Social media tracking is a little freaky. The night we arrived in Santa Fe, Facebook started advertising Meow Wolf on Dusty's ads. He's always been a sucker for ads, so he clicked on the bait and decided it was something we had to do. Meow Wolf's mission is "to inspire creativity through art, exploration, and play so that imagination will transform our worlds." I figured the kids needed some art for homeschool credit, so we gave it a shot. Santa Fe is known for their prominent art scene, but there was a time when artists had to fit into a creative box to be recognized by galleries and collectors. This left hundreds of free-thinking outsiders, or self -proclaimed "weirdos," who had no way to let their creative voices be heard. Fortunately for us, all these weirdos found each other. In the early 2000's, a small group came together to rent a warehouse. They invited all their artist buddies, who prolifically painted every square inch of the place, and when they ran out of space, they started working on fantastical sculptures within the walls. At the time, this was just a wild, inclusive place for artistic rebels to create, party, and feel accepted. A family grew. A plan grew. Recognition grew. Overtime, this group of nonconformists developed a vision where all types of artists could breed their creative skills into one maximist permanent art exhibit for guests to explore for years to come. In 2016, Meow Wolf opened their first permanent exhibition, The House of Eternal Return, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This 20,000 square foot ex-bowling alley now contains 70 rooms with hands-on art exhibits. A mind bending mix of escape room, obstacle course, and story art exhibit, Meow Wolf is certainly an experience like no other. Upon entering, you arrive at an old Victorian style home and are given a mystery to solve: A little boy has just died of a mysterious illness, but as it turns out, the family has been been meddling with different multiverses and they don't believe he's actually gone. How did little Lex get access to the multiverse and can the family get him back?
Meow Wolf completely exceeded my expectations in so many ways. I personally was astounded by how many people were there on a Friday at 1:00, and by the age span of participants. From babies in carriers to over 70, everyone was there enjoying the experience. You can see a Meow Wolf for yourself in four cities across the United States: Santa Fe (the original), Denver, Las Vegas, and Grapevine (near Dallas-Fort Worth). There is a planned opening for a new location in Houston in 2024 and one brochure mentioned one coming to Washington D.C. (though the website didn't mention that.) Each location has a different mystery to solve and different artists and exhibits that let the mystery unfold as participants travel through different multiverses. You can learn more about Meow Wolf by watching Meow Wolf: Origin Story documentary, available on iTunes.
1 Comment
Lorna Stachowicz
11/5/2022 11:23:33 pm
Wow, you're not kidding. It sounds wild but fun. I've never heard of anything like this! So glad you all had a good time!
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