The Athenaeum building is getting some new wallpaper: a two-foot-tall Albert Einstein mustache and bushy Kurt Vonnegut eyebrows as long as a snake.

An international design studio is bringing a “German Influencers” light projection show to the side of the building Oct. 6.

The show, designed by URBANSCREEN, a digital projection mapping company based in Germany, will feature images of significant German-Americans such as Einstein, Vonnegut and Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki.

The light fest is part of Wunderbar Together, a year-long German-American friendship festival with events in all 50 states. The initiative is funded by the German government and spearheaded by the Goethe-Institut, the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany.

More than 1,000 events will take place through the end of 2019, which Wunderbar Together has deemed the “Year of German-American Friendship.”

“There is a sense that it is no longer a given that Germans and Americans are wunderbar together,” the Wunderbar Intiative website says.”The nearly complete overlap of our values and interests. . .is waning.”

But they’re not just blaming Americans.

“The causes for this historic shift are multifaceted, and the responsibility for it can be found on both sides of the Atlantic,” the site says.

Wunderbar Together will launch its flagship event, Volksfest, in Indianapolis Oct. 6 on “German-American Day,” with events occurring Oct. 6-7.

Indy was selected as a launch site because of the city’s cultural connection to Germany and the Athenaeum’s history as a social hub for German-Americans in Indianapolis and as the meeting place of many German-American organizations over the past two centuries, PR representative Dania Tanur said.

An art show, live music, light show and parade will entertain festivalgoers at the Athenaeum and on Monument Circle. A German classic car exhibition will arrive on Monument Circle from 8 a.m. to noon Sunday, Oct. 7.

Following the car display, a parade will wend its way from Monument Circle to the Athenaeum at 1 p.m. A post-parade celebration at the Athenaeum will feature a pop-up beer garden, “Wiesn in a Box.” All events are free. You can see the full schedule here.

The Athenaeum is offering a free behind-the-scenes tour of the URBANSCREEN projection event at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 6, with the public light show two hours later at 8:30 p.m. You can grab tickets for the pre-show tour here.

Seating for the light show is first-come, first-served, so arrive early if you want a good seat.

https://www.indystar.com/story/entertainment/arts/2018/09/22/german-light-show-illuminate-athenaeum/