Art Company Meow Wolf, a Symbol of the Booming Experience Economy, Just Laid Off More Than Half Its Staff

It isn’t just traditional museums that are being forced to make
devastating staff cuts amid the ongoing public health crisis. Meow
Wolf, one of the
pioneers of the “experience economy,” has eliminated 201
positions and furloughed an additional 56 employees after its home
state of New Mexico issued a stay-at-home order on March 23. After
the layoffs, the company’s staff has been reduced to just under 200
people, less than half its former size.

“Today we will have to part ways with a significant portion of
our family through layoffs and furloughs,” wrote Meow Wolf
co-CEOs Jim Ward, Ali Rubenstein, and Carl Christensen in an email
to staff shared by the Santa Fe
Reporter. The decision was made “given the devastating
economic impact of the pandemic and the uncertainty surrounding the
time of recovery, in addition to the need to properly position the
company for survival and future success… we are heartbroken.”

Not too long ago, Meow Wolf was poised for explosive growth. The
art collective turned art and entertainment company opened its
immersive art space House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe in
2016 to immediate popular acclaim. Last year, it
raised $158 million to
open additional spaces across the country.

Meow Wolf’s layoffs affected workers at venues yet to open in
Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Washington, DC, in addition to
New Mexico. Meow Wolf’s founders and CEOs are also taking pay cuts
in order to fund severance benefits, although the extent of the pay
cuts was not immediately clear.

A spokesperson for Meow Wolf said the company would provide
laid-off employees severance over a six-month period, which would
be supplemented with aid from the State of New Mexico and federal
government. Although she declined to detail the specifics of the
severance packages, she said they “will add up to a significant
contribution towards stabilizing these colleagues’ income.”

The success of the Meow Wolf model was echoed by a proliferation
of other non-traditional exhibition spaces designed to engage the
viewer through experiential installations and Instagram-friendly
photo ops. (Think the Museum of Ice Cream,
the Color Factory, and
spaces celebrating everything from dreams to pizza.) The pop-up
museum trend has even influenced the way that
established institutions are thinking about programming—but a
prolonged economic downturn, not to mention a prolonged period
pre-vaccine where people may be afraid to gather in crowded public
spaces, could completely change the trajectory of the field.

Despite the downturn in the company’s fortunes, Meow Wolf
remains optimistic about the future. “The plans for opening
exhibitions in Las Vegas and Denver are very much alive,” the
founders said. “We believe in our remaining team and that they will
not only carry us through this time, but will continue the
tradition of mind bending creativity with which Meow Wolf has
become synonymous.”

The post Art Company Meow Wolf, a Symbol of the Booming
Experience Economy, Just Laid Off More Than Half Its Staff
appeared first on artnet News.