Interactive writing UCF themed entertainment students with Meow Wolf creative executives. Photos by Rhianna Horner
UCF/Meow Wolf Writers Workshop serves Themed Experience grad students a conversation with Ken Neville, Todd Richins, Peter Weishar and Michael Wilson
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eow Wolf and the University of Central Florida (UCF) Themed Experience graduate programs started a unique collaboration in fall 2022 called the UCF/Meow Wolf Writers Workshop. Graduate students and Meow Wolf creatives meet virtually and in-person at intervals over the semester to learn about creating cohesive narratives for interactive installations and environments. Meow Wolf is a unique artist collective that has brought innovative and influential new models of attraction development and business culture to the industry. Meow Wolf venues include House of Eternal Return (Santa Fe, NM – honored with a Thea Award in 2017); Convergence Station (Denver, CO) and Omega Mart at AREA15 (Las Vegas). The UCF Themed Experience graduate program headed by Peter Weishar is a leading program for creatives training to become attractions industry professionals, or build upon their existing
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careers. Weishar is also Steering Committee Chair of TEAAS, the Themed Experience & Attractions Academic Society. The workshop planners sat down for a virtual coffee to tell the story of the program. This discussion between Weishar and Meow Wolf ’s Todd Richins, Ken Neville and Michael Wilson addresses the role of writing and narrative in the design and production of themed experience, and how the workshop will unfold. Peter Weishar [Director of Themed Experience at the University of Central Florida]: In our Themed Experience graduate programs at UCF we emphasize the importance of narrative in the creation of a themed experience. We talk about how narrative creates a deeper, richer experience. Meow Wolf is known for stunning interactive visuals, how does narrative make the experiences more compelling?
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