A groundbreaking ceremony has been held for Meow Wolf’s upcoming exhibition, coming to Houston’s 5th Ward in 2024. Taking the phrase “paint the town” literally, the ceremony closed with Mayor Sylvester Turner and Meow Wolf CEO Jose Tolosa, and DealCo’s Jon Deal each spray painting the words “Meow Wolf” on the wall to mark its future location.
“We open portals of possibility for our participants, for our employees, for our artists, and for our communities. We try to make people see life in a different way,” said Tolosa. “We are about creating impact. Community matters to us. The underrepresented artist matters to us. Creating jobs matters to us.”
Meow Wolf will start community conversations in the fall and have partnered with the City of Houston Economic Development team to bring more art to Houston.
“The Meow Wolf immersive art portal coming to the Fifth Ward cultural arts district is precisely the kind of attraction that will help Houston stand out as an even more attractive destination for broad and diverse groups of people,” Mayor Turner said.
Expanding on the kaleidoscopic universe that already exists in the physical plane in Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Denver, and soon Dallas-Fort Worth, it is understood that the Houston exhibition will bring over 100 new jobs to the community in the first operating year.
Meow Wolf has signed more than 30 collaborating artists, mostly from the Houston area, whose identities reflect Houston’s diversity, for its newest mind-awakening exhibition.
The ceremony also included councilwoman Tarsha Jackson, artist Gonzo247, Harrison Guy of the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation (and Meow Wolf’s neighbor at Deluxe Theater), and Atherton Elementary Drumline.
Meow Wolf started in 2008 as a small collective of Santa Fe artists sharing an interest in publicly displaying their works and developing their skills together. This collaborative approach developed into Meow Wolf’s distinctive style of immersive, maximalist environments that encourage audience-driven experiences.
