Our story starts fittingly enough, with wonder. Working late one night, an entrepreneur wondered why Chicago’s doesn’t have a pop-up museum of its own? Unlike the city’s other traditional artistic attractions, they imagined one without rules about flash photography, touching the exhibits or even velvet ropes. Instead, guests would be encouraged to become an active participant in the work.

With that, WNDR was born. Immediately, everything felt different—we didn’t have visitors, we had guests. We don’t hold exhibits. They were experiences. You aren’t just encouraged to merely look at the art, we recommend using all 5 senses to activate your long-suppressed sixth sense: wonder.

Opening on September 18, 2018, word of WNDR spread quickly with over 150,000 guests visiting in the first five months. In a short time, WNDR has twice been named one of the country’s best immersive museums by USA Today. Soon, we had assembled a team of creatives to keep coming up with new ideas. They asked “Does this have to be a pop-up?”

After all, guests kept coming back. They came for second dates, they came for cocktails afterwork, they came for corporate events that felt way more “event” than “corporate.” They came whenever they needed a little creative pick-me-up. They came to experience child-like wonder at any age.

So not only did we stay, our pop-up became our Flagship. We immersed ourselves in Chicago’s creative community. Soon our space became a home to thinkers, artists, poets, and designers working at the intersection of art and technology.

WNDR continues to grow with locations now in San Diego’s Gaslamp District and Boston’s Downtown Crossing district. As we grow nationwide, we’re mindful of how we can integrate our principles into the local communities we share.