30-Foot-Tall Robot, Giant Spider
Santa Fe, New Mexico
A 30-foot-tall red robot created by Christian Ristow, a giant tarantula designed by artist Christina Sporrong, and an elephant-size green-eyed coyote built by Don Kennell stand in what was until Oct. 2015 the parking lot of a bowling alley named Silva Lanes. The alley was bought by Santa Fe resident George R.R. Martin and. in March 2016, it opened as the Meow Wolf Arts Complex and House of Eternal Return, a kind of walk-thru 20,000-square-foot sci-fi funhouse, or self-described "21st century children's museum," or possibly both. Visitors can climb through fireplaces and slide into tumble driers to enter into alternate worlds, touch glowing skeletons of prehistoric creatures, etc. It's high tech and arty, and meant to be fun.
Or, you can simply hang outside, patronize the food trucks, and enjoy the outdoor titans on their own merits. The red robot, for example, has a Boba-Fett-style head, mechanical feet (ideal for sitting on), and is built to occasionally raise the big dandelion in its hand to its face, as if giving it a sniff.