In 2021, Eric and I took a road trip to Las Vegas to visit with family and experience Omega Mart, an interactive art installation by Meow Wolf that I'd been waiting 3 years to open. There are other massive installations that they've done, but last year we finally had the chance to visit the one in Denver, Convergence Station.
Meow Wolf is an art collective that wanted to do something huge and different that got people interested in art, and what started in a warehouse has turned into a phenomenon that has people traveling the country to get to one of their locations.
Why are they so special? Because it's a ton of different forms of art, very fun and weird, and there's an overarching story and mystery you can solve in each one. Each one has a different story, but also somewhat ties into other locations, which you'll see Easter eggs for while you're exploring.
Convergence Station tells the story of a transit worker who was on her bus route and drove into a portal that opened up, now that other dimension is slowly taking over and morphing things into weird versions of themselves. People are losing their memories, which are used for currency. Before you lose yours, you can take on the mystery of the Forgotten 4, 4 people who disappeared and nobody appears to remember, except through missing persons posters up all over "town".
You can choose to buy a Boop Card and try to solve the mystery, or you can just wander around and take in all the amazing, weird, and awesome stuff everywhere. A card is just $5 and you can use it on future visits, in case you don't do everything on one visit, which I completely understand. We arrived right at opening and stayed for 6 hours, and I'm sure we still missed some stuff.
You take the elevator up to the "street" level, where you'll find stores and businesses and even an art gallery, but nothing is what it seems. Dotted around the street are both public phones and Boop stations for you to learn part of the story of why Convergence Station exists and what became of the Forgotten Four.
There are secret things everywhere you look, and that's sort of half the reason to visit. Anything can be a door or a secret passageway. Anything can conceal a tiny diorama or game or interactive art.
This portal is actually a walkway that is as awkward as it looks, but also takes you into a completely different area. Your visit takes you through a bunch of different floors, levels, and environment. You're going to be walking and crouching and sometimes crawling, so wear comfortable clothes and good shoes.
Everything is weird here, but also amazing, and you're going to want to see everything, which can be super overwhelming. You can meet new friends here and you sometimes end up teaming up with strangers to learn how to do certain things or help each other with a challenge. You don't have to, but it's fun experiencing something so interesting and new with new people.
You can end your story in the security room of Panopticon, where you can both see people in other parts of the building and also call other phones. While we were there, Eric called a phone in Omega Mart and spoke to a visitor there. When we finally figured out the mystery and did everything we were supposed to do to "get credit" for it, the people in the security room were excited to see it and were encouraged to keep going.
There's something surprising around every corner and behind every door and there are so many places that create stunning and unpredictable photo ops. It's one of those things you can't really explain to someone if they don't know anything about it, but pictures help.
You can't leave and come back, but with your admission, you can stay as long as you want. There's a quick service restaurant in the lobby, which isn't terrific but it's not spendy and it has filing dishes like nachos and rice bowls. That way you can refuel and then continue your exploration of this weird and everchanging landscape. And, if you're lucky, you might even meet the Yawlp. He's awkward and sad, but he's my new favorite cryptid, because who isn't really?
Have you ever been to a museum that was so amazing that you wanted to tell everyone about it? Tell me about it in the comments!
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