The reception for Tuscaloosa artist Jamey Grimes at the Johnson Center for the Arts Thursday night is going to be a WASH.

For the first time ever at the Troy arts center and, maybe, for any art gallery in the southeast, an exhibit will include a light and sound map projection that will enhance an already fantastic exhibition, said Vicki Pritchett, arts center director.

“Utilizing a vivid imagination, a heat gun and sheets of corrugated plastic,” Jamey Grimes has literally transformed the Johnson Center into a swirling dream-like wonderland,” Pritchett said. “For one night only, we will incorporate projection mapping onto the installation.”

Pritchett said WASH is not art on the wall. It’s 3D.

“You actually walk through the art,” she said. “You experience the art and it’s an incredible experience.

“The addition of light and sound to the WASH exhibition is going to be unique. It’s going to be big. We are excited to bring something so new and innovative to the Johnson Center.”

Pritchett said the reception for the WASH exhibition is a family affair.

“Children will love it, too,” she said. “So, we invite families to ‘come as you are’ and experience WASH. It’s an exhibition like no other.”

Grimes said his sculptures are fragments of a conversation with Nature.

“The dialogue can be hostile, soothing or both,” he said.

“Storms, trees and the sea personify heightened emotion, wisdom and awareness.”

While reflecting on his own vivid experiences with Nature, Grimes said he began to realize that imagination plays a powerful role in transforming observations into unique, dream-like forms.

“This process guides experimentation with synthetic materials,” he said. “As I find unlikely relationships between memories and materials, metaphors open and expand this dialogue.”

Pritchett said those who attend the reception Thursday night will have an opportunity to enter into conversation with Grimes as he explains the process and the purpose of WASH.

The reception will be from 5 until 8 p.m. at the Johnson Center for the Arts in downtown Troy. Admission is free and everyone is invited.