Photo: Atlas Media (Meowolf Press Images).
Immersive art experiences are the latest creative craze flooding the entertainment marketplace. The opportunity to surround oneself with life-sized creations allows us to forget our woes, albeit temporarily, and sink into a wonderland of amazement.
Since the world reopened after months (or in some cases, years) of isolated hermit mode, the art scene is making its way back to a grand stage. Intriguing museum exhibits, art fairs, and traveling immersive experiences are emerging across the country.
Meowolf combines it all it one stationary, yet moving, creative journey. Originally established in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2008, Meowolf is the creative genius of a small group of artists who wanted to publicly share their creations with the world while refining their craft together.
Focused on driving the audience-driven experience, Meowolf is exploding on the immersive art scene and has recently landed in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Located in Grapevine, Texas at the Grapevine Mills Mall, a Simon Company, the latest Meowolf installation takes visitors to a whole new level of imagination.
My son and I pre-purchased tickets for the last Sunday in July. The event regularly sells out daily. Security was thorough and the intake lines were efficient and organized. The new location in Grapevine features a chic café and themed shop where visitors can pick up their wares before they exit. Strategically, the café is conveniently located in the exit hall, providing a refreshment pitstop for visitors.
The exhibit itself is nothing short of genius. The journey starts by entering a four-bedroom house that serves as a portal to artistic dimensions. Each room was a scavenger hunt (there’s even an app to aid you in the treasure seeking) fully furnished with pictures, furniture, and clothes in the drawers and closets. But don’t be fooled because just as in the famous story The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, these rooms cloaked hidden passageways to eccentric, eclectic, and even intergalactic worlds.
The fireplace, the closets, the refrigerator, and even the laundry machines were access points to a wonderland of art magic. Alice and the Mad Hatter would be so jelly! As an adult, the Meowolf experience took me back to a time when my childhood imagination was larger than life. Home life, often fraught with tense dynamics, only offered me a place to escape into my dreams, creativity, and fantasy worlds so I could tune out the chaos going on around me. The Meowolf house even looked like it would fit right into the row of homes of my neighborhood streets back in the day.
It’s an opportunity to reminisce and regenerate the creative mind so often overwhelmed by the mundane of the everyday life. In truth this was my second Meowolf experience. I’ve also been to the Santa Fe location. There are others in both Denver and Vegas. Visit one or all for a unique experience that is out of this world.