A month ago, the popular immersive art experience Meow Wolf announced plans to open a seventh permanent exhibition space at Manhattan’s South Street Seaport. New York City joins two locations in Texas, one in Denver, the original in Santa Fe and another in Las Vegas, with another planned for Los Angeles. Because New York isn’t like any of those cities—or any other city, really—Observer sat down with Marsi Gray, the senior creative producer who is overseeing the New York space, to hear more about the project
All your other iterations have been out in the groovy West. What made you want to open in the flinty East?
New York has always been a place of reinvention and bold artistic expression, so in many ways, it feels like a natural home for Meow Wolf. While our roots are in the Southwest, where the landscape and creative energy shaped our early work, we’ve always been drawn to the idea of bringing our immersive storytelling to new audiences and new cultural landscapes. The East Coast—especially New York—has its own creative pulse: raw, fast-moving and deeply layered with history. It’s a city that challenges you, pushes you to think bigger and constantly evolves. That energy is exactly what excites us. We are excited to see what happens when Meow Wolf’s surreal, maximalist storytelling collides with New York’s grit, sophistication and artistic legacy.
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How do you plan to incorporate New York City’s history into your design for this iteration of Meow Wolf?
New York City is a tapestry of stories, layered with history, culture and a constant sense of reinvention. As with all Meow Wolf exhibitions, our approach is to honor the spirit of place while bringing in our signature immersive storytelling. For this iteration, we are deriving inspiration from the city’s rich, gritty past—its underground movements and artistic revolutions—while also embracing its vibrant present. Much of this work will be felt through our curation efforts, but there will be nods to this in aspects of our story. New York has always been a city of dreamers and creators, a place where the surreal can feel just as real as the everyday. We’re drawing inspiration from the city’s deep roots in art, theater, music and counterculture. Our goal is to create something that feels like it could only exist in New York while still bringing the boundary-pushing, interactive magic that Meow Wolf is known for.
Besides our limited space, what are some of the unique challenges raised by building this kind of project in our city?
Well, we are just getting started with the design, so I will keep you posted! That said, we expect that building in New York will present its own set of challenges—some expected, some completely unique to the city. Space, of course, is always a factor. Every square foot in New York City has a story, a purpose and a price tag, so we are being incredibly intentional with how we design and build. We are aware of some of the logistical considerations of working in such a densely populated area, but we will discover more along the way to be sure.
Then there’s the audience itself. New Yorkers have seen it all. They have an innate sense of art, design and storytelling, and they demand authenticity. That’s something we take seriously. We’re not just dropping a Meow Wolf exhibit into the city; we’re crafting something that feels like it belongs here and that surprises and engages even the most unshakable New Yorker. It’s a challenge, but it’s also part of what makes this project so exciting.
You’ve mentioned wanting to work with local curators and artists, which constitutes some of my readership. How do you envision that working? Should galleries start reaching out to offer their sculptors for collaboration?
This answer comes from Han Santana-Sayles, our senior director of artistic collaboration: “When we expand to a new city, we dedicate a year to in-depth research, exploring its cultural, historical and socio-political landscape. Our goal is to discover artists whose creative brilliance authentically reflects the spirit of their community. To build a diverse and dynamic roster, we partner with New York-based consultants and welcome artists and curators to share their portfolios through our public ‘Want to Collaborate’ form for future opportunities. We’re so thrilled to build alongside New York artists.”
In some ways, the Seaport is a surprising location for such an offering. What factors went into your decision to land there? Did you consider other outlets like Times Square?
We take many factors into account when selecting a location, as our exhibitions require specific criteria to thrive—multi-level spaces, a certain square footage range and neighborhood considerations. Beyond the physical space, we also prioritize our relationship with the land developer or landlord, ensuring a shared vision, strong collaboration and deep community engagement.
The Seaport stood out as the perfect match on all fronts. It’s a place rich with history and transformation, a gateway for new ideas and cultural shifts—concepts that resonate deeply with Meow Wolf. The Seaport team shares our commitment to creativity and innovation, making this partnership feel truly symbiotic. And, of course, the building itself is absolutely stunning. We’re thrilled to add our own layer of magic to the ever-evolving story of the Seaport.
What do you make of the current vogue for big, walk-through art experiences like the virtual Van Gogh? Is it simply a reflection of the fact that cannabis is legal now?
We’re living in a time when digital and physical realities are blending more than ever. Social media, gaming and VR have changed the way people interact with art and storytelling, making immersion the expectation rather than the exception. While we’re excited to see immersive experiences of all kinds gaining popularity, Meow Wolf is an entirely different beast from the projection mapping rooms that have sprouted up across the country. Experiences like the virtual Van Gogh tap into the desire for something transportive, but at Meow Wolf, we go a step further; we create fully realized worlds with depth, interactivity and personal agency. Our exhibitions are crafted by hand by hundreds of artists, melding cutting-edge technology with tangible, physical artistry. You can see the brushstrokes, feel the textures and imagine the artist’s hands at work.
What’s your favorite art exhibition that you’ve seen in New York lately?
I recently visited Mercer Labs in New York, and I found it to be absolutely beautiful. One of the highlights was a space called “The Dragon Room,” which uses over half a million individually programmable LED lights to create an immersive, infinite experience. The way the lights stretch out and seem to go on forever is absolutely mesmerizing—it’s like stepping into another dimension. The room has this surreal quality that pulls you in and holds you there. I could have easily spent hours just losing myself in that space. It’s a perfect example of how art can create a feeling of wonder and transport you into a completely different reality.
