As reported by Travel + Leisure, a new outdoor hospitality destination in Tucumcari, New Mexico, is combining large-scale art, overnight stays and roadside tourism to create a unique addition to the historic Route 66 corridor.
Art City is located on a 40-acre former horse ranch just north of the famous highway and blends immersive sculpture installations with glamping-style accommodation, RV hospitality and traditional camping. Developed by conceptual artist Matt Monahan, professionally known as Matty Mo and also associated with the pseudonym “The Most Famous Artist,” the project offers visitors the chance to stay within an evolving outdoor art experience.
The site features a collection of monumental sculptures alongside accommodation options including RV spaces, container cabins and campsites, creating a destination where art and hospitality exist side by side.
Speaking to Travel + Leisure, Monahan explained that the idea was driven by a desire to create a new tourism attraction for Tucumcari while giving large-scale artworks a permanent home after their original exhibitions.
“The vision was to create a destination where monumental art, hospitality, and community could bring a new energy to a place, specifically Tucumcari,” Mo told Travel + Leisure. “I was inspired by places like Marfa and Burning Man and Route 66 … places where imagination, landscape, and pilgrimages collide.”
Monahan, a Stanford University graduate and former Silicon Valley entrepreneur, moved to Tucumcari during the COVID-19 pandemic. The town’s affordability, open landscapes, creative heritage and connection to Route 66 all played a role in shaping the project.
Already known for its vintage motels, neon signage, murals and classic roadside attractions, Tucumcari has long attracted travellers exploring the historic highway. Art City adds a contemporary cultural experience to the destination, introducing rotating installations that complement the town’s existing tourism identity.
The attraction currently includes around a dozen interactive sculptures connected by walking trails. Many of the artworks were previously displayed at Nevada’s Burning Man festival before being relocated to New Mexico. Visitors are encouraged to engage directly with the pieces, with many installations designed to be climbed, explored and photographed.
“A lot of these incredible, large-scale artworks are built for one moment, shown for a week at a festival, then they end up in storage or scrapyards or on private land where very few people get to see them again,” Mo told Travel + Leisure. “The hope is that Art City gives them a second life, a place where the public can experience them long after that festival moment ends.”
Alongside accommodation and sculpture trails, Art City also offers day visits and wellness facilities, including a wood-fired cedar hot tub and Scandinavian-style sauna.
For outdoor hospitality operators, the project highlights the growing opportunity to combine accommodation with distinctive experiences that go beyond the stay itself. By integrating art, culture, wellness and destination-led attractions, properties can create stronger reasons for guests to visit, stay longer and return.
Art City also demonstrates how previously temporary or underused assets can be repurposed into new tourism experiences — offering another example of how creativity and hospitality are increasingly intersecting across the outdoor accommodation sector.
