ARTISTIC PLANS
Meow Wolf creating $7 million manufacturing plant to support new markets
SANTA FE — Meow Wolf is looking to create a new, $7 million manufacturing complex in Santa Fe that could be operating by April and would help produce materials for potential new immersive arts exhibitions in other markets similar to its House of Eternal Return here.
Vince Kadlubek, chief administrative officer, said Monday that he hopes to get a green light on expanding to a new market within the next four months. Talks are underway with people in Denver, Austin, Las Vegas, Nev., Phoenix and Minnesota’s Twin Cities, he said.
If any of those are finalized in the next few months, Meow Wolf would be two to three years away from opening in a new market, he said.
While local artists would be hired to create portions of a new exhibit in any of those markets, many of the items would be created in the manufacturing facility run by the offshoot business
entity, Meow Wolf Creative Studios.
Kadlubek said they’re aiming for 30,000 to 50,000 square feet of space. Some 100 people could be employed there, bringing Meow Wolf employment to a total of 175 people, he said. He estimated a total of 300 jobs there over the next 10 years.
As fundraising is underway, both through a private equity offering and application for state economic development funds, Kadlubek added that it’s possible the facility might be located outside New Mexico if financial support here isn’t strong enough. But he hastened to add that discussions so far with city and state government representatives have “been super-positive.”
Besides being used as headquarters for Meow Wolf administrative offices, the facility would include studios for welding, ceramics, textiles, film and digital media.
“It’s going to result in a world-class creative manufacturing facility, unlike anything you’ve seen on this side of Disney,” Kadlubek said.
“We’re running out of space,” he added of the current manufacturing spaces and offices in buildings opposite Rufina Circle from the Meow Wolf Arts Complex.
Meanwhile, Meow Wolf is reworking its House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe with new experiences, new rooms, hidden passageways and even a wormhole, according to Kadlubek. It is closed for that work and set to reopen on Feb. 1.