Henderson Bay staff and students attended the Museum of Pop Culture formerly known as the Experience Music Project on Wednesday, November 16th. The exhibits ranged from World of Wearable Art, Indie Game Revolution and Fantasy and Science Fiction. A special exhibit commemorated fifty years of Star Trek was also there. Upon arriving at the museum, students received a short briefing in an auditorium. The speaker explained the meaning behind the museum’s name change from its iconic name of “EMP” to “MOPOP.”

With the name change, the museum is aiming for visitors to have the opportunity to fully not only experience pop culture, but also learn about the world of pop culture first hand. The exhibits that best displayed pop culture were the Nirvana exhibit and the Jimi Hendrix exhibit. Both Nirvana, a rock band based in Aberdeen, Washington,  and Jimi Hendrix, originally from Seattle with hopes and dreams of becoming an American rock singer are only two examples of artists from our own state who made legends from their names and music.

Pop culture is often overlooked considering how heavily it influences our lives. When you are in your car listening to the radio what are you listening to? Is it pop music? Although it may not cross your mind, that it itself is pop culture. Artists that have made names for themselves and continued to follow in suit deserved to be commended for the risks and sacrifices they make on a daily basis. One of my all-time favorite artists, Rob Thomas, the lead singer of Matchbox Twenty has been very open with his struggles of not being able to see his family as often as he would like to and the struggles he faces going from show to show every day.  

For the majority of artists despite the challenges and struggles they go through, when I watch music award shows like the Country Music Awards and the American Music Awards, artists often say in their speech after receiving an award, that although they have to make sacrifices that they owe it to the fans for continuing to buy their music and be with them every step of the journey.  

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