Downtown Raleigh art display gets interactive refresh

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Sonarc sculpture was installed in December in front of the Duke Energy Center For The Performing Arts as part of Illuminate Art Walk, but this week as the theater welcomes back live audiences, many are discovering the piece for the first time in downtown Raleigh, especially at night.

"It's actually gorgeous," said Nate Laughner as he took in the piece "We wanted to check out the lights with the musical theater and we saw this we had to come to check it out; it's beautiful."

Sonarc by artist Brian Brush is a permanent display with 1,000 plexiglass tubes and 600 LED lights hung in a semicircle frame meant to represent open arms welcoming guests to the performing arts center. As the curtain again went up inside on stage with NC Theatre's production of Songs For A New World, new systems were put in place on the display outside making it interactive. The piece emits different patterns and colors of light based on the pitch it picks up from noises around it.

"We're really excited about the interactive case," said Sarah Powers, Executive Director with Raleigh Arts. "It's a beautiful light piece, it will change color, and there is a microphone that will pick up ambient noise but if someone wanted to see what their song looks like in the light and the changing of the pattern in the color with their vocals or instruments, then this would be a place to test it out. That microphone will pick up that noise anywhere around the piece."