Museum of Pop Culture

The Museum of Pop Culture, or MoPOP, was known for many years as the EMP Museum (short for Experience Music Project). The facility contains the world’s largest collection of Seattle-born guitar legend Jimi Hendrix memorabilia. The organization behind MoPOP is a nonprofit, and has dedicated the Museum to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since that time MoPOP has organized dozens of exhibitions, at least 17 of which have toured across the US and internationally.

The museum changed its name from EMP Museum to the Museum of Pop Culture in November 2016. Organizers at the facility have founded 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, in collaboration with the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), also presents the Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Film Festival, which takes place annually every winter at Seattle Cinerama Theater. The museum’s recent exhibitions have ranged from horror cinema, video games, and black leather jackets to fantasy film and literature.

The facility includes a 140,000-square-foot building designed by Frank O. Gehry, which houses several galleries, along with the Sky Church, featuring a Barco C7 black package LED screen, one of the largest indoor LED screens in the world. MoPOP is located on the campus of Seattle Center, adjacent to the Space Needle and the Seattle Center Monorail, which runs through the building.