‘Psychedelic art palace’ Meow Wolf is coming to New York

Meow Wolf, which creates otherworldly immersive experiences, has announced that it will be opening in a seventh location: the historic, cultural and shopping district of The Seaport in New York. This will be the first east coast Meow Wolf, with the other five experiences located in Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Denver, Dallas and Houston. No opening date for the Big Apple has yet been set, but the company has said that it will be in late 2027 or early 2028.

If you haven’t heard of Meow Wolf, allow us the pleasure of introducing it: the experience, which launched as an art collective in Santa Fe in 2008 with the first exhibition opening in 2016, comprises enchanting spaces of light, sound, shape, video and movement as well as painting and sculpture. Meow Wolf ‘[doesn't] fit into neat categories’, says the company, existing at the intersection of art, theatre and a theme park. ‘[The exhibitions] are not escape rooms, selfie museums or traditional immersive experiences’; rather, they’re ‘interactive universes filled with layers of narrative, where every visitor becomes part of the story’.

Meow Wolf has shared that the New York outpost, like the others, will be a ‘maximalist mix of art, storytelling and interactivity’. But it will also go further: ‘We're creating something with a level of creative ambition and next-generation storytelling that pushes beyond anything we’ve done before,’ said Vince Kadlubek, Meow Wolf founder and chief vision officer. He described ‘a new tier of exhibition’ which will merge ‘detailed physical environments and remarkable digital environments… in a mixed reality ecosystem’.

As well as being the most outrageous Meow Wolf ever, the new experience will also bring something different and ‘distinctly New York’. This is partially because the company works with local artists to create its exhibitions, so each has its own unique, regional flavour. ‘Meow Wolf New York will be a love letter to the stories, people and artistic spirit that make the city an unmatched cultural powerhouse,’ said Kadlubek.

Meow Wolf fans have been waiting for the experience to come to the East Coast for years. By the sound of it, the Seaport outpost will be worth the wait.

meowwolf.com