Mayfest Keynote Talk by Vince Kadlubek, Founder of Meow Wolf: “The Value of Creativity in These Transformative Times”
101 Archer
May 11, 2024
“There has never been a creative company that has stayed cool.”
That sobering truth came from Meow Wolf cofounder and CEO Vince Kadlubek during the ending Q&A of his Mayfest keynote speech “The Value of Creativity in These Transformative Times.” Kadlubek is, effectively, the kingpin of immersive art in the U.S., having led Meow Wolf during its days as a scrappy, recurring pop-up in 2008 and helmed its growth into a multi-city brand known for the promise of its tagline: “We Open Portals of Possibility.”
The particular irony of his statement was heightened by its delivery inside 101 Archer (the Hardesty Arts building), the former home of nonprofit arts center AHHA Tulsa, a facility focused on interactive and immersive artworks, which shuttered unexpectedly in November 2022. (AHHA Tulsa was also the former presenter of Mayfest. The building and festival are now owned by the University of Tulsa.)
He opened his talk praising the “connective tissue” of Tulsa’s arts community and chronologically explaining how something as unusual as Meow Wolf happens. In short, a collective of young artists in Santa Fe, feeling stifled by the lack of welcome from a more traditional arts community, used their pent-up energy to create pop-up events, initially in warehouse spaces transformed by visual art created from found objects.
“Ultimately, we were building forts,” Kadlubek said. “Adults wanting to be kids.”