Paradox Museum Miami is a mixture of art, science, and fun. The 1,000 square meter museum
is housed in Miami's Wynwood Arts and Entertainment area. It has more than 70 public displays
known as exhibits. Executive director Samantha Impelezary says these exhibits challenge the
imagination. She added that visitors can walk away from the experience with some really
fun and interesting material for social media. Paradox Museum has more than 10 locations
throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. The Miami location, which opened in 2022,
was the first in North America. The term paradox is central to the museum and what visitors
experience. A paradox is a situation or thing that has seemingly opposite or contradictory
qualities. Each paradox is uniquely tied to its community, Impelezary said. So as you walk
throughout the experience, you'll notice different themes and art installations that directly reflect
not only Miami but the Wynwood community specifically. Many of the displays at Paradox
Museum suggest old carnival funhouses, buildings that had devices and rooms designed to surprise
or amaze visitors. Examples include the mirror maze, the spinning tunnel, and the upside-down
room. The difference is that Paradox Museum explains the math and science behind each
illusion. We're a top field trip destination for pre-K all the way up through college students,
Impelezary said. She added that the museum has a large number of educational activities that
students can do before, during, and after the visit. Like any museum, Paradox Museum plans to
change its exhibits to keep visitors coming back. We're not going to be the same space in a year to
three years from now, Impelezary said. Paradox Museum Miami introduced a new zero-gravity room
last fall. Visitors can turn their smartphone cameras on and attach their phones to a spinning
holder. Then they step into a large, slowly moving room designed to look like the inside of a space
station. The resulting video makes it look as though they are walking up the wall and ceiling
inside a room unaffected by gravity. Paradox Museum is part of a movement towards so-called immersive
art experiences. These kinds of art experiences often use technology to make the visitors feel
like they are taking part in art rather than just looking at it. Immersive experiences around the
world are increasing in popularity, Impelezary noted. Immersive art experiences have opened
all over the world during the past 10 years or so. Examples include a company called Meow Wolf
with several locations in the western United States, as well as a Van Gogh exhibit that has
been traveling through North America, Europe, and Asia since 2017. Super Blue Miami, which opened in
2021, is another example. Visitors generally take 60 to 90 minutes to make their way through Paradox
Museum. Tickets normally cost $26 for adults and teenagers and $20 for children. 17-year-old
Facundo Ildaraz and his family came to Miami from Argentina. Ildaraz said his mother found Paradox
Museum online. He said it turned out to be a great chance to take fun photos with his family.
I've been laughing since I went inside, Ildaraz said. It's really amazing. Dennis Spiegel is head
of a business advisory company called International Theme Park Services, Inc.
Spiegel said immersive experiences are a natural progression of location-based entertainment.
Location-based entertainment includes go-kart tracks, laser tag, paintball, indoor skydiving,
escape rooms, and trampoline parks. These are activities that take visitors a few hours to go
through. It's a lot of little things that we've had in the industry for years, heightened by our
new technology, to make the experience new and something people haven't seen, Spiegel said. I'm John Russell.