Meow Wolf Announces Two New Spots in Texas, With One Opening This Summer

Meow Wolf isn't afraid to mess with Texas.

What began as a scrappy Santa Fe art collective in 2008 with just eight founders — punk, renegade artists who had big dreams — became a global phenomenon after opening The House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe in 2016. Denver was announced as the next frontier for the group, but after a few delays, Las Vegas's Omega Mart opened before Denver's Convergence Station debuted in September 2021.

And while the feverish pre-pandemic announcements have slowed, Meow Wolf is continuing to grow: The entertainment giant just announced today, May 16, that it is bringing its signature weirdness to the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas with The Real Unreal, an installation opening at the Grapevine Mills mall on July 14; tickets are available now.

The Real Unreal is based on a lore-filled narrative, and will include a venue for live events. While the Denver location places visitors in a post-apocalyptic universe with several distinct alien realms to explore, Texas's installation focuses on "a blended family who has unknowingly unlocked portals to a different existence," according to Meow Wolf. "As participants investigate these portals to the unknown, they will explore rooms that are both unfamiliar yet accessible through unforgettable psychedelic art."
Spanning 29,000 square feet, with more than thirty rooms with seventy installations by 150 artists and fabricators (including 38 from Texas), The Real Unreal promises an experience unlike anything else you'll find in Texas. Creatives who work at Convergence Station (which has eighty installations over 90,000 square feet by 300 artists) have told us they uncover something new every day at the Denver space, so the odds are good that The Real Unreal will also keep people coming back for more.

Meow Wolf's Texas journey won't end there, either; it will be adding another location in Houston, as well.

In the wake of the Santa Fe flagship's success, the one-time cooperative turned into a major entertainment conglomerate, with leaders trained at Disney and plans to open spots everywhere from Phoenix to Washington, D.C., with developers clamoring to have Meow Wolf join their projects. While some of those plans stalled out, Meow Wolf is now on the move again.

"The Meow Wolf story universe is expanding, and Texas holds the keys to the next chapters," says senior communications manager Erin Barnes. "When choosing Grapevine (part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex), we looked at many criteria, and were motivated by the large, diverse population and the thriving arts community. An attraction to the nostalgia of hanging out in a mall inspired us to create an experience at Grapevine Mills. Our next opening will be in Houston in 2024, and we don't have any updates on new locations to share yet. Where will we go from here — Mars? Only time will tell!"