Art Institute of Chicago: Van Gogh's Bedrooms
The Art Institute of Chicago tasked Leo Burnett Chicago with driving record attendance for their "Van Gogh's Bedrooms" exhibition. They needed to make 19th - century art relevant to a younger, local Chicago audience who viewed museums as static and elitist. The goal was to generate global buzz and position the museum as a contemporary cultural destination rather than just a historical archive.
Creative Idea
Recreated Van Gogh's iconic bedroom painting as a real, rentable ten - dollar Airbnb apartment.
To promote an exhibition of Van Gogh's bedroom paintings, the museum recreated the iconic room as a real, rentable Airbnb, allowing people to literally live inside the art and experience the artist's perspective for just ten dollars.
Living Inside a Masterpiece for Ten Dollars
A Masterclass in Forced Perspective
To translate a 2D post - impressionist painting into a 3D habitable space, Leo Burnett and Ravenswood Studio had to abandon traditional architecture. Every piece of furniture was custom - fabricated with "warped" lines to replicate Van Gogh’s distorted perspective. Chairs were built at different scales to trick the eye, and every surface - from the floorboards to the towels - was hand - painted with thick, physical brushstrokes to mimic the artist's impasto technique. While a non - liveable replica sat inside the museum, the functional apartment was tucked away in Chicago’s River North neighborhood.
The Voice of Vincent
The campaign’s "talent" was the persona of Van Gogh himself. The Airbnb listing was written in the first person, drawing directly from the tone of Vincent’s historical letters to his brother, Theo. To bridge the gap between the 19th century and the modern day, the listing humorously noted that the room included WiFi and a washer, while the $10 price tag was justified by "Vincent" needing to buy more paint. This humanized the artist, making "high art" accessible to a younger demographic.
Breaking Museum Records
The impact was immediate and unprecedented for the Art Institute of Chicago. The first block of nights sold out in just five minutes, and the campaign drove a 250% spike in online ticket sales. Most significantly, the activation shifted the museum's audience profile; for the first time in a decade, local Chicagoans outnumbered tourists. The exhibition ultimately saw 133,000 incremental visitors, marking the museum's highest attendance in 15 years and generating $1.6 million in new membership revenue.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
A world - class collection featuring all three versions of Van Gogh's most intimate and famous painting.
Category
Museums typically rely on traditional advertising and academic prestige, which can feel distant or elitist to younger locals.
Customer
People want more than just to look at art; they crave immersive, shareable experiences that offer a deeper connection.
Culture
The rise of the sharing economy and experiential travel made staying in unique, themed locations a major cultural trend.
Company
A world - class collection featuring all three versions of Van Gogh's most intimate and famous painting.
Category
Museums typically rely on traditional advertising and academic prestige, which can feel distant or elitist to younger locals.
Strategy:
Transform passive observation into active participation by blurring the lines between historical art and modern living.
Customer
People want more than just to look at art; they crave immersive, shareable experiences that offer a deeper connection.
Culture
The rise of the sharing economy and experiential travel made staying in unique, themed locations a major cultural trend.
Strategy:
Transform passive observation into active participation by blurring the lines between historical art and modern living.
Results
The campaign was a massive commercial and critical success, generating 133,000 incremental visitors and achieving the museum’s highest attendance figures in 15 years. Daily attendance averaged over 4,600 visitors, which was 60% higher than projected. The activation led to a 250% spike in online ticket sales and generated $1.6 million in long-term revenue from new memberships. The Airbnb listing's first block of nights sold out in just 5 minutes. For the first time in 10 years, local Chicago visitors outnumbered tourists. The story achieved global reach, covered by media outlets in over 100 countries within the first week. The campaign won the Cannes Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix (2017), the Creative Data Grand Prix (2016), and Best of Show at the One Show.
250%
Spike in online ticket sales
133,000
Incremental visitors
$1.6M
Revenue from new memberships
Strategy Technique
Shift the Context
The campaign moved high art from sterile museum walls into the relatable, modern context of a peer - to - peer rental platform, making the exhibition accessible and desirable to a younger, local audience.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Unexpected environment
By physically manifesting a 2D masterpiece into a 3D living space, the campaign moved art from a distant, observed object to an immersive, lived experience, generating massive PR through the sheer novelty of the environment.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign masterfully bridges the gap between 19th-century post-impressionism and modern digital culture through a physical manifestation of art that functions as a living, breathable space.
The team meticulously translated 2D brushstrokes into a 3D habitable environment using warped furniture and hand-painted textures to replicate Van Gogh's distorted perspective.
The Airbnb listing was written in the first-person voice of Vincent van Gogh, drawing from his historical letters to create an intimate, humanized connection with potential guests.
Ravenswood Studio custom-fabricated every element, from floorboards to towels, using theater flats and muslin to ensure the room felt like a painting come to life.
By leveraging the novelty of a $10 Airbnb stay, the campaign secured earned media in over 100 countries, turning a local museum exhibition into a global cultural event.
The magic lies in the intersection of physical fabrication and digital platform utility, where the 'warped' physical reality of the room met the modern convenience of an Airbnb booking.
