These Surreal Spaces Across America Fuse Immersive Art, Bold Storytelling, Community Voices, And Innovation

There are plenty of things that words can't do justice — and sometimes pictures, too. Such is the case with Meow Wolf, a series of interactive, walk-through art installations across the U.S. They're full of themed rooms stuffed with crazed clashes of hard and soft angles, splashes of irregular patterns and lines, and purple — lots and lots of purple. But far from being copy-pasted installations, each one is unique in terms of design, layout, props, events, and more.

Meow Wolf was founded in 2008 by a supergroup of seven people from a variety of fields, mostly related to the visual arts. They opened their first installation in 2016 in Santa Fe but rapidly expanded from there to Las Vegas and Denver (2021), and later Grapevine (2023) and Houston (2024) in Texas. More locations are incoming in New York in Seaport (lower east Manhattan) and Los Angeles.  Currently, all locations collectively attract a whopping 3 million people per year.

Perhaps best of all, Meow Wolf isn't only interested in distracting you with wacky colors and asymmetry. They're all about using the arts to transform lives. They established the Meow Wolf Philanthropic Foundation in 2022 that matches donations and even supports their own employees in tough times. Through Meow Wolf Education, they've got field trip curricula for third grade through high school that focus largely on computer science, life science, and environmental science. Plus, they have a rare B Corporation certification, meaning that they've been ranked very highly in regards to transparency, social and environmental performance, and legal accountability. You really couldn't ask for a more worthy or more fascinating venture to support with your entry ticket. 

Meow Wolf's Santa Fe installation was their first, dating to 2016. It houses the same core elements that spread to other locations: a central series of interactive art rooms (House of Eternal Return, in this case), a multi-function, community-based space for educational purposes, and a gift shop and cafe. Plus, like all Meow Wolf exhibits, the site's design reflects its geographic location and local heritage. 

Visitors can see that heritage in the visual motifs running through Meow Wolf Santa Fe's psychedelic, jarring interior. The motifs are distinctly New Mexican and feature Southwestern and Indigenous-leaning designs. The cafe is run by locals, while on-site events currently feature Española Humane Kitten Fiesta, a daytime dance festival on August 9, 2025, that's also a cat adoption event. This Meow Wolf location is also only one of two to house live concerts. Although they have some kid-friendly events, most are adults-only like the Adulti-Verse: Zozobra Edition, an effigy-burning party. It's best to check the Meow Wolf website for age restrictions.

Meow Wolf Sante Fe is 15 minutes or so out of town. Ticket prices are different at each Meow Wolf location, but in Sante Fe start at a mere $25 for New Mexico residents and $34 for everyone else (if you choose a specific date and time). There's also a bunch of other ticket types like annual passes, as well as a bundled pass that contains Chromadepth Glasses (special viewing glasses) and tokens to use throughout the installation (unique to Santa Fe). And because you might as well merge the surreal with the uncanny, you could always pair a trip to Meow Wolf Sante Fe with a visit to nearby Los Cerrilos, a near-ghost town except for some kitsch shops, saloons, and a petting zoo. 

Meow Wolf opened their second installation, Las Vegas' Omega Mart, in 2021. Perfectly suited to Las Vegas, the installation satirizes rampant consumerism, complete with interlocking puzzles and stories set at the intersection between universes. Like a real-life RPG mixed with ARG (Alternate Reality Game) elements, you choose your own path and wander, solve mini-puzzles and games to access alternate routes, and unlock tons of secrets like an actual bar hidden in the exhibit, the Datamosh Bar.

For all the completionists out there, Meow Wolf Las Vegas has its Omega Quest scavenger hunt which encourages visitors to comb through all of the installation's oddities. It comes with swag like a lanyard, a commemorative pin, a drink at Datamosh, and a discount at their gift shop (yes, there's gift shop here, too, of course). Or, if you want all the swag without the scavenging, you can just buy a VIP package. The field trips at this location take place amongst the installation, not in a separate room, which is great for students and highlights Meow Wolf's community-mindedness.

Travelers can easily build a trip to the Omega Mart into their itinerary, as the installation is handily located along I-15 heading south out of Las Vegas. The area is a smorgasbord of exhibits and games like the SAW Escape Room (modeled after the movies), the Punk Rock Museum, and the interactive John Wick Experience and bar, all of which could be bundled into quite the awesome day trip. And if you want to tack something distinctly Las Vegas into the mix, you could always try your hand — or claw, let's say — at an iconic, put possibly rigged, Go Go Claw Slot Machine. 

Meow Wolf really outdid themselves with their Denver location, Convergence Station, which opened in 2021. Structured like a metropolitan, narrative nexus of intergalactic, alien civilizations (Denver, right?), Convergence Station is separated into four sections. Visitors solve puzzles to travel across worlds like Numina, a fused biological-technological landscape, and the frigid and ice-filled Eemia. There's even an optional RFID card that allows visitors to follow a two-hour-long quest similar to the flow of Las Vegas' Omega Mart.  

Then there's the extra stuff. Convergence Station is overflowing with features beyond the main art installation. Like Meow Wolf's Santa Fe location, it's a proper live music venue with a packed, practically night-after-night schedule. Some of these acts are suitable for kids and others aren't, particular its monthly art-meets-music-meets-drinking Adultiverse nights. There's also the Perplexiplex, a dance room with shifting, projected art along the walls, and Galleri Gallery, an onsite art exhibit for local Denver artists to display and sell their work. Meow Wolf Denver also has an app that responds to the environment and is specific to Convergence Station, as well as a Denver city guide for weird and cool stuff in town.

And speaking of Convergence Stations, Meow Wolf Denver is located on First Street right near a massive jumble of routes and interstates, like I-25. Emperor Field at Mile High — home to the Denver Broncos — is right next door, so that's a good landmark. And if this is all a bit overwhelming, or if you want a quainter, quieter place to visit that's still artsy and a bit odd, there's the town of Lafayette about 30 minutes north of Denver. 

Next up we've got Meow Wolf's first Texas location, built in 2023 in the unlikely spot of tiny Grapevine 30 minutes northwest of Dallas. Dubbed The Real Unreal, Meow Wolf's Grapevine location dives into the uncanny valley of surburbia along the cusp of nature and homey isolation. As usual, the environment is a trippy, game-and-puzzle-filled panorama of visual wonders and interactive art. And rather than RFID cards like in the futuristic Convergence Station, The Real Unreal has large, glowing brain beans that lead players along a text-based scavenger hunt.

The Real Unreal might not have a live concert venue, but it still has both family-oriented and adults-only events. There's the Adulti-verse selection of dancing and drinking nights in an hallucinogenically-designed room, plus offerings that really seem like they're catering to Grapevine's family-friendly environment, like Homeschool Week in August, featuring discounted ticket prices. Meow Wolf Grapevine also has a cafe with Texan-themed beer and an app to piece together the mystery of the Real Unreal. And the best part about this Moew Wolf installation? It was built in collaboration with over 30 local, Texan artists.

Folks looking to visit Meow Wolf Grapevine will have no lack of things to do. There's a LEGOLAND right next door, a Peppa Pig World of Play for younger kids, SEA LIFE aquarium, and another escape room, The Escape Game Grapevine. And, all of the above — Meow Wolf, included — are built into a colossal mall, Grapevine Mills. And for those who want to boost the family fun while digging into the strange, there's the Magic Time Machine retro-themed restaurant in Addison only about 25 minutes away from Meow Wolf by car.

Finally, we come to the most recent Meow Wolf installation, which opened in Houston in 2024: Radio Tave. Taking inspiration from Houston's surprisingly deep historical connection to radio broadcasting going back about a century, Radio Tave takes visitors on the same kind of interactive, art-meets-RPG narrative experience as other Meow Wolf installations (complete with multi-versal theme). But this time, its through the lens of radio transmissions via the fictional ETNL radio station. 

Even though Meow Wolf Houston is still kid-friendly and offers field trips like other Meow Wolf locations, the entire installation definitely skews adult in focus. It's got Adulti-verse drinking and partying events every other Thursday, and is otherwise light on the event front. Its very Texan cafe, Cowboix Hevvven, is a full-on outer space dive bar complete with puppet patrons and robot musicians pulled from a cosmic Wild West. Texans everywhere will be happy to spot Lonestar beer on the menu. And yes, Radio Tave has an app that visitors can use to dig into its story. It also supports unusual attractions throughout Houston via its city guide.

Located north of Houston's downtown and near the highway tangle connecting I-10 to I-69, Meow Wolf Houston sits in an industrial zone getting reclaimed by the arts. There are galleries and studios like Insomnia Gallery and Hardy & Nance Studios, music venues like Last Concert Cafe, theaters like Art Factory, wall murals like Art Wall, and a place to escape the heat and have a beer at Saint Arnold Brewing Company. Travelers who want to keep with the bizarre can always pay a visit to Houston's Palace of the Golden Orbs, an abandoned Taoist temple.