Immersive art takes over Ah Haa, featuring 13 artists | Arts & Entertainment

Ah Haa School for the Arts’ HAHA is the most exciting community art event and fundraiser of the summer. Returning for its fourth year, for a three-day run, the one-of-a-kind immersive artist takeover and art experience transforms three floors of the Ah Haa’s Silver Jack Building into multiple interactive environments and participatory realms. Participation supports Ah Haa’s ability to provide high-quality, affordable art experiences and tuition assistance for people of all ages, year-round.

Striving to create a contemporary art event that is accessible, exciting and engaging for all participants, the HAHA Team selected 13 artists (local, national and international) who will transform every room of the 10,000-square-foot Silver Jack Building. Full of pop-art games, Touch Grass Skydeck lounge, a discoverable hideout, pastel explosion, expansive light experience, a curated gift shop, one-of-a-kind artworks and generative art making, the HAHA offers an unmatched arts experience that draws 2,000 participants each year.

The 2025 HAHA artist lineup includes global pop artist Lucas Beaufort of Cannes, France. Lucas’ work exploded onto the streetwear, skateboarding and luxury scenes making his playful and mischievous characters synonymous with cool. Beaufort’s unmistakable universe has already been applied to a number of high-end brands such as Ford, Virgin Atlantic, Adidas, Nike, K-way, Converse, Lacoste, The North Face, Ellesse, Salvatore Ferragamo and W hotels.

Ian Brill, professor at Penn State University, creates fully immersive, interactive and responsive light-rooms that have been exhibited internationally at festivals, galleries and museums. His work explores multi-sensorial environments and considers the boundaries of becoming (versus being) and our immersive relationship with technology. Joining Ah Haa again after her sold-out workshop and smash exhibition, Chattanooga, Tenn. artist Hollie Chastain brings her wacky and whimsical 3D work to HAHA. Coming from both a graphic design and studio art background, her aesthetic revolves around storytelling, mixing found material, strong graphic elements and modern color palettes. She is widely known in the illustration and editorial world. Her work has been commissioned by Warner/Atlantic Records, Smithsonian Magazine, Pantheon, The Baffler, and in film and music promotion.

Local artist Beverly Crilly typically works in paint and encaustic, using nature as inspiration. HAHA has her literally branching out and building a canopy of mixed media creations. Beverly has exhibited across the U.S. including solo shows at Established Gallery in Brooklyn, N.Y., former Slate Gray Gallery in Telluride, Colo. and at art fairs.

Emerging artist, Ramon Franco of San Jose, Calif. takes prop making to the next level. Specializing in realism has made him a viral sensation. This young phenom brings delicate floating and light-infused sculptures into Ah Haa’s lobby. The Lady Egg is a member of the collective Grand Arthaus, alongside some of Phoenix’s most iconic artists. She studied Sculpture at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and is a true “child of the 90s” using pop-culture and early tech references in her painting and sculptural work. Lady Egg’s fearless large-scale sculptural work will transform Ah Haa into a Touch Grass cyberspace.

Larrie King, better known as Mister Larrie (pictured), is an arts and crafts content creator, design professor and creativity-enthusiast based in Orlando, Fla. His projects focus on bright colors, bold patterns and budget-friendly basics, making crafting and self expression truly accessible to all. With a professional background in visual communication, teaching, and commercial design, Mister Larrie is a prolific maker. He has exhibited work at universities and galleries and has been featured in Simply Sewing Magazine and Shondaland.com. His most recent partnerships include Tulip, Glowforge, Amazon, Adobe, Starbucks, Target and Siser Team.

Ondrea Levey and Maddie Staurseth formed a creative partnership during their time as arts educators, both passionate believers that art should be touched. Ondrea and Maddie will create a whimsical secret bunker for HAHA visitors to discover.

Thumỹ Phan is a Vietnam-born illustrator, artist, muralist and designer currently based in Oklahoma City. She draws inspiration from the phrase, “We are the fruits of our mother’s labor,” both in reference to her mother and her mother land and uses bold colors and whimsical details of fruits and flora taking root to highlight those words.

Local artist Wendy Roloson will transform the culinary classroom into the groovy Hideaway Lounge where HAHA visitors with Silver Jack or Chuckle Head passes can enter for a tasting experience with NYC’s Chef Perse Vordokas and mixologist Lindsey Mills.The HAHA’s fantastic ambiance and mystery will be crafted

by the talented Tree Dawn of Tree Dawn Lighting based in Telluride.

Get lost in whimsical worlds, play with light and color, leave your mark on the installations, and discover everything HAHA while supporting Ah Haa’s mission.

Adult participants can join in the fun on Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19 from 7-11 p.m. with General Admission tickets; the Chuckle Head Pass which includes exclusive entry to the Hideaway Lounge culinary and cocktail experience, or the VIP Silver Jack Pass, which includes unlimited entry for two all weekend, Hideaway Lounge entry and a private walkthrough with the HAHA artists. Kids ages 3-17 (accompanied by a ticketed adult) and families can explore HAHA too, at Little Giggles on Sunday, July 20 from 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m., sponsored by Alpine Bank.

Tickets for the HAHA events are on sale at ahhaa.org.