Museum of Pop Culture

Exhibits and activities

MOPOP is home to numerous exhibits and interactive activity stations as well as sound sculpture and various educational resources:

• A 140000 sqft building, designed by Frank O. Gehry, housing several galleries and the Sky Church, which features a Barco C7 black package LED screen, one of the largest indoor LED screens in the world.
• Exhibits covering pop culture, from the art of fantasy, horror cinema, and video games to science fiction literature and costumes from screen and stage.
• 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 a virtual audience.
• IF VI WAS IX, a guitar sculpture consisting of more than 500 musical instruments and 30 computers conceived by British exhibit designer Neal Potter and developed by sound sculptor Trimpin.
• The world's largest collection of artifacts, hand-written lyrics, personal instruments, and original photographs celebrating the music and history of Seattle musician Jimi Hendrix and the band Nirvana.
• 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 + Fantasy Short Film Festival, Pop Conference, the Youth Advisory Board (YAB), and Sound Off!, the Pacific Northwest's premier battle-of-the-bands.

MOPOP was also the location of the first NIME workshop's concert and demo program. This subsequently became the annual International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, a venue for research on music technology.

Science Fiction Museum

The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame was founded by Paul Allen and his sister Jody 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."

Members of the museum's advisory board included Steven Spielberg, Ray Bradbury, James Cameron, and George Lucas. Among its collection of artifacts were Captain Kirk's command chair from Star Trek, the B9 robot from Lost in Space, the Death Star model from Star Wars, the T-800 Terminator and one of the domes from the film Silent Running. Although the Science Fiction Museum as a permanent collection was de-installed in March 2011, a new exhibit named Icons of Science Fiction opened as a replacement in June 2012. At this time the new Hall of Fame display was unveiled and the class of 2012 inducted.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame was founded in 1996 by the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society and the Center for the Study of Science Fiction (CSSF) at the University of Kansas (KU). The chairmen were Keith Stokes (1996–2001) and Robin 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 at Kansas City's annual science fiction convention, ConQuesT, and inducted at the Campbell Conference hosted by CSSF.

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. 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. In 2007 and 2008, the fourth inductee was placed in one of the three substantial categories.

Nominations are submitted by the public, but the selections are made by "award-winning science fiction authors, artists, editors, publishers, and film professionals".

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 was J.R.R. Tolkien, who was "hailed as the father of modern fantasy literature".

Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inductions

Sources:

• 1996: Jack Williamson; A. E. van Vogt; John W. Campbell, Jr.; Hugo Gernsback
• 1997: Andre Norton; Arthur C. Clarke; H. G. Wells; Isaac Asimov
• 1998: Hal Clement; Frederik Pohl; C. L. Moore; Robert A. Heinlein
• 1999: Ray Bradbury; Robert Silverberg; Jules Verne; Abraham Merritt
• 2000: Poul Anderson; Gordon R. Dickson; Theodore Sturgeon; Eric Frank Russell
• 2001: Jack Vance; Ursula K. Le Guin; Alfred Bester; Fritz Leiber
• 2002: Samuel R. Delany; Michael Moorcock; James Blish; Donald A. Wollheim
• 2003: Wilson Tucker; Kate Wilhelm; Damon Knight; Edgar Rice Burroughs
• 2004: Brian Aldiss; Harry Harrison; Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley; E. E. "Doc" Smith
• 2005: Steven Spielberg; Philip K. Dick; Chesley Bonestell; Ray Harryhausen
• 2006: George Lucas; Frank Herbert; Frank Kelly Freas; Anne McCaffrey
• 2007: Ed Emshwiller; Gene Roddenberry; Ridley Scott; Gene Wolfe
• 2008: Ian Ballantine and Betty Ballantine; William Gibson; Richard M. Powers; Rod Serling
• 2009: Edward L. Ferman; Michael Whelan; Frank R. Paul; Connie Willis
• 2010: Octavia E. Butler; Richard Matheson; Douglas Trumbull; Roger Zelazny
• 2011: Vincent Di Fate; Gardner Dozois; Harlan Ellison; Jean Giraud
• 2012: Joe Haldeman; James Tiptree, Jr.; James Cameron; Virgil Finlay
• 2013: H. R. Giger; Judith Merril; Joanna Russ; David Bowie; J. R. R. Tolkien "Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame". [June 17 to 21, 2013]. EMP Museum (empmuseum.org). Archived June 23, 2013. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
• 2014: Frank Frazetta; Hayao Miyazaki; Leigh Brackett; Olaf Stapledon; Stanley Kubrick "Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame" . EMP Museum (empmuseum.org). Retrieved June 27, 2014.
• 2015: James E. Gunn; Georges Méliès; John Schoenherr; Kurt Vonnegut; Jack Gaughan
• 2016: Terry Pratchett; Douglas Adams; Star Trek; Blade Runner
• 2017: J. K. Rowling; Stan Lee; The Legend of Zelda; Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• 2018: Neil Gaiman; Vonda N. McIntyre; Doctor Who; Magic: The Gathering
• 2020: Ted Chiang; D. C. Fontana; Star Wars; Watchmen
• 2021: Nichelle Nichols; Sigourney Weaver; Godzilla; A Trip to the Moon
• 2023: John Carpenter; N. K. Jemisin; Dune; The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• 2024: Nnedi Okorafor; Nicola Griffith; Black Panther; Dragon Ball
• 2025: Tomi Adeyemi, Kim Mohan, Pokémon, The Wizard of Oz

20th anniversary

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 as Cinema, Television and Games), with two examples. A total of 20 additional inductees in both categories were also announced:{{cite web | access-date =July 26, 2019

• Creators: Margaret Atwood; Keith David; Guillermo del Toro; Terry Gilliam; Jim Henson; Jack Kirby; Madeleine L'Engle; C. S. Lewis; H. P. Lovecraft; Leonard Nimoy; George Orwell; Rumiko Takahashi; John Williams
• Works: 2001: A Space Odyssey; Dungeons & Dragons; The Matrix; Myst; The Princess Bride; Wonder Woman; The X-Files

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.

Architecture

MOPOP is located on the campus of Seattle Center, adjacent to the Space Needle and the Seattle Center Monorail, which runs through the building. The structure itself was designed by Frank Gehry and resembles many of his firm's other works in its sheet-metal construction, such as Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Gehry Tower. Much of the building material is exposed in the building's interior. The building contains 140000 sqft, with a 35000 sqft footprint. The name of the museum's central Sky Church pays homage to Jimi 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 of Portland, Oregon, was the general contractor, while Magnusson Klemencic Associates of Seattle were the structural engineers for the project.

Even before groundbreaking, the Seattle Weekly said the design could refer to "the often quoted comparison to a smashed electric guitar." Gehry himself had in fact made the comparison: "We started collecting pictures of Stratocasters, bringing in guitar bodies, drawing on those shapes in developing our ideas." The architecture was greeted by Seattle residents with a mixture of acclaim for Gehry and derision for this particular edifice. British-born, Seattle-based writer Jonathan Raban remarked that "Frank Gehry has created some wonderful buildings, like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, but his Seattle effort, the Experience Music Project, is not one of them." New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp described it as "something that crawled out of the sea, rolled over, and died". Forbes magazine called it one of the world's 10 ugliest buildings. or call it "The Hemorrhoids". The building's exterior, which features a fusion of textures and colors including gold, silver, deep red, blue and a "shimmering purple haze", has been declared "an apt representation of the American rock experience."

Finances

The museum has had mixed financial success. In an effort to raise more funds, museum organizers used Allen's extensive art collection to create a 2006 exhibit at the museum entitled DoubleTake: From Monet to Lichtenstein. The exhibit included Roy Lichtenstein's The Kiss (1962), Pierre-Auguste Renoir's The Reader (1877), Vincent van Gogh's Orchard with Peach Trees in Blossom (1888), Pablo Picasso's Four Bathers (1921) and several works of art from Claude Monet including one of the Water Lilies paintings (1919) and The Mula Palace (1908). Since then the museum has organized numerous exhibitions focused more specifically on popular culture, such as Sound 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 of oral history recordings. The museum's recent exhibitions have ranged from horror cinema, video games, and black leather jackets to fantasy film and literature.

Founders Award

Since 2007, the Museum of Pop Culture's Founders 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. In 2020, due to the COVID-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 own Alice in Chains. 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 on Amazon Music.

;Recipients

• 2007: Ann & Nancy Wilson
• 2008: Robbie Robertson
• 2009: Steve Cropper
• 2010: Billy Cox
• 2011: Buddy Guy
• 2012: Carlos Santana
• 2013: Crosby, Stills & Nash
• 2014: Jackson Browne
• 2015: Jimmy Page
• 2016: Joe Walsh
• 2017: The Doors
• 2018: John Fogerty
• 2019: Brandi Carlile
• 2020: Alice in Chains
• 2022: Quincy Jones

References

"Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame". 2005(?). Center for the Study of Science Fiction (sfcenter.ku.edu). University of Kansas. Retrieved June 25, 2013. "Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame" (official website to 2004). Retrieved 2012-04-25. "It's Official! Inductees Named for 2005 Hall of Fame Class". Press release March 24, 2005. Science Fiction Museum (sfhomeworld.org). Archived March 26, 2005. Retrieved 2013-03-22. "Presenting the 2006 Hall of Fame Inductees". Press release March 15, 2006. Science Fiction Museum (sfhomeworld.org). Archived April 26, 2006. Retrieved April 1, 2013. "Science Fiction Hall of Fame to Induct Ed Emshwiller, Gene Roddenberry, Ridley Scott and Gene Wolfe". Press release March/April/May 2007. Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (empsfm.org). Archived October 14, 2007. Retrieved 2013-03-19. "2008 Science Fiction Hall of Fame Ceremony Tickets On Sale May 15". Press release April/May 2008. Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (empsfm.org). Archived May 10, 2008. Retrieved 2013-03-19. "EMP|SFM Announces its 2009 Science Fiction Hall of Fame Inductions". Press release 2009(?). Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (empsfm.org). Archived August 14, 2009. Retrieved 2013-03-19. "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. "Science Fiction Hall of Fame: EMP Museum Announces the 2012 Science Fiction Hall of Fame Inductees". EMP Museum (empmuseum.org). Version 2011–2012 at Internet Archive. Archived July 22, 2012. Retrieved 2013-03-19. "Science Fiction Hall of Fame". EMP Museum (empmuseum.org). Archived May 31, 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-25.

"Science Fiction Hall of Fame". Science Fiction Awards Database (sfadb.com). Mark R. Kelly and the Locus Science Fiction Foundation. Retrieved July 21, 2014.

• "The EMPSFM Oral History Program". Programs / Oral History. Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum (empsfm.org). Archived 2007-09-21. Retrieved 2013-03-19.

• "The EMPSFM Oral History Program". Programs / Oral History. EMP Museum (empmuseum.org). Archived 2011-05-19. Retrieved 2013-03-19. Kareiva, Celina (January 19, 2012). "Coming to EMP: Hendrix, AC/DC — and some leather, too". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 22, 2012. "Guide to EMP's 'Icons of Science Fiction'". CBS Seattle. May 22, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2013.

References

1. Frank Hammel. "PLSN - Seattle's EMP Equipped with High-Res LED Display for Sky Church Music Venue". plsn.com.
2. "Neal Potter Design - Masterplanning".
3. "If Vi Was Ix".
4. [https://archive.today/20120724190656/http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/north-america/united-states/washington/seattle/attraction-detail.html?vid=1154654608959 "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 from ''Frommer's Seattle 2009''.
5. [http://www.locusmag.com/News/2015/06/2014-science-fiction-hall-of-fame-inductees-and-fundraiser#sthash.uwR4dGzo.dpuf "2015 SF&F Hall of Fame Inductees & James Gunn Fundraiser"]. June 12, 2015. [[Locus Science Fiction Foundation]] (''locusmag.com''). Retrieved July 16, 2015.
6. (January 17, 2017). "2016 SF&F Hall of Fame Inductees". Locus SF Foundation.
7. "Stan Lee and J.K. Rowling to Be Inducted into Science Fiction & Fantasy Hall of Fame".
8. "Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame: 2017 Inductees".
9. (10 April 2020). "Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame Nominations Now Open".
10. (July 2020). "MoPOP Announces Its Next 'Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame' Class".
11. (3 January 2022). "MoPOP Announces 'Science Fiction + Fantasy Hall of Fame' Class of 2021".
12. (29 June 2023). "MoPOP Announces 'Science Fiction + Fantasy Hall of Fame' Class of 2023".
13. (31 July 2024). "MoPOP's Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame Inductees 2024".
14. "A Legacy in the Making".
15. (November 15, 2016). "Experience Music Project gets new name: MoPOP". KING5 News.
16. "Experience Music Project". modernsteel.com.
17. Downey, Roger (February 18, 1998). [http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/9807/features-downey.php "Experience This!"]. ''[[Seattle Weekly]]''. Retrieved October 22, 2006. {{webarchive. link. (May 13, 2013)
18. Raban, Jonathan. (April 4, 2004). ["Deference to nature keeps Seattle from becoming world-class city]"](http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=raban04&date=20040404&query=Raban). Seattle Times.
19. Barnett, Erica C.. (June 17, 2004 ). "EMPty: The Experience Music Project is a flop on all fronts—financial, musical, and intellectual".
20. Cheek, Lawrence W.. (September 26, 2006). "On Architecture: Corrugated steel is a nice wrinkle". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
21. Despite some critical reviews of the structure, the building has been called "a fitting backdrop for the world's largest collection of Jimi Hendrix [[Souvenir
22. Enlow, Clair (July 12, 2000). [http://www.architectureweek.com/2000/0712/index.html "Frank Gehry Rock Temple"] {{Webarchive. link. (July 24, 2008 . ''Architecture Week'' '''9'''.)
23. Skelton, Lauren (2008). [https://web.archive.org/web/20100615115657/http://seattle.net//entertainment/seattlemusic/musicarticles/emp/ "EMP: Experience Music Project"]. Seattle.net. Archived 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2013-04-27.
24. link. (April 22, 2020 . ''[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]''. Retrieved October 22, 2006. {{dead link). (April 2013)
25. [[Associated Press]] (March 22, 2005). [https://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2005-03-22-emp-seattle_x.htm "Experience Music Project still struggling five years later"]. ''USA Today''. Retrieved October 22, 2006.
26. Farr, Sheila (November 29, 2005). [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002652590_allenart29.html "Paul Allen's Experience Art Project"] {{webarchive. link. (May 24, 2011 . ''Seattle Times''. Retrieved October 22, 2006.)
27. "Double Take".
28. "Founders Award".
29. (September 30, 2020). "MoPOP To Honor Alice in Chains With 2020 Founders Award".
30. (December 2, 2020). "Music from Museum of Pop Culture's Founders Award Honoring Alice In Chains Available as Streaming Amazon Music Compilation".