Darrelll Sapp, Post-Gazette

(Top and center) Lori Felker stands near the Skywalk of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and watches "Overture to the Arts," a 6-minute visual loop containing still and motion images. (Bottom) A series of changing photos called " A New Day" , measuring 17 foot wide by 5 foot tall projected on glass screens, located on the third level of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The Visual showcases are in cooperation with Dollar Bank , Dymun and Company, and Productions Masters Inc. Click photo for larger image.

The David L. Lawrence Convention Center has no shortage of blank walls. Now, three of them are covered with huge, high-definition images of Western Pennsylvania's artists, athletes and attractions.

One pair of video screens -- showing the region's performing artists -- was turned on just in time for the 5,000 people attending the National Performing Arts Conference this week.

Let them think it's just for them.

Though not part of the convention center's original plans, the three walls of imagery provide some of the most dramatic visuals in a building better known for its swooping roof.

"An Overture to the Arts" was installed June 1 on two mammoth screens, which face each other on the third-floor skybridge. The display features Quantum Theatre's executive director Karla Boos, who eyes the camera with a Mona Lisa-like gaze. Playing the role of Carmen, Viktoria Vizin works her wiles on Don Jose in the Pittsburgh Opera's production. Conductor Andre Previn, who performed here in April, leads the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Heinz Hall.

Squonk Opera's "Rodeo Smackdown" rides by and Andy Warhol's pink cows are on parade, too. An artist gathers a gob of molten glass at the Pittsburgh Glass Center. A student from the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts dances past. Playing softly behind the visuals is music composed by Greg Shearer.

"An Overture to the Arts" is the third multimedia presentation in the convention center. "Region in Motion," which highlights rowers, runners and rivers, debuted in September in the first-floor lobby. "A New Day," which showcases the region's advances in science, technology and medicine, plays outside the Spirit of Pittsburgh Convention Hall on the third floor. It debuted in June 2003 when the building opened.

The dual screens on the third floor -- 14 feet high and 28 feet wide -- are a permanent installation and represent the largest presentation of high-resolution photography in the nation, according to Joe Smith, spokesman for Dollar Bank, which expects to spend about $200,000 on all three installations.

"We are creating a really broad range of visuals from around the region. It's people, it's business, it's places, it's events," he said.

Barco, a Belgian company, made the projectors. Software made by Watch Out, a French company, allows the images to be projected in such a large format, Smith said. The newest presentation combines stills and high-definition video of actors, dancers, singers, artists and craftspeople.

"We asked for film, video and stills from 130 groups," he said.

The colorful imagery promoting Pittsburgh is the brainchild of Stephen C. Hansen, Dollar Bank's president and chief executive officer. At least a year before the convention center opened, Hansen asked Sports & Exhibition Authority officials how they planned to pay tribute to the Western Pennsylvanians who paid to build the structure. The authority had no plans but welcomed Hansen's ideas, Smith said.