You have probably had a fully immersive winter experience if you've stepped outside the last few days, but what about stepping inside the Westmoreland Museum of American Art and into the wintery scene from a painting?

Such is the case with the museum's latest exhibit, "Winter Tales: An Immersive Experience." If the old saying that "art is everywhere you look for it," is true, then everywhere you look at the exhibit will envelop you in a warm blanket of beauty.

Dr. Erica Nuckles, the director of learning and engagement at the museum, says that officials are always trying to introduce new audiences to art and that they have been thrilled by the response they have been getting from this unique experience.

"There are a lot of people that are very comfortable in art museums that are art lovers," Dr. Nuckles said. "But then there are a lot of people that find art museums a little bit intimidating. And so, by finding ways through things like the immersive experience, we're able to welcome people into the art museum in a very accessible way so that they can understand that art is for everyone and that art museums are for everyone as well."

The museum is always free to the public, and so is the winter-themed exhibit, which was designed by the award-winning multimedia company OLO Creative Farm in Italy, which has designed displays like this all over the world.

The exhibit features 14 winter paintings from the museum's collection. But at the end of this month, the local wintertime scenes will give way to a new immersive experience called "Steel Valley Visions," in which the art of western Pennsylvania's 250+ year industrial history will lead folks on another immersive journey from George Washington through Andrew Carnegie.

"I love when people walk into 'Winter Tales,' and I can't wait to see when they are in 'Steel Valley Visions: An Immersive Experience.' People just go 'wow,' because it is something that most people haven't experienced before," said Nuckles. "And to be able to see the brush strokes and these paintings just larger than life, it makes you look at them in a totally different way when you actually see the painting when you walk out of the experience."

"Winter Tales" will be wrapping up on Jan. 19, and then later in the month, "Steel Valley Visions" will be taking over the same space for another new immersive experience that will run for the rest of 2026.