical composition, movement, art making, dramatic play, and storytelling. A Prepared Piano invites visitors to “prepare” a baby grand piano and play improvised compositions. Art activities highlight the connections between art and music, and traditional instruments reveal their sounds and stories.

For the youngest visitors, The Art Place for Young Learners presents art, song, rhyme and pattern through the lens of classic nursery rhymes, which represent some of our first experiences with rhythm.

The sound installation Delirioso, created by Luensman specifically for the Experiencenter, takes advantage of a large curved wall in the Experiencenter to create an “amphitheater” for sound. This amphitheater has been filled with an eclectic orchestra of kinetic and electronic instruments that guests may play and conduct, through a series of joystick movements and pushbutton switches. Delirioso’s range of unusual sounds, textures, and combinations swings from quiet, atmospheric passages to dense walls of sound, depending on how many guests are participating and how many instruments are activated.

An accomplished multimedia artist, Luensman has exhibited nationally and internationally. In 2007, he was invited to create a series of sculptures and installations, called Arenas, for the Cincinnati Art Museum. His recent 2012 solo show at the Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center for the Arts won support from the National Endowment for the Arts and incorporated thought-provoking sculpture, photography, sound and video. Luensman is the recipient of several awards, including two Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards, three City of Cincinnati Individual Artist Grants and the prestigious Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship.

The Experiencenter will feature new works and activities throughout the year that continue the exploration of art and music. In September, Dayton artist Michael Bashaw will install a large-scale interactive sound sculpture called Sonic Interplay, and Sanford Biggers’ interactive hip-hop dance floor and video return in December.

Since 1976, The Experiencenter has been providing families and youth with participatory experiences that are creative, stimulating and serve to deepen knowledge about the myriad forms of art and the wonder of the creative process.