This Trippy Balloon Museum in Miami Has Its Own Nightclub
The Balloon Museum just touched down in Miami for a limited time.
It’s Friday night, and Club Ball Pit is going off. It looks like any other Miami club, with a crowd of well-dressed, beautiful people dancing in front of a DJ with cocktails in hand. Except instead of a dance floor, they’re dancing in a sea of black plastic balls, with black balloons suspended overhead.
Club Ball Pit isn’t an actual club, of course, but rather an art installation titled Hyperstellar meant to act as a microcosm for the endlessness of the universe. And you’ll find it at the limited-run Balloon Museum at the Mana Wynwood Convention Center, which opened this past weekend.
These days, anything called a “pop-up museum” garners a titanic eye roll from anyone who doesn’t own a selfie stick. But The Balloon Museum is far more than an Instagram Institution. It’s a traveling showcase of inflatable art, an avant-garde version of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade fused with technology and immersive spaces.
The Balloon Museum is new to Miami, but it’s been popping up in Rome, Milan, New York, Atlanta, Barcelona, and other international hotspots since 2020. Fans of Emily in Paris may recognize it from a season three cameo, and it’s gracing the Magic City with its inflatable fun all summer.
The museum includes works from 20 different artists, all larger than life and filled with air. The adventure begins with Octopus Attacks!, an inflatable Kraken tentacle that appears to be a sea creature taking over the museum. You’ll also walk through a moving, inflatable maze called Aerotron, where classical music accompanies your trip through moving walls and blowing fans.
A timeline mural tells the story of the history of inflatable art, which dates back to the 1960s and Andy Warhol. Nearby, a futuristic workstation filled with VR glasses takes you on a trip through far-off inflatable lands in Airscape.
Perpetual Ballet is perhaps the most delightfully disorienting of the works, a sea of balloons meant to mimic a tornado. White balloons sit harmlessly on the floor as a soft breeze begins to blow. The balloons come to life, and it’s fun at first. Then as the music swells and the winds become fierce, they completely surround you creating simultaneous feelings of helplessness and release.
There are, of course, the requisite selfie stations, where you can pose with a number of inflatable artworks. Plus, there’s a full bar, because it wouldn’t be an event in Miami without a vodka soda in hand.
The Balloon Museum takes over the Mana Wynwood Convention Center from June 22 to October 6. It’s open until 8 pm every night, with 1 pm openings during the week and earlier on weekends. Admission is $39 for adults and $29 for children, and Florida residents, students, and military get a $3 discount.