Meow Wolf, the for-profit artist collective that runs a wildly popular immersive installation in Santa Fe, is rapidly expanding across the country with projects in various cities, including its planned four-story, 90,000-square-foot complex at the junction of the Interstate 25, Colfax Avenue and Auraria Parkway viaducts in Denver.
But while that project, just west of downtown Denver at 1338 First St. in Sun Valley, continues taking shape, Meow Wolf officials are already planning their long-term presence in Denver — and not simply because they signed a 20-year, $60 million lease.
Suspect Press, a five-year-old literary and arts magazine based in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, this week announced a $125,000 grant from Meow Wolf to fund the magazine’s operations and create a marketing partnership with Meow Wolf in advance of its permanent Denver installation, scheduled for 2020.
“It’s definitely a business decision in the sense that we want to have good exposure with certain demographics,” said Vince Kadlubek, Meow Wolf’s CEO who came of age, in part, by going to underground shows at Denver’s Rhinoceropolis art-and-music venue. “We want to activate creative communities with co-opting them, and this also allows us to get to know more people and build relationships that we’re going to need in the next couple years to make the Denver project happen.”
“Meow Wolf has made it pretty clear that they love Suspect Press and what we do, and they want us to continue doing that — just with them,” said Denver journalist and author Josiah Hesse, who edits Suspect Press.
Hesse had plotted the release party for his second novel, “Carnality: Sebastian Phoenix and the Dark Star,” well before Meow Wolf’s money came into the picture. But the event, taking place at the Tattered Cover’s East Colfax Avenue store on Aug. 3, is indicative of the kinds of things he’d like to do with the backing of Meow Wolf.
The event is also an experiment for the Tattered Cover, according to co-owner Len Vlahos: the book store’s first-ever after-hours, ticketed book party to include free beer from Ratio Brewing and performances including readings by Hesse and others, music from Esmé Patterson and DJ Erin Stereo, emceeing from Pussy Bros.’ comic Christie Buchele, and a surprise musical guest.
“We’re excited to try it, and excited to be partnering with Josiah and Suspect Press on it,” Vlahos said via email.
The Suspect Press grant is only the latest example of Meow Wolf’s marketing partnerships with arts organizations and events, which allows the compnay to establish a presence in Denver without having any in-house programming or even a physical space to visit.
And there are more on the way, Kadlubek noted.
In addition to the $125,000 Suspect Press grant — which covers a two-year period and includes subcontracted projects outside of the magazine and its book publishing division — Meow Wolf has lent its money and logo to the Temple Tantrum block party (Sept. 1-2), the “Special Guest” art exhibit at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, Colorado Black Arts Festival, Denver Zine Fest, Denver Independent Comics & Art Expo (DiNK), Sun Valley Days and the Latino Cultural Arts Center, a planned cultural complex that will become Meow Wolf’s neighbor in Sun Valley.
Meow Wolf has been praised for transforming cultural spaces and attracting tourism to Santa Fe, and its potential to change the economic fortunes of Denver artists is similarly promising. Year-to-date, Meow Wolf has spent about $250,000 in sponsorship and marketing projects in Denver, Kadlubek said. Over the course of the next 2 1/2 years, it plans to spend another $250,000 to $500,000 here.
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The success or failure of those initiatives here will likely help guide future campaigns in other cities.
“Right now we do a ton in Santa Fe, and New Mexico in general, with social-impact initiatives. And we’ve just started that process in Las Vegas,” Kadlubek said. “We’ve also got our DIY Fund, which any alternative-arts and music spaces across the country can apply for.”
The DIY Fund last year offered $100,000 to arts organizations in the wake of the fatal Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, Calif., which led to a crackdown on underground spaces across the country. The DIY Fund will launch its next round by the end of this summer, Kadlubek said, just before Meow Wolf announces its “responsibility strategy” for Denver in September.
“We pride ourselves on authentic dialogue, and we haven’t hidden from the conversations that have come up since our announcement of the Denver project,” Kadlubek said. “It’s important to note that our agreement with Suspect Press includes zero creative control over what Suspect does. We have no interest in changing that voice because that would be counter-productive to the thing that we love. We’re just trying to walk the walk.”
The funding comes at a crucial time for Suspect Press, Hesse said, even as the magazine weaned itself off of initial support from restaurateur Daniel Landes. (Suspect Press’ offices are still located above City O’ City, the vegetarian eatery/bar he once owned Capitol Hill.)
“The (‘Carnality’) event is more ambitious than anything we’ve ever done before, but it’s definitely where we’re headed,” Hesse said. “Our primary goal has always been to make more money for our contributors while also putting out a (great) magazine. But now with Meow Wolf we can inject some of that into the literary and arts community around town as well.”
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