After a topsy-turvy session in the Oklahoma Legislature, major funding for the OKPOP museum finally was approved and is slated to open in Tulsa’s Brady District in 2018.
A lot of people assume the museum is going to focus on Oklahoma’s rich music history. But a recent article in the Tulsa World clarifies that OKPOP will be much more than that.
Its official name is Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture, but the OKPOP moniker has people thinking of pop music. So, in addition to the state’s contribution to rock, jazz, country and stage music, it also will focus on movies, literature, television, radio, comic books, etc.
More about the museum:
— OKPOP certainly will offer a lot of memorabilia to view. But one of its attractions will be live interactions with Oklahoma “creatives,” as they’re called. In fact, country superstar Garth Brooks already has committed to such a format.
— The museum is for creatives with real Oklahoma ties, not just those who were born and raised there. So it would include “Route 66: The Mother Road” author Michael Wallis and Country Music Hall of Famer Roy Clark, both whom have resided in Oklahoma for decades.
— Why Tulsa? Well, although Oklahoma City is bigger, Tulsa long has been considered the cultural capital of Oklahoma and boasts far more artists of influence.
— With the Woody Guthrie Center already in the same neighborhood, Tulsa promises to be a destination for musicians in the coming years.
With the Route 66 Experience slated to begin construction soon, it should be an interesting decade in Tulsa.
(Artist’s rending of the interior of the OKPOP museum)