TheMuseum of Pop Culture (orMOPOP) is a nonprofit museum inSeattle, Washington, United States, dedicated to contemporarypopular culture. It was founded byMicrosoft co-founderPaul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then MOPOP has organized dozens ofexhibits, 17 of which have toured across the U.S. and internationally.
The museum—formerly known asExperience Music Project,Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (or EMP|SFM), and laterEMP Museum until November 2016—has initiated many public programs including "Sound Off!", an annual 21-and-under battle-of-the-bands that supports the all-ages scene; and "Pop Conference", an annual gathering of academics, critics, musicians, and music buffs.
MOPOP is home to numerous exhibits and interactive activity stations as well assound sculpture and various educational resources:
A 140,000-square-foot (13,000 m2) building, designed byFrank O. Gehry, housing several galleries and the Sky Church, which features a Barco C7 black packageLED screen, one of the largest indoor LED screens in the world.[1]
Interactive activities are included in galleries like Sound Lab and On Stage where visitors can explore hands-on the tools of rock and roll through instruments, and perform music before avirtual audience.
The world's largest collection ofartifacts,hand-written lyrics, personal instruments, and original photographs celebrating the music and history of Seattle musicianJimi Hendrix and the bandNirvana.
Educational resources including MOPOP's Curriculum Connections in-museum workshops and outreach programs; STAR (Student Training in Artistic Reach); Creativity Camps for Kids; Teen Artist Workshops; Write Out of This World, an annual sci-fi and fantasy short story contest for 3rd to 12th graders; and the Hip-Hop Artist Residency.
Public programs such as MOPOP's Science Fiction + FantasyShort Film Festival, Pop Conference, the Youth Advisory Board (YAB), and Sound Off!, thePacific Northwest's premier battle-of-the-bands.
The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame was founded by Paul Allen and his sisterJody Patton, and opened to the public on June 18, 2004. It incorporated the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame which had been established in 1996. The museum was divided into several galleries with themes such as "Homeworld", "Fantastic Voyages", "Brave New Worlds", and "Them!", each displaying related memorabilia (movie props, first editions, costumes, and models) in large display cases, posters, and interactive displays. It was said about the museum that "From robots to jet packs to space suits and ray guns, it's all here."[4]
Members of the museum's advisory board includedSteven Spielberg,Ray Bradbury,James Cameron, andGeorge Lucas. Among its collection of artifacts wereCaptain Kirk's command chair fromStar Trek, the B9 robot fromLost in Space, theDeath Star model fromStar Wars, theT-800 Terminator and one of the domes from the filmSilent Running. Although the Science Fiction Museum as a permanent collection was de-installed in March 2011, a new exhibit namedIcons of Science Fiction opened as a replacement in June 2012.[5][6] At this time the new Hall of Fame display was unveiled and the class of 2012 inducted.[7][8]
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame was founded in 1996 by theKansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society and the Center for the Study of Science Fiction (CSSF) at theUniversity of Kansas (KU). Thechairmen were Keith Stokes (1996–2001) andRobin Wayne Bailey (2002–2004). Only writers and editors were eligible for recognition and four were inducted annually, two deceased and two living. Each class of four was announced atKansas City's annualscience fiction convention,ConQuesT, and inducted at the Campbell Conference hosted by CSSF.[9][10]
The Hall of Fame stopped inducting fantasy writers after 2004, when it became part of the Science Fiction Museum affiliated with the Museum of Pop Culture, under the name "Science Fiction Hall of Fame". Having inducted 36 writers in nine years, the organization began to recognize non-literary media in 2005.[9] It retained the quota of four new members and thus reduced the annual number of writers. The 2005 and 2006 press releases placed new members in "Literature", "Art", "Film, Television and Media", and "Open" categories, one for each category.[11][12] In 2007 and 2008, the fourth inductee was placed in one of the three substantial categories.[13][14]
Nominations are submitted by the public, but the selections are made by "award-winning science fiction authors, artists, editors, publishers, and film professionals".[15]
MOPOP restored the original name online during June 2013 and announced five new members, one daily, beginning June 17, 2013. The first four were cited largely or wholly for science fiction works, however the final one wasJ.R.R. Tolkien, who was "hailed as the father of modernfantasy literature".[16]
Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inductions
In 2016, the Hall of Fame's 20th anniversary year, the scope was changed again to include not only creators, but creations (from such genres asCinema,Television and Games), with two examples. A total of 20 additional inductees in both categories were also announced:[31][22]
The class of 2023 brought the number of members to 109, which includes the 20 additional inductees added in 2016.
In November 2016, the museum changed its name from the Experience Music Project Museum to the Museum of Pop Culture, or MoPOP for short. In 2025, the museum rebranded to MOPOP in all caps.[32]
MOPOP is located on the campus ofSeattle Center, adjacent to theSpace Needle and theSeattle Center Monorail, which runs through the building. The structure itself was designed byFrank Gehry and resembles many of his firm's other works in itssheet-metal construction, such asGuggenheim Museum Bilbao,Walt Disney Concert Hall, andGehry Tower. Much of the building material is exposed in the building's interior. The building contains 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2), with a 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m2)footprint. The name of the museum's central Sky Church pays homage toJimi Hendrix. A concert venue capable of holding up to 800 guests, the last structural steel beam to be put in place bears the signatures of all construction workers who were on site on the day it was erected.Hoffman Construction Company ofPortland, Oregon, was the general contractor, whileMagnusson Klemencic Associates of Seattle were the structural engineers for the project.[33]
Even beforegroundbreaking, theSeattle Weekly said the design could refer to "the often quoted comparison to a smashedelectric guitar." Gehry himself had in fact made the comparison: "We started collecting pictures ofStratocasters, bringing in guitar bodies, drawing on those shapes in developing our ideas."[34] The architecture was greeted by Seattle residents with a mixture of acclaim for Gehry and derision for this particular edifice. British-born, Seattle-based writerJonathan Raban remarked that "Frank Gehry has created some wonderful buildings, like theGuggenheim Museum in Bilbao, but his Seattle effort, the Experience Music Project, is not one of them."[35]New York Timesarchitecture criticHerbert Muschamp described it as "something that crawled out of the sea, rolled over, and died".[36]Forbes magazine called it one of the world's 10 ugliest buildings.[36] Others describe it as a "blob"[37] or call it "TheHemorrhoids".[35] Despite some critical reviews of the structure, the building has been called "a fitting backdrop for the world's largest collection of Jimi Hendrixmemorabilia."[38] The building's exterior, which features a fusion of textures and colors including gold, silver, deep red, blue and a "shimmering purple haze",[39] has been declared "an apt representation of the American rock experience."[40]
The museum has had mixed financial success.[41][42] In an effort to raise more funds, museum organizers used Allen's extensive art collection to create a 2006 exhibit at the museum entitledDoubleTake: From Monet to Lichtenstein.[43] The exhibit includedRoy Lichtenstein'sThe Kiss (1962),Pierre-Auguste Renoir'sThe Reader (1877),Vincent van Gogh'sOrchard with Peach Trees in Blossom (1888),Pablo Picasso'sFour Bathers (1921) and several works of art fromClaude Monet including one of theWater Lilies paintings (1919) andThe Mula Palace (1908).[44] Since then the museum has organized numerous exhibitions focused more specifically on popular culture, such asSound and Vision: Artists Tell Their Stories, which opened February 28, 2007. This brought together both music and science fiction in a single exhibit, and drew on the museum's extensive collection oforal history recordings.[45] The museum's recent exhibitions have ranged fromhorror cinema, video games, and black leather jackets to fantasy film and literature.
Since 2007, the Museum of Pop Culture'sFounders Award has celebrated artists whose "noteworthy contributions continue to nurture the next generation of risk-takers". The annual benefit gala is key in funding the museum's educational programs, community engagement, and exhibitions.[46] In 2020, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the gala had to be cancelled and for the first time ever, the event was made free to the public, streaming online on December 1, 2020, as MOPOP honored Seattle's ownAlice in Chains.[47] The benefit streaming raised more than $600,000 for MOPOP in its first night. A compilation featuring highlights from the tribute was made available for streaming onAmazon Music.[48]
^"Neal Potter Design - Masterplanning". Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. RetrievedFebruary 6, 2016. During 1997 Neal worked alongside Frank Gehry Architects and the EMP curatorial team to establish a masterplan for the attraction. The detail design was undertaken locally. Originally called "The Collision Sculpture", the point of collision of different genres of music to create rock and roll. A living electronic sculpture as relevant today as it might have been in 1955
^"If Vi Was Ix". Archived fromthe original on February 2, 2016. RetrievedFebruary 6, 2016. More than 500 musical instruments and 30 computers were used to create IF VI WAS IX. Created by Seattle-based sound sculptor, Trimpin, IF VI WAS IX is equipped with earphones that allow audiences to tune into the various musical permutations performed.
^"Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame". Travel Guides: Seattle.The New York Times. July 7, 2009. Archived July 7, 2009. Retrieved 2013-04-27. Footer: "Content Provided by Frommer's Unlimited. Excerpted fromFrommer's Seattle 2009.
^"Science Fiction Hall of Fame". [Quote: "EMP|SFM is proud to announce the 2010 Hall of Fame inductees: ..."]. Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (empsfm.org). Archived March 25, 2010. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
^"Science Fiction Hall of Fame". [Quote: "EMP is proud to announce the 2011 Hall of Fame inductees: ..."]. May/June/June 2011. EMP Museum (empmuseum.org). Archived July 21, 2011. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
^•"The EMP|SFM Oral History Program".Programs / Oral History. Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum (empsfm.org). Archived 2007-09-21. Retrieved 2013-03-19. •"The EMP|SFM Oral History Program". Programs / Oral History. EMP Museum (empmuseum.org). Archived 2011-05-19. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
