by Jessica Hughes
Meow Wolf, an immersive art experience, will soon make its debut in Denver come 2021. But in the meantime, the popular art destination wants to get the Mile-High City pumped up with the anticipation of its arrival with its latest event, the Meow Wolf Dark Palace Dance Party.
Meant to engage all your senses, the Meow Wolf Dark Palace: A Dance Obscura is a three-night dance party coming to the National Western Complex this Nov. 22-24. The party is headlined with some popular electronic names that are sure to set the stage for one heck of a dance celebration. In addition to the musical line-up, there are set to be and soon to be announced, local artists creating captivating art installations, all meant to enhance the entire experience.
Meow Wolf got its start in 2008 in Santa Fe, as an art collective with the original concept designed to be a unique and immersive art experience using installations with multimedia elements. Through these interactive experiences, audiences of all ages can explore the world of art beyond their imagination within a fantastic realm of story and explanation.
Its heightened popularity came in 2015 when the art collective decided to renovate a vacant bowling alley to make a permanent venue for visitors, which would soon become Meow Wolf: The House of Eternal Return. With help from the city of Santa Fe and a Kickstarter campaign, plus a few million dollars from Game of Thrones author, George R.R. Martin, they opened the Meow Wolf Complex in 2016. Here visitors will encounter teleportative fridges, psychedelic painted walls, fairyland villages, a simulated underwater black-light experience, and plenty more to keep your mind wondering for hours.
The new 90,000-square-foot location will be at I-25 and Colfax. The new complex is set to rise 70 feet high, making it visible from multiple vantage points. Compared to the original location in Santa Fe the Denver complex will be three times the size of the Santa Fe location, with plans for artists’ installations, of which further information will remain a mystery until opening week.
While exact details of what the space will offer and what artists will be contributing, one thing is for sure, Denver and Santa Fe are certain to collaborate to make another outrageous and unique experience for people to admire art, play with art, be dumbfounded, be inspired by, or to simply step back and appreciate.
The announcement of Dark Palace follows Meow Wolf’s latest Kaleidoscape installation at Elitch Gardens. This “other-worldly” dark ride is based around the concept of immersing yourself in pieces of contemporary art. The installation at Elitch Gardens and the Dark Palace dance party are meant to give Denver a taste of what’s to come when Meow Wolf finally opens in the Mile-High City.
With its growing popularity, the art collective announced plans to not only expand to Denver but Las Vegas as well (in 2020).
Tickets for Dark Palace and the grand opening of Meow Wolf are now on sale at Meow Wolf’s website at www.meowwolf.com.