Portland’s new immersive art experience isn’t just for kids. Sure, it may have a ball pit, “augmented normalcy,” digital spray painting and a trampoline, but it’s mostly an adult experience. Still, kids are definitely a demographic that Hopscotch appeals to. So, what does a kid think?
“This place is amazing,” said my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, in the entryway, before we had even checked in to the former Orchard Supply Hardware in the Goat Blocks.
When she was two, Nona helped me review a temporary immersive art experience, “Beyond Van Gogh.” With that experience under her belt, she seemed perfectly positioned to help me review Hopscotch, which, unlike “Beyond Van Gogh,” is a permanent project.
This experience begins as the doors shut and the outside world disappears. Inside, the walls are black with flashing neon lights chasing each other in colorful patterns.
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Hopscotch co-founders Nicole Jensen and Hunter Inman have completely transformed the former hardware store, making it nearly unrecognizable. Almost the whole space is blacked out from the moment you enter, meaning while inside, unless you’re in the gift shop, it’s impossible to know what time of day it is or what the weather is like.
After a simple check-in where we grabbed two pairs of free socks – pro tip: bring socks – we walked through the lounge where lights zoomed and changed color and towards the exhibition rooms.
Hopscotch has 12 “galleries,” which are really huge rooms featuring mostly interactive artworks, some more interactive than others. There is the color room, “Chromesthesia,” where visitors enter booths bathed in red, blue or green with specific sounds set to evoke different feelings.
“Laser Graffiti” is a room with digital brick walls. Inside, visitors use fake spray paint canisters with lasers to graffiti the walls. “VJ Yourself” gives visitors a chance to get projected on a wall in front of them, repeating in wild ways to the sounds of music.
There’s also the dramatic lounge and, a favorite of both the adult and kid present, “Rainbow Cave,” an installation in a hallway by Basia Goszczynska that transforms the space into a mystical cave using salvaged plastic bags and fishing nets.
A few of the experiences were a little overwhelming for Nona, specifically “Unknown Atmospheres,” which I thought was pretty cool – it’s a room full of hanging strands of balls that light up in different colors and patterns. The sounds were a bit dramatic and when the lights went off we were in the pitch black.
And tragically, for me, “Diodic Daydream,” a room featuring a huge ball pit with clear plastic balls and changing colors, started off fun but turned out to be too much for a child, who is just a little over 3 feet tall. The ball pit was clearly a favorite of older kids and adults, and if I were there without a small child who was drowning in plastic balls, I would have spent a lot more time there.
One favorite emerged early on: “Quantum Trampoline,” or as Nona kept calling it, “the trampolinium.”
This room is basically a massive bouncy house with cool patterns projected on the walls and the floor. After our first time on the trampoline, Nona said, “That was really fun, Momma!”
Later, when asked for specifics of what she liked, Nona said of the trampoline room, “It was bouncy,” and, “It was really cool.”
Most other rooms we visited once. “Quantum Trampoline” we came back to three times. By the end, I was just standing there while Nona bounded around in the changing lights. She, and the many other kids we saw enjoying the room, could have stayed all day.
After our first spin around Hopscotch, we ordered food and drinks. We picked two nonalcoholic drinks, the Diodic Dream, a watermelon and lime concoction, and Celestial Unicorn, basically a lavender lemonade with “electric dust.” Both drinks were delicious and sweet and we sipped them as we walked around waiting for a text that our food was ready.
The food menu at Hopscotch was created by local Top Chef contestant Sara Hauman and is divided into popcorn, waffles, ice cream and mac and cheese. It’s a very fun Portland-y menu, featuring almost nothing that would be considered healthy by any stretch of the imagination. But, since the whole vibe of the place is youthful fun, why not lean in?
We ordered the “Sushi Lucy” waffle, which came piled high with not-that-spicy albacore tuna and avocado. A waffle with sushi toppings is one of those things that it’s easy to get behind. Both things taste good, so put them together!
Another “both things taste good so put them together” situation was the Rueben mac and cheese. This was rich and saucy and had so much potential, but was too salty for both Nona and me.
The star of the show, as evidenced by the chocolate covering Nona’s face and t-shirt, was the popcorn treat, essentially a s’more with popcorn. “I loved it,” she told me later.
I can imagine a future where we pay the price of admission – $24 for adults, $20 for students, seniors, military, teachers, healthcare and first responders, $15 for children ages 4-13, and free for children 3 and under – just for the trampoline and the popcorn treat.
After the snacks, most of which we had to box up since it was 2 p.m. and we were just one and a half people, we went back to “Quantum Trampoline,” of course.
Hopscotch has only been open about a week and already most upcoming days and times are sold out. One reason for that is that they limit the number of people allowed in at any given time, which makes the experience a lot less overwhelming than some popular indoor Portland activities (OMSI). And, the food is better.
Nona loved Hopscotch. In fact, she asked if she could have her sixth birthday party there, since she figured by age six she’d be big enough for the ball pit. Sadly, or more likely happily, she can’t: All children visiting Hopscotch under 16 need to be accompanied by an adult, so you can’t bring a horde of kids there and disrupt the vibes for the adults who made different life choices.
We will certainly be back. But I promise we won’t even attempt a birthday party.
Details: Hopscotch, 1020 S.E. 10th Ave., noon to 9 p.m., Thursday to Sunday, letshopscotch.com/locations/portland.
Nona on “Quantum Trampoline” at Hopscotch.Lizzy Acker/The Oregonian
— Lizzy Acker
503-221-8052; lacker@oregonian.com; @lizzzyacker
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