The advent of bathhouses can be traced back to at least 2500 BCE, and their rejuvenating properties remain popular today. But what if, beyond the mineral pools, steam rooms, and ice baths, art played a role in this wellness experience? Submersive is doing just that. As the world’s first immersive art bathhouse, it will blend art, science, and traditional bathing practices to take you “beyond relaxation into elevated states of consciousness.” It’s slated to open in Austin, Texas, in 2026.
Submersive was founded by one of Meow Wolf’s co-founders, Corvas Brinkerhoff. Meow Wolf creates large-scale, interactive, and engrossing art experiences designed to transport you into “fantastic realms.” So, if there was anyone who was to evolve the bathhouse experience, it was Brinkerhoff.
It was over a decade after Meow Wolf that Brinkerhoff began to seriously consider his next calling—a reinvention of the wellness space. Brinkerhoff’s life, while filled with incredible experiences, has also been marked by addiction, depression, and loss. Through support, he’s healed. Now, he wants to create transformative experiences for others.
“Where to begin?” he shared with Forbes. “A world bathhouse tour, heartbreak, a dream team of visionaries, getting off the rocketship, leaping into the unknown.” For research, Brinkerhooff visited 16 countries and over 75 of the world’s best spas, bathhouses, and hot springs to understand the communal tradition of bathing. Those experiences, along with assembling a team of “world changers and visionaries,” are helping bring Submersive to life.
Lighting, sound, video, and interactivity will be part of the cutting-edge bahthouse alongside saunas, cold plunges, hot baths, and steam rooms. The artful elements won’t be there to distract, but to help heal and elevate. “Immersive Wellness leverages the inherent draw and dynamism of immersive experiences and deepens it with direct benefit to your well-being,” Brinkerhoff explains.
“Entertainment can give you a wonderful, albeit temporary reprieve from your day-to-day life. A wellness experience can make your life forever better. Immersive Wellness can not only capture the best of both, but unlocks new and transformational capabilities.”
Submersive will be the world’s first immersive art bathhouse when it opens in Austin, Texas, in 2026.
It will blend art, science, and traditional bathing practices to take you “beyond relaxation into elevated states of consciousness.”
