A colorful, camera-ready art playground that made a real pop after being featured on Emily in Paris is bound for Los Angeles—and nope, it’s not Immersive Van Gogh again.
Balloon Museum, an exhibition of 20 soundstage-sized installations, will float into L.A. starting October 30. Don’t expect mere bundles of birthday balloons: Instead, these pieces range from room-filling ball pits to reflective LED tunnels to giant grabbable bubbles, all inspired by air in some way.
The event’s “Let’s Fly” show will take over Ace Mission Studios, the L.A. River-adjacent warehouse that recently played host to “Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy.” And according to organizer Lux Holding, the L.A. run (which currently has tickets available through mid-March 2025) will include a new addition, Mariposa, an LED flapping butterfly that Oakland artist Christopher Schardt showed off at Burning Man last year.
So you might be wondering, is this a traditional art exhibition? Or a made-for-Instagram “immersive” experience? It’s kind of somewhere in the middle, based both on what we know about the L.A. iteration and what Time Out editors from around the globe have experienced at past editions. (Balloon Museum debuted in Rome in 2021 and it’s since traveled to—deep breath—Paris, Milan, Madrid, Naples, London, New York, Barcelona, Atlanta, Dusseldorf, Brussels and Miami.)
Let’s start with the TikTok-y side of the argument. Everything is meant to be touched, moved or felt; you can swing around suspended spheres or splash in a sprawling pool of bubble-like balls. Also, almost every piece is illuminated, mirrored or both—so you can, say, pose silhouetted in front of a smoky light or look as though you’re pondering the endless reflections of a grid of silver balls. It’s peak art-as-backdrop.
The pricing, too, adds another point in the social media sensation column: Adult tickets start at $39 plus a nearly $3 service, and if you plan on visiting over a weekend that climbs to $47 in total. California residents can save about $3, while kids get upwards of $10 off.
But that might end up being a totally worthwhile expense for you. During its Florida run this summer, Time Out Miami’s Alexandra De Angulo called Balloon Museum an exhilarating, hypnotizing experience that had her grinning ear to ear.
Alright, so what about the “it’s an art exhibition” argument? There are indeed 21 named artists attached to the photogenic pieces, and their works are all presented in a named show (“Let’s Fly”). A couple works even predate Balloon Museum by a few years. The organizers also boast that everything you see has been secured “through exclusive agreements.”
That wasn’t an overly convincing argument for Time Out London critic Andrzej Lukowski, though, who awarded the event three stars and called it less of a museum and more of “a playground with pretensions.” He actually considered it pretty appealing as a children’s play experience, but found its insistence on its museum aspects frustrating for adults.
How will Angelenos feel about it? We’ll find out later this month, when Balloon Museum opens at Ace Mission Studios (516 S Mission Rd) on October 30. Timed tickets (Mon–Thu 1–7pm, Fri 11am–9pm, Sat 10am–9pm, Sun 10am–8pm) start at $42 (including fees) for adults.