Is the Ministry of Awe truly awesome? Inquirer staffers discuss their visit to the homegrown Philly experience.

Doors open this weekend to Philadelphia’s newest cultural attraction, an interactive and immersive journey through six floors of eccentricity called the Ministry of Awe.

The brainchild of local muralist Meg Saligman, the venue combines all kinds of art — painting, sculpture, music, digital technology, theater — with mysterious puzzles and mini games, all set in a renovated 19th century bank. It’s open to all ages.

“Philadelphians make art the way we all make fire, because you need it. We believe so thoroughly in bringing people out to gather, to congregate together, and to experience art. We believe this is a potent change maker,” said Saligman at a recent preview. “If you’ve been to a museum, a theater, a haunted house, a dream, maybe, we are not quite any of those things.”

Features columnist Stephanie Farr and arts and entertainment reporter Rosa Cartagena visited the Ministry and explored the quirky sculptures, surprising peepholes, stunning murals, and the occasionally disturbing delights. Here’s what they thought of the trippy experience.

Stephanie Farr, features columnist

I thought it was incredible. It’s an experience for intensely curious and playful people made by intensely curious and playful people. There are some unsettling undertones throughout that give it a mildly dystopian vibe as well.

Getting to explore the Frank Furness-designed building is a gift in and of itself, but this added immersive experience with art designed and created by Philadelphians turns the building into an otherworldly labyrinth with no maps and no clear path through. Your only hope is to wander and wonder, and it’s wonderful.

Rosa Cartagena, arts & entertainment reporter

It’s refreshingly weird in the best way. There’s no other space in Philadelphia quite like this, and it’s difficult to describe without actually seeing it for yourself, which is part of the magic.

I couldn’t help but think that this city just celebrated the 100th anniversary of Surrealism; Ministry of Awe shows us what Surrealism is today — more than a static work of art, it’s a puzzle, a mystery, a confusing collection of eclectic objects, and a dazzling visual feast.

Stephanie Farr

Yes! And the storytelling throughout is fantastic and surreal as well. I’m not sure I even get the story (or the many stories within the bigger story), but I am intrigued. I want to go back to see if I can understand it, since I didn’t get it the first time around. But then again, maybe that’s the point.

Did you have a favorite part or feature of the Ministry?

Rosa Cartagena

Well, getting sniffed by a large nose (called a smellier) was a great introduction.

I wanted to spend more time in Cesar Viveros’ brightly colored corner dedicated to the Aztec and Mayan calendar. It’s adorned with feathers and only reached by a tunnel, making it feel like a secret.

I could spend all day in the Heavens, with Saligman’s beautiful, wacky mural coming to life with AI technology from Spatial Pixel. I was psyched that we made it snow! What about you?

Stephanie Farr

I found the Conference Room very intriguing. It’s not the most visually-striking room but I loved the storytelling by artist Taj Rauch. You are in a world where reincarnation and past lives are an accepted reality and by placing different objects in the room on a device-reading pad, you get different stories and clues. It was eerie and enthralling and gave me a very Welcome to Night Vale feeling.

I also loved the Heavens, which is arguably, the most stunning room, visually. I was particularly delighted to be greeted by the “High Priestess,” portrayed by Rose Luardo, a Philly soft sculpture and performance artist whose guerrilla artwork around Philly (like her "Boob Garden“) I’ve written about.

Rosa Cartagena

Yes! Because this is Philly, these artists also infused the space with so many strange and bizarre elements. I’m haunted by the Skin Horse in the basement, made with real human hair.

What was the most disturbing thing you saw?

Stephanie Farr

Skin Horse and Pig Lady, who look like human-animal hybrids gone wrong (not that such things could go right) will be starring in my nightmares for years to come. They live in “Asset Liquidation” aka the bathrooms, which are also immersive experiences.

I vividly remember getting goosebumps in the Office of Estate Holdings. It’s a green-lit room featuring a 10-foot hologram of a dancer from the Philadelphia Ballet that begins to glitch in a very disturbing way.

I absolutely loved how many Philly artists brought the Ministry to life including a composer, ballerina, a Kafka scholar who wrote the Ministry’s charter, a stained glass artist, sculptors, painters, performance artists, actors, graphic artists, AI creators, magicians, animators, etc.

In your experience, is having so much local talent at such a large-scale art installation like this common or a rarity? How do you think it benefits the experience?

Rosa Cartagena

More than 100 artists collaborated on this project and that effort really shows. There’s something so special in this city about how artists cheer each other on and make cross-disciplinary collaborations — it’s almost in the realm of the Fringe Fest, which is a monumental display of Philly talent in dozens of venues over an entire month. The Ministry offers a more condensed experience, of course, and given the diversity of artists and rooms, it allows people to enjoy the journey on their own terms. You could walk through it at a glance or you could be really ambitious and try uncovering some of the hidden storylines.

There are all these underlying messages here, too, with these fantastical narratives about the bank with no currency. Saligman says they “treat wonder as a serious resource.” What did you think of her world building?

Stephanie Farr

Saligman’s beautiful murals have long graced our streets and helped shape our reality in Philly, so I was excited to step inside her head. She did not disappoint. From the “Pneumatic Divination System” which allowed you to send messages to the future from the past in a pneumatic tube, to “The Dangerous Safe,” which is filled with items to cause “existential dread,” it felt like I was in a bank that dealt in something entirely different and more intriguing than money.

What about you? Did you buy into the world? And are there any potential risks or downfalls you could see to the experience?

Rosa Cartagena

Using the historic vault and retaining the charm of the building definitely underscored that sense of suspending time. I’ll admit, I was initially skeptical if this ambitious narrative was interesting enough to keep people engaged.

The confusion feels like part of the point: It’s disorienting, but those are exactly the conditions that fuel your curiosity to keep looking around the next corner. That might turn some folks away, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing as I’m sure this place will find an audience here.

(One other thing I’d note is it is a physical as well as metaphorical journey — one part requires you to use a ladder, for instance — so I’d recommend comfy clothes.)

Stephanie Farr

The artists definitely emphasized that this is an ever-evolving work and the experience you have at the Ministry one month will most likely not be the same six months later. We spent three hours there this week and I’ll definitely be back because I want to explore the space and storyline more.

I’m sure there will be people who breeze through and don’t take the time to get it and won’t return, but this experience wasn’t made for those people.

Rosa Cartagena

In that aim, it’s a little similar to Calder Gardens — there are no rules about how one should experience the art and they’ll be making changes regularly to invite people to return. I’d like to go back to the Ministry with friends to tackle it like an escape room. I could see tourists eager to visit because it could become an arts destination, like the famous Meow Wolf (where Ministry cofounder Lizzie Kripke also worked).

Ministry of Awe opens March 14 at 27 N. 3rd St., Philadelphia, moaphilly.org