Immerse Yourself in Arte

Yes, I spelled it Arte, because we're going to Arte Museum, one of the newest immersive attractions in Las Vegas. It's art that moves and involves you. It's very similar to Hopscotch here in Portland (and Austin), where each room has a new theme and you move through each exhibit at your own pace. 

At Hopscotch, the exhibits are very light focused and at Arte Museum, it is very nature focused. There are tons of photo ops, or you can just choose to soak in the vibe and feel at peace. 

You start with a banger by walking into a room full of waterfalls. Almost everything is projected and they use mirrors to make rooms look bigger or neverending, which is really cool. The varying panels make it seem like it has more depth than it does. 

You'll find an entire room that has the aurora borealis over lapping waves. It's beautiful and really peaceful and it makes you feel like you're actually on the beach. 

The waves "lap" over the floor via projection and there's a lovely soundtrack that sounds like you're at the beach, standing on the edge of the ocean. If you enjoy water, there's a smaller room that has water pounding against a "glass" wall. It gave me some anxiety and was the only room I didn't love, but it was still amazing and felt very real.

Walk through a fantastical garden of sparkling trees in one room, and then experience a forest with magical animals throughout the changing seasons.

As the seasons change, you see this deer, a dragon, a tiger and a phoenix. Each embodies their season for several minutes before the season changes and a new animal emerges.

There's a smallish room called The Star, where you walk among these everchanging lights and it feels truly magical. 

My favorite room had this interactive activity. It was called Live Sketchbook. You chose an animal to color in - I chose this zebra - and then you scan it into the system and "add" it to the jungle. 

Once your creation is added, it pops into existence and makes a trip across the jungle and back, along with everyone else's creations. It is continuously changing as more people add their animals, creating new art with every animal scanned in. Everyone was having a great time coloring and the joy you saw when they saw their creations brought to life was delightful. 

The largest room, and what I would call an art finale puts you in the middle of museum works, a tribute to Las Vegas, and changing prints on the walls and floor. It's a lot like the Van Gogh immersive experience that we did several years ago.

The room is quite large and allows for a lot of people to sit on benches, explore the whole space, or even see as much as possible by standing on the viewing platform.

Monet, Renoir, Picasso, and more well-known artists rotate through the space as you watch. 

At one point, you feel like you're inside an actual museum and then several minutes later, you feel like you're inside the art itself. I learned of artists I hadn't know of before, and maybe you will, too.

You'll want to spend the most time in this room, because there are so many things going on. There are three distinct parts: Garden Masterpieces, Garden Light of Las Vegas, and Garden Paintings of Joseon.

I really just wanted to live inside this room. It can be loud though, so keep that in mind and wear ear coverings if this is something that is difficult for you. Even with the bright lights and, at times, cacophonous sounds, I found this room mesmerizing in a way that I find hard to really describe. 

At the end of my visit, I stopped at Tea Bar, an interactive art exhibit to its own self. It was included with my ticket. You choose one of three teas and then go sit at a dark table. Your drink will be brought to you and placed in exactly the right way, where your table becomes alight with moving art. Flowers bloom and change around your cup as long as it is full and on the table. Once it's empty, your experience is truly over.

Take another few moments to wind down and take in everything you've seen, heard, and felt inside Arte Museum by browsing the gift shop. It's actually one of the best gift shops I've shopped and I left with several lenticular postcards to remind me of my favorite rooms here.

While Arte Museum is not cheap, I really felt like I got my money's worth. I didn't feel lonely, even though I strolled through and experienced everything on my own. I also never felt uneasy, though I'm scared of the dark and a lot of the transition hallways are black. 

Admission rates are $50pp during the week and $60pp Friday-Sunday. If you go 8:30pm or later, which I did, or between 10-11:30am, you get a $10 discount. If you want to include the Tea Bar, it's an extra $5pp. Groups of 5 or more get a discount, and children 4-12 are cheaper than adults, while 3 and under are free. 

By far, Arte Museum has been one of my favorite experiences on the Las Vegas Strip. I made it a solo date night for myself, by also doing a fancy and delicious dinner at Park MGM's NOMAD Library beforehand.

What untraditional museum do you love or want to visit on your travels?