Immersive art collective and world-builder Meow Wolf continues to innovate, intrigue, and delight. In July 2023, Meow Wolf’s fourth permanent venue, ‘The Real Unreal’ opened in Grapevine, Texas (Dallas-Fort Worth), heralding a new era of immersive art and storytelling for the area.
In a collaboration between Texas and Santa Fe artists, and a fusion of immersive storytelling and interactive artscape, the story of an ordinary family encountering the extraordinary unfolds in increments. It is an inspiring story of community, chosen family, and imaginative power, where the narrative is driven by the participants’ curiosity.
Blooloop caught up with general manager Kelly Schwartz to hear about it.
A career in LBE
Kelly Schwartz has spent her entire career in location-based entertainment. She started at Legoland, California in 2005, before spending 17 years with Merlin Entertainments in a variety of roles. Most recently, she ran the Legoland Discovery Centre and Sealife at Grapevine Mills in Grapevine:
“When Meow Wolf came a-calling here in Grapevine, it felt like a wonderful opportunity for me to bring my skill set to a new company, and to try my hand at working for somebody else,” she says. “So here we are. I’ve worked at Grapevine Mills, which is where Meow Wolf is located, for nine years.”
Grapevine Mills has been transformed from a straightforward outlet mall into an engaging entertainment destination. It comprises 180 stores in 1.8 million square feet of climate-controlled space.
Legoland Discovery Center and Sea Life Grapevine Aquarium opened in 2011, as the first phase of an industry-leading conversion. Now, Grapevine Mills also boasts The Peppa Pig World of Play, a massive retail and entertainment complex and indoor ice rink. And, of course, Meow Wolf’s ‘The Real Unreal’.
Meow Wolf’s The Real Unreal in Grapevine
Grapevine, Schwartz contends, is the ideal location for Meow Wolf Texas:
“Grapevine is at the heart of Dallas-Fort Worth,” she says. “When you look at how big the Metroplex is – approaching 8 million people within 80 miles – Grapevine is right at the centre. It’s convenient for all of Dallas-Fort Worth to visit.”
Additionally:
“The airport is built predominantly on Grapevine City land. Years ago, when the Dallas-Fort Worth airport was being built, a couple of different cities provided the land. Grapevine happened to be one of them. The city leaders decided to focus on tourism and built an amazing tourist destination in the centre of Dallas-Fort Worth in Grapevine. We have an amazing partner in the city and in the Convention and Visitors Bureau. They have helped drive tourism into Grapevine.”
See also: Everything you need to know about Meow Wolf’s immersive art experiences
An imaginative story
Turning to The Real Unreal she comments:
“One of the things that I think is amazing about The Real Unreal is that, like all the other Meow Wolf locations, you start in a setting that feels quite familiar to you.
“Here, again, you start in a house. So, there’s a nice connection between Santa Fe and Grapevine. One of the things our creative team did was to look for connections between Real Unreal and the other exhibits.”
The story [written by science fiction writer LaShawn M. Anak] is centred around a multi-generational family that lives in the house. One of the house’s residents, ten-year-old Jared, has gone missing and is exploring portals unknown in The Real Unreal.
“The story focuses on the questions around where Jared has gone, and what they are experiencing. It’s imaginative and amazing.”
Laptops hold some of the starting points to a story hinted at in emails, videos, a photo collection, and the missing boy’s drawings. Throughout the experience, a tentacled ‘creature’ – encountered in a bathroom initially – is uncomfortably reminiscent of the things children fear might lurk in the plumbing.
If, as a visitor, you are sufficiently committed to following all the clues and connecting all the dots, you can find out the missing boy’s location, and discover whether his family can reconnect with him.
Adventures in art at Meow Wolf’s The Real Unreal
Throughout the exhibit, there are more than 70 different artistic installations, in around 30 different rooms. Schwartz explains:
“There are a variety of anchor points, including a forest experience and an event venue.”
The anchors throughout fuse with 3D immersive audio, show lighting and art installations to draw guests into a liminal between-worlds space. One that is part art gallery, part escape room, part perception-shifting dreamscape – and part quasi-commonplace.
“There are a lot of potential individual adventures. Meow Wolf has made a name for themselves in terms of being able to connect different rooms and different adventures. The more you explore, the more you’re going to find.
“The Real Unreal Grapevine goes back to the heart of what Santa Fe delivers well, which is that feeling of getting lost. There are not a lot of linear connections within our space; the journey very much doubles back on itself. We have a lot of guests who will open a portal and say, ‘Have I been here before?’
“You do lose your sense of direction and get a genuine feeling of being lost. I think that is quite incredible.”
Local artists
An eclectic variety of more than 40 artists contributed to the experience:
“The majority of them are from the North Texas area. But we do have some representation from Houston and Austin, and an artist from El Paso as well. To me, the heart of Meow Wolf is the connection to the local artists’ community, which has been forged brilliantly here.
“Many people have the perception that maybe Texas isn’t a diverse community. But when you live here, when you’re a part of it, you do get to see the breadth of diversity. That comes through in our artists here.”
Schwartz’s favourite installation is the glorious, colourful abstract ‘Technicolored Party Inside of My Head, But Everyone’s Invited’. This is a work by Fort Worth-based artist and muralist Mariell Guzman:
“It’s amazing. It connects to major anchors, so it’s a place where a lot of people wind up. It is alive with a lot of neon colours, and it’s an area where 2D art, sculptural art and light art all blend well. I love that space.”
The work is a whimsical piece. It’s a surreal botanical celebration that takes inspiration from natural phenomena, and an awareness of the chaotic, joyful potential in nature.
Mariell Guzman is a mixed-media painter, muralist, illustrator and installation artist currently based in Fort Worth, Texas. She was born in Michoacán, Mexico.
Playing with space
Ricardo Paniagua is another local artist who worked on Meow Wolf’s The Real Unreal:
“His room has this incredible 3D sculpture at the end. The murals blend in with the sculpture and the light. So, you get this interesting play in terms of the space. I love that piece, it’s outstanding.”
The room in question is ‘Alter Room’, located in ‘Optic Drift’. It is a tribute to the non-binary Hindu deity, Ardhanarishvara, a composite masculine/feminine singular figure depicting the unification of Shiva and Parvati as one entity in a geometric symbol comprised of triangles.
Here, monochromatic floor-to-ceiling black symmetry frames the sculpture. Two pairs of serpents coil in the entrance corners, while digital media fill the space with the motion of light’s rays, to the sounds of the sea and birds of paradise. Visitors are encouraged to practice the yogic act known as, “Pradakshinam,” simply standing in the space and slowly turning around three times, in a motion that resembles the earth spinning on its axis, then gazing into the geometric sculptural representation of our universe.
Paniagua was born in Deep Ellum, Dallas’ creative hub. Meow Wolf is his entrance into the world of immersive art.
MOM is another contributor, the lead artist on The Wondering Forest. This is a mysterious transitional space that guides participants into a new world and foreshadows the tentacled, lurking water creature. A contemporary and multidisciplinary artist, active in Dallas since 2008, MOM is a co-founder of Dallas artist co-op & shop, Trade Oak Cliff.
Varied visitors at The Real Unreal
In terms of demographics, Meow Wolf’s vision continues to have universal appeal. Schwartz says:
“At the heart of what we’re able to deliver is an experience that works for all ages. Having worked for Merlin Entertainments for quite some time where we were very much focused on a family demographic, one of the elements I find appealing about Meow Wolf is that all ages can truly come.
“Though children enjoy all Meow Wolf locations, The Real Unreal is seeing slightly more child visitors than any of the others, which is great. It makes sense because there are so many families in Dallas-Fort Worth.”
However, she adds:
“When I was interviewing for this role, I went to the Las Vegas location. Three of us were in our forties, we had two teenagers with us, and my mom and her husband, who were in their seventies.
“Everybody loved it. I thought at the time how cool it was that all these different age groups could experience this. Everybody wanted to do something different, but when we all came together at the end, we all had an amazing experience.”
“We see that here in Grapevine. So, we have families coming in, with children of all ages, and we have young adults coming in, and groups from our local colleges. We have seniors coming in who want to enjoy the arts. It appeals to everybody, and that’s really nice.”
Meow Wolf fans and newcomers
In terms of repeat visitation, she adds:
“We are seeing quite a few Meow Wolf fans who have visited sites and are coming to the Real Unreal. Those people are specifically seeking us out because they know Meow Wolf delivers this incredible immersive experience. We have also seen repeat visitation from our local community, trying the Meow Wolf brand for the first time.”
“We recently launched our very first annual pass, which is exciting. It’s on sale in each of the locations now. We’re particularly excited to be able to offer that product to our local visitors so that they can purchase it and come back again and again. It’s a huge step, and is especially popular in Grapevine.”
Come curious and leave amazed
The underlying message for visitors to Meow Wolf’s The Real Unreal, she suggests, could be:
“‘Come curious, and you’re going to leave amazed.’ That’s what I try to impress upon people. If you haven’t been to a Meow Wolf before and you’re unsure of what you’re going to experience, come curious; spend the time to explore. I think each person does leave feeling amazed by what they have just seen.
“I think the message of diversity is important, too. Of course, there isn’t a specific message that Meow Wolf is trying to put out there, but when you do come, you’re going to see diversity of art, diversity of visitation, and diversity of employees. I love that, especially in an area that people might not perceive as diverse. When you come here, you really can see what an amazing community D-FW is.”
For the immediate future, Meow Wolf’s fifth permanent installation will be opening in Houston later this year. This will be an interactive art experience showcasing collaborative work from Houston-area artists and Meow Wolf’s own.
