Meow Wolf is moving closer to unveiling its Los Angeles locale, which is targeting a late 2026 opening. The Santa Fe-based company plans a walk-around, floor-to-ceiling experience at West L.A.’s Howard Hughes entertainment complex, designed to pay homage to the art of cinema with a sci-fi, psychedelic bent.
To ensure a distinct local flavor for the L.A. exhibition, nearly 40 Southern California artists across multiple mediums have been tapped. Han Santana-Sayles, a SoCal native from a Mexican American family, heavily curated the L.A. artists, emphasizing the importance of capturing the breadth of the region’s population. Santana-Sayles said it was crucial to make selection “intentional,” bringing in artists who are amazing and have a “really important story for this region.” Art curator AJ Girard, Meow Wolf’s local art liaison, also worked closely on the project, drawing inspiration from L.A.'s social media culture, commercialism, and graffiti art.
The project will transform an old movie theater into a maximalist playground, featuring animated candy at a concession stand and seats that appear to float. The creative partnership with animation studio Titmouse, known for series like “Big Mouth,” will also supply media for the space.
A number of artists are creating full-scale rooms for the exhibition, including Gabriela Ruiz, who crafted a multicolored insect serving as a periscope, and the collective Everything Is Terrible, contributing a space featuring a “cartoony, root vegetable floating alien god.” Compton's Charles E. Dickson, a renowned self-taught sculpture artist with public works throughout the region, will contribute, as will Jen Stark, known for geometric kaleidoscope art, and Lauren YS, recognized for hyper-vivid colors and surrealist mythology. Other room artists include Wayne White, Seth Bogart, Corinne Loperfido, Killer Acid, and longtime Meow Wolf contributor Nick Toll.
Beyond the curated rooms, seven artists are slated to contribute video installations and games, including artist/musician Vinyl Williams and musician/animator Hugo Shiboski with director/media artist Will Wharton. Six artists, such as Bunnie Reiss and Ozzie Juarez, will paint murals. More than a dozen L.A. artists, from downtown street artist S.C. Mero to former Coachella contributor Sofia Enriquez, are creating sculptures or dioramas.
Meow Wolf has helped define the modern immersive art space, welcoming approximately 10 million visitors across its four venues in cities like Las Vegas and Denver since its Santa Fe exhibition opened in 2016.
