Beyond the High Rises

Meow Wolf's fourth permanent exhibition. First location in Texas. Opened July 14, 2023, in Grapevine Mills Mall in a former 40,000-square-foot Bed Bath & Beyond. 150 artists and fabricators—38 from Texas—created 30+ unique rooms occupying roughly 29,000 square feet. Story conceived by author LaShawn Wanak: Ruby and Gordon Delaney moved to Bolingbrook, Illinois. Their daughter Carmen moved back home and started a spice blend company named Ruby's Garden. The narrative centers on the disappearance of Carmen's friend's son, Jared Fuqua, and the family that unknowingly unlocked portals to a different existence. Enter through the front door of a seemingly normal two-story suburban home. The rooms spiral out from there. In June 2025, Meow Wolf added Prime Materia, a bar integrated into the narrative. Massive. Immersive. Brain-breaking.

The only museum in the United States dedicated to samurai art and armor. One of the largest collections of its kind in the world. Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller began acquiring samurai art over thirty years ago. Gabriel was fascinated by samurai armor since adolescence. Acquired his first piece in the early 1990s. The collection now spans the fifth to nineteenth centuries. Suits of armor, helmets, masks, horse armor, weaponry—with particular emphasis on the Edo period. Housed in the historic St. Ann's School building, originally constructed in 1927. Rotating exhibitions explore intriguing aspects of Japanese warrior culture. More than 140 pieces tour internationally.

The largest bronze monument of its kind in the world. 49 bronze steers and 3 trail riders created by artist Robert Summers of Glen Rose, Texas. Each steer is larger-than-life at six feet high. Cast at Eagle Bronze Foundry in Lander, Wyoming. Commemorates nineteenth-century cattle drives along the Shawnee Trail—the earliest and easternmost route by which Texas longhorn cattle were taken to northern railheads. The trail passed through Austin, Waco, and Dallas until the Chisolm Trail siphoned off most of the traffic in 1867. Real estate developer Trammell Crow wanted an iconic "Western" sculpture. Summers began work in November 1992. Opened on time in 1994. Second only to Dealey Plaza as the most-visited landmark in downtown Dallas.

Vermont artist J.T. Williams carved a family of teddy bears from granite for the Harlan Crow family. Presented to Highland Park on Christmas Eve 1995. Three four-foot cubs and one giant 10-foot bear. The massive bear alone weighs 20 tons. They sit along Turtle Creek on 14 acres of exceptionally landscaped grounds in affluent Highland Park—one of the 10 richest places in the U.S. Inspired by the famous bronze bears that once greeted customers before entering FAO Schwartz at NorthPark Mall. Cross the pedestrian bridge and you'll find whimsy carved in stone.

Bill and Dorothy Masterson traveled to Paris in the 1990s. Met Carmelo Arden Quin and other artists working in the MADI style—a "rambunctious" form of geometric abstraction Quin founded in 1946. The Mastersons fell for it. Started collecting. Founded the museum in 2002. Opened in 2003. The only museum in North America dedicated to geometric abstraction and the MADI movement. Circles, stripes, waves, spheres, spirals, lozenges, arcs, meanders. International significance. Locals barely know it exists.

Chicago artist Tony Tasset created this 30-foot-tall fiberglass eyeball in 2007, modeled after his own bloodshot eye (complete with veins and a dilated pupil). It first appeared in Chicago's Pritzker Park, staring down unsettled pedestrians for three years. In 2013, the Joule Hotel bought it and installed it in their downtown Dallas courtyard, where it now gazes eternally at luxury condos and confused tourists. The pupil alone is 3 feet wide. At night, internal lighting gives it an unsettling glow. The hotel uses the courtyard for private events, which means you might attend a cocktail party under the unblinking surveillance of a bloodshot eyeball the size of a small building. Tasset says it's about perception and observation. Dallas just thinks it's cool and weird.