The Oklahoma Historical Society earlier this week unveiled an artist’s rendering for the upcoming Oklahoma Museum of Pop Culture, aka OKPOP, in Tulsa, slated for a groundbreaking this fall.
According to a news release:
Nabholz Construction will construct OKPOP at 422 North Main Street in Tulsa, across the street from the Cain’s Ballroom, home of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. Tulsan David Sharp and Interak Corporation donated the quarter block of land for the OKPOP site, estimated to be valued at $1 million.
“Grit and glitz is a term the team coined to describe the overall feel of the project,” said Chris Lilly, principal of Lilly Architects. “With one cultural foot on Route 66 and the other on Main Street, OKPOP will highlight the journeyman’s struggle and the thrill of making it big – the grit and the glitz inherent to the life of Oklahoma’s creatives.”
The design team found inspiration in a gold Fender Stratocaster custom made for Bob Wills’ guitarist Eldon Shamblin. The guitar encouraged the project’s gold color palette. The structure was designed to house a living experience that includes event venues, stages and retail space.
“The architectural design of OKPOP is inspired by the idea that Oklahoma creativity has flourished in the state because of a collision of cultures that resulted in a mixing of artistic styles, creating a rich storytelling tradition,” said OKPOP Executive Director Jeffrey Moore. “This creativity that sprung from barn dances and camp meetings in the country or the dance halls and movie theaters on Main Street spread to the rest of the world on the ‘Will Rogers Highway’ otherwise known as Route 66. Lilly Architects and Overland Partners captured this idea beautifully.”
The museum’s staff is collecting artifacts, photos, archives, film, video, and audio recordings.
Among those who will be featured at OKPOP include humorist Will Rogers, western swing pioneer Bob Wills, actress Joan Crawford, singer Gene Autry, musician and songwriter Leon Russell, singer Reba McEntire, novelist S.E. Hinton, singer Garth Brooks, actor Wes Studi, actress Alfre Woodard, singer Carrie Underwood, baseball star Mickey Mantle, singer and actress Kristin Chenoweth, actor James Garner, singer Toby Keith, singer Blake Shelton, comedian Bill Hader, actress Jeanne Tripplehorn and singer Vince Gill.
The museum plans to open to the public in 2020. It will sit just a few blocks of an early alignment of Route 66 in downtown.
Tulsa always has boasted a rich musical and cultural history. But it’s really upped the ante in recent years with the opening of the Woody Guthrie Center, the Bob Dylan Archive and negotiations to land the Johnny Cash archives.
(Artist’s rendering of the upcoming OKPOP museum in Tulsa)