Review: “The Experience” at Ahha Tulsa

Photo Credit: Sarah Brown

Bright colors, trampoline floors, and a gum sculpture complete with adjacent gumball machine, make “The Experience” at Ahha Tulsa like something straight out of a clairvoyant dream. Ahha Tulsa is a nonprofit arts organization located in the Brady Arts District in downtown Tulsa. Their main attraction is “The Experience,” located on the second floor.

When I step off the elevator and into the exhibit, the first thing that comes to mind is: “This looks like a spaceship!” Black lights, strobe lights, and a hallway with holographic walls to look like a rainforest are all sensory elements of the mesmerizing attraction.

While many exhibits and art displays have strict ‘no touching’ rules, “The Experience” is interactive and leaves interpretation up to the guest. Assistant guest service manager Celeste Arras explains that they strive to “further stimulate the community’s creativity.” Opening random doors and walls, I never knew what to expect and was always shocked at what was before me— crystals surrounding a mirror, a room full of prescription pill bottles, and a pod with a TV playing a video of a horse are all parts of “The Experience.”

The exhibits are eccentric— a giant eye; angular, neon walls; and a cloudy dreamer room featuring a woman with her head literally in the clouds. Some are disturbing— with creepy reaching hands and bones. While as a whole it was well put-together, some areas seem empty while others seem overly cluttered, making it seem unfinished.

While entrance to Ahha isn’t cheap, there is plenty to keep you entertained. After being inspired in “The Experience,” you can go up the elevator to the third floor Studio and make your own art. There are crafts and art classes during their special events. If you struggle with artist-block, there is a gumball machine that even dispenses craft ideas.

Ahha also offers much help to Tulsa arts. Arras says that their profits from membership, admission, and donation, go to Ahha’s “philanthropic avenues to aid the community.” This includes free tours to schools who may not be able to experience Ahha otherwise, giving lessons to art teachers, and visiting hospitals so the patients and their families can do crafts.

Ahha Tulsa’s “The Experience” is bizarre and unlike anything I have ever seen. As someone who is always looking for new and exciting places to go in Tulsa, Ahha is one of Tulsa’s newest hidden gems and I anticipate my next visit.

“The Experience” will be open through December 2019 before a new exhibit opens spring 2020— experience it while you can!