Producer’s Blog: Art is the Experience Itself

I will always sing the praises of crafting a weekend getaway around an artistic exhibit or event. It has become a creative ritual for me to spend a day fully-immersed in art and discovering hidden gems in new communities. This month, I decided to roadtrip north for the “Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow” exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

I’ve been a joyous admirer of Murakami since the early 2000s. His work is a dizzying fusion of pop culture excess with deeply rooted references to traditional Japanese art and philosophy. At first glance, it’s anime and manga turned up to eleven. But there are layers of cultural cartography that traverse history, myth, politics and personal identity – all executed with masterful technical skill.

If anime and manga aren’t part of your personal lexicon, here’s a quick primer. Anime, derived from “animation,” is Japan’s distinctive style of animated media, known for its bold visual style. Manga is a style of Japanese comics or graphic novels, from sports to sci-fi, business to romance, and yes, the wildly fantastical. Both art forms have roots that trace back over a century, deeply enmeshed in the fabric of Japanese visual storytelling for all ages.

As someone born on the cusp of Gen X, my childhood was shaped by the international reverberations of Japanese pop culture with icons like Godzilla, Ultraman and Battle of the Planets (aka Space Battleship Yamato). I feel personally connected to Murakami’s work, knowing he has been inspired by the deep well of fantastical dreaming that shaped my own aesthetic lens.

The Cleveland Museum of Art is an architectural gem in its own right, built with a compelling blend of neoclassical and modern design. At the heart of the museum is a soaring three-story atrium, and it’s here that Murakami’s exhibition begins with a bang: a full-scale replica of the Yumendono, the octagonal Hall of Dreams from Hōryū-ji Temple located in Kyoto Japan. Even as a reproduction, this creation commands reverential respect.

Before entering the temple replica, visitors were grouped together and welcomed by a docent who set the tone, similar to an inflight safety instruction on an airplane. Inside, four monumental panel paintings depict the guardian spirits of Kyoto’s cardinal directions: Seiryu (Azure Dragon), Suzaku (Vermillion Bird), Byakko (White Tiger) and Genbu (Black Tortoise). These creatures, drawn from Chinese mythology and later embedded in Japanese cosmology, are said to guard the world’s balance, ward off evil and bless those who seek harmony. I felt my energy shift in this sacred space, reimagined through Murakami’s singular lens. I slowed down from the rush of American hyper-efficiency, steeped in spiritual resonance.

From there, the transition into the main gallery space was nothing short of cinematic. It was a

“Wizard of Oz”-style shift, stepping from quiet introspection to a riotous technicolor dream. Murakami’s large-scale works — some towering 14 feet high and stretching more than 20 feet wide — dazzled with their intricacy and intentionality. The colors are electric, the compositions precise and the layering of history and pop culture is both dizzying and profound. And beneath the glossy, saturated surfaces? A sobering undercurrent — a meditation on trauma, consumerism and cultural memory wrapped up in the national identity of being Japanese.

Two hours passed in what felt like twenty minutes. I left the gallery buzzing with deepened curiosity, admiration and a profound sense of awe. I was struck by the depth of this work, as well as the way that I experienced it. Joined by families, young people, elders, anime fans and even first-time museum-goers, this was a shared experience. It was a cultural communion that reminds me why I do what I do now as a producer at CET and Think^TV.

As a producer of arts-focused media, I like to see experiences like these through an additional lens. How do we translate that sense of wonder and urgency to our audiences? How do we bottle that feeling — the quickening of the pulse, the intake of breath — and send it through the screen? Exhibitions like “Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow” remind us that art can still surprise, disarm and deeply move.

I’m returning from Cleveland energized from the exhibition and ready to tighten my seatbelt for the upcoming arts season in our region and a new season of The Art Show coming to your screens next month. Season 15 of The Art Show premieres on Saturday September 20, at 6pm on CET and Sunday, September 21, at 5:30pm on Think^TV16. As we like to say in the tagline for The Art Show, “You think there’s nothing happening in Southwest Ohio? Think again.” After a weekend like this, although a tad further north, that line lands even harder.

Rodney Veal
CET and Think^TV Producer and Community Arts Liaison

The “Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow” exhibit is on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art now through Sunday, September 7, 2025. Docent-guided tours are available on Wednesdays at 6:30pm  and Thursdays at 10am. Private tours are also available by request. Learn more: https://www.clevelandart.org/exhibitions/takashi-murakami-stepping-tail-rainbow.

Episodes of The Art Show are also available to stream on our website or on the PBS App. In our first episode, you’ll learn about the sculptural art of Cincinnati-based artist Tom Tsuchiya, dive into the classical Indian art form of Bharatanatyam with Ohio Heritage Fellow Sujatha Srinivasan and witness technological themes in the paintings of Michael Kagan. Get a glimpse into the episode with this feature on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x7m7rUhFWM.

You can also listen to episodes of our arts podcast, Rodney Veal’s Inspired By on our website or wherever you listen to podcasts. To find more local arts events and exhibits in your community, check out our monthly blog, “Arts Off 75.” Learn more: thinktv.org/theartshow.