“The kids would create just insane things, like a ‘Giant Sponge in a Box for Cows that Have Been Abducted,’” Montoya recalls. “The shelves were made out of plywood and cinder blocks, and we would save old milk gallons and fill them with rainbow paint water and write in Sharpie, like, ‘elk milk’ on them.”įor its second iteration in 2012, the group rented retail space in a shopping center and collaborated with an educational outreach program to come up with the products. Let’s do this artist commentary on grocery stores,” explains Montoya. But the concept dates back to 2009 when it was first executed in a Santa Fe warehouse. Opened this February, Omega Mart is the second permanent installation to come out of Meow Wolf (a third will open in Denver later this year). They’ve even integrated hand sanitizer into the design concept so as not to break the illusion: “We had artists paint over the hand sanitizer to make it look like a piece of ground floating, with mushrooms growing out of it,” Montoya says. It’s a must-visit in Santa Fe, and after an extended hiatus in 2020, they’ve finally reopened with reduced-capacity and Covid protocols. Martin, the sprawling space holds 70 rooms of hallucinatory, interactive art loosely themed around a mysterious storyline-plus a bar and concert stage for live shows. Opened in a former bowling alley and partly funded by none other than George R.R. Formed in 2008 by a rag tag group of artists trying to make a name for themselves in Santa Fe, the collective made headlines in 2016 with their first permanent installation, The House of Eternal Return.
These visionary misfits create whole new worlds, complete with elaborate (hard to follow, totally bonkers) narratives. Saying that Meow Wolf (a name created by pulling two random names out of a hat) does “large-scale immersive installations” barely scratches the surface. Stumble through a refrigerator of Omega sodas and into an extraordinary alternate reality where nothing is as it seems. (Other attractions in the high-tech complex include a psychedelic barcade, flying simulator, and an immersive Van Gogh digital art show.) More than just an Instagrammable grocery store, Omega Mart is an amalgamation of 60 different environments created by 350 artists, with a soundtrack by musicians including Brian Eno and Beach House. You’ll find it in Area 15, a futuristic adult Disneyland just minutes away from the Las Vegas strip. This is Omega Mart, a new dystopian installation from the Santa Fe-based arts collective Meow Wolf, of which Montoya is a co-founder and Senior VP of Brand. “The idea is that it’s a deodorant for aliens who are posing as humans.” “We wanted a real deodorant, and we wanted it to be human-scented,” says Emily Montoya, laughing. And over in personal care there’s an actual deodorant from a brand called Future Contact this particular scent is “Initiation.” Walk past a toxic spill blocked off with caution tape and into the produce section, where you peer into one end of a kaleidoscopic squash. The steaks behind the meat counter are red, white, and blue. Hashtag: #AREA15.It looks like an ordinary grocery store, but then you examine what’s on the shelves: A sparkling drink called Liquid Death, a laundry detergent called Plausible Deniability, a Warhol-esque display of Camel’s Meal Substitute Sop. 1 spot in Blooloop’s “World’s Top 11 Immersive Art Experiences” and being included in Las Vegas Magazine’s Hall of Fame.įollow on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter: and YouTube: AREA15. With a robust, ever-changing roster of concerts, events, immersive art exhibitions, out-of-this-world nightlife and boundary-pushing production shows, AREA15 attracts visitors of all ages.ĪREA15 has received numerous accolades, including being named “Best Immersive Art Experience” by USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Travel Awards, one of “The 10 Most Innovative Urban Development and Real Estate Companies of 2020” by Fast Company, “Reader’s Choice-Best Attraction” by Las Vegas Weekly, “Best Arts Hub” by Vegas Magazine, claiming the No. AREA15’s curated mix of dynamic destinations-including Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart, Lost Spirits Distillery, Illuminarium, Dueling Axes, Five Iron Golf, The Beast by Todd English, Wink World: Portals Into the Infinite, Museum Fiasco, Virtualis VR, Emporium Arcade Bar and many more-represents what’s next in experiential entertainment. AREA15, located minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, represents the world’s first purpose-built immersive entertainment district offering live events, distinctive attractions, interactive art installations, extraordinary design elements, unique retail, ground-breaking technology, bars and eateries and much more.
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