Art immersion

FORGET THE HORSEPLAY at Empower Field. The hottest hotpink ticket in town is for the technicolor wonderland known as Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station.

The pizza-slice-shaped building at the nexus of Interstate 25 and Colfax Avenue opened its doors Sept. 17 to much fanfare — and was buoyed by contributions from Metropolitan State University of Denver alumni and students.

The launch further cemented Denver’s status as an experiential-art destination, said Erin Barnes, public relations manager and 2007 MSU Denver English graduate.

“Art is something that provokes thought and stimulates the senses,” she said. “It’s been so rewarding to see both press and visitors tour the exhibit to enjoy it organically. It really makes people’s eyes light up like they’re a kid again, regardless of age.”

Meow Wolf began in 2008 when a collection of artists in Santa Fe transformed an old bowling alley into a live-action rendering of imagination, inviting attendees to open a seemingly innocuous refrigerator and step into a multisensory world. Funding from “Game of Thrones” creator George R.R. Martin turned the experiment into a permanent structure. A second site launched earlier this year: Las Vegas’ meta-supermarket, Omega Mart.

Like its predecessors, the Auraria Campus-adjacent outpost is a behemoth of stimulation that defies succinct description as equal parts mixed-media art installation, Chuck E. Cheese fever dream and day-glo IKEA.

If you haven’t been yet, here’s your chance to see the Mile High City’s latest art destination through the eyes of the Roadrunner creatives and artists who had a hand in its opening. >

By Cory Phare / Photos by Alyson McClaran

“Art is for everyone, and we need it now more than ever,” said Cyrena Rosati, a junior in MSU Denver’s Studio Art program who recently concluded an art direction internship at Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station. “It’s helped us get through this whole thing (the Covid-19 pandemic). And now, we have this brand-new experience as we’re hopefully coming out to the other side together.”

“It’s very similar to a Choose Your Own Adventure book,” said Tori Bohling, a Communication Design student who wrapped up her creative direction internship at Convergence Station in spring. “You change the narrative as you experience it and become part of the story by proxy of the people you’re with there in that moment. “In a traditional art gallery, you’re observing art. When you’re here, the art is observing you.”

Corrina Espinosa, a 2011 Sculpture graduate and featured artist, hopes attendees tap into their own experiences as they immerse themselves in the art and reflect on life: the good, the bad and the ugly. “I believe immersion and connection are part of the future,” she said.

Surrounded by painting

“It reminds me of the Sistine Chapel, where you’re surrounded by painting. You’re really forced to take it all in by being there,” said Ashley Frazier, a 2012 graduate in Studio Art. She and her partner, Michael Sperandeo, contributed an art installation called “Obsolete Obscurity,” which joined the work of more than 110 Colorado artists.