Possible Downtown Museum

[Oil Capital]

^ While it is a fact that such quote appeared in the Tulsa World, it appears that the statement made in that quote is not acccurate.

According to the Daily Oklahoman, BOTH PROJECTS HAVE BEEN SIDELINED FOR THIS YEAR.

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-tornadoes-backers-of-oklahoma-museum-projects-withdraw-funding-requests/article/3828419

[Oil Capital]

At the time of the withdrawal, OKC was approved and Tulsa wasn't. Pesky fact.

Actually not really a fact at all.  At the time of the withdrawal, the OKC funding had been approved by a committee only.  Anyone with a basic civics education (even the cartoon version) knows  that is a long way from "approved".

More important, that "fact" is totally irrelevant, because it is not going forward.

[sgrizzle]

Actually not really a fact at all.  At the time of the withdrawal, the OKC funding had been approved by a committee only.  Anyone with a basic civics education (even the cartoon version) knows  that is a long way from "approved".

More important, that "fact" is totally irrelevant, because it is not going forward.

I said approved, not funded. The fact the committee past it as is is kinda ludicrous. Less than 10% of funding so far has come from private donors but now they pinky-swear that if they get another $40M, THEN suddenly private will match dollar-for-dollar?

[Oil Capital]

I said approved, not funded. The fact the committee past it as is is kinda ludicrous. Less than 10% of funding so far has come from private donors but now they pinky-swear that if they get another $40M, THEN suddenly private will match dollar-for-dollar?

Maybe you need to watch "How a Bill Becomes  Law", so you will understand how passage by a committee of one house does not mean a project has been "approved" in any meaningful sense.  The fact is, both museums' funding requests have been withdrawn for the year.  The factoid that one museum's funding passed a committee vote is completely irrelevant.   Neither was approved by the legislature, let alone signed by the governor.  Neither will be approved this year.

[JCnOwasso]

Maybe you need to watch "How a Bill Becomes  Law", so you will understand how passage by a committee of one house does not mean a project has been "approved" in any meaningful sense.  The fact is, both museums' funding requests have been withdrawn for the year.  The factoid that one museum's funding passed a committee vote is completely irrelevant.   Neither was approved by the legislature, let alone signed by the governor.  Neither will be approved this year.

Because this cannot be watched too many times.

[DTowner]

Sometimes a dead horse needs one more kick.  Apparently the Tulsa World editors are not Schoolhouse Rocks fans and are not aware that the plug has been pulled on the Native American cultural center.  This is today's editorial:

OKPOP supporters withdraw request after tornado
By World's Editorials Writers on May 24, 2013, at 2:24 AM  Updated on 5/24/13 at 8:36 AM


A plan that would have appropriated $40 million in state funds over three years - to be matched with private funds - to build the OKPOP museum in Tulsa was pulled following the Moore tornado.

"We need to be thinking first of our fellow Oklahomans who have suffered from this devastating disaster," said Bob Blackburn, executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society. "I have talked to board members, private donors and supporters who have pledged matching resources for the museum, and they are in total agreement. This is the time to grieve and rally around those who need our help."

Earlier, the same House committee that was considering the OKPOP funding voted to add another $40 million to the American Indian Cultural Center in Oklahoma City. Both proposals had already passed a Senate committee.

That center has been a money pit since the day ground was broken. State bond funding has supplied $62 million along with money and land from Oklahoma City as well as some private funding. Its leadership has been questioned by the Legislature, and even with this latest money, its future remains clouded.

Backers of OKPOP say they will be back next year to pursue funding, but the longer this goes the less likely it will happen, especially because the Indian museum has secured its funding.

There is no doubt that the OKPOP backers were aware of the tragedy in Moore, and their decision to back off the funding is admirable.

Supporters might have seen the writing on the wall: OKPOP funding faced tough sledding in the House.

The same cannot be said for the Indian museum. If any plug should have been pulled, it was this one.

Its backers have a chance to join the Tulsa group in delaying the latest state funding in support of the Oklahomans who have suffered in this outbreak of tornadoes.

It would be a grand gesture.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/article.aspx/OKPOP_supporters_withdraw_request_after_tornado/20130524_61_A18_Whethe325353?subj=61&Cont=Cov&Cont=Cov

[dioscorides]

SIAP:
OKPOP museum starts fundraising for Bob Wills documentary

http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/music/okpop-museum-starts-fundraising-for-bob-wills-documentary/article_7925bc6a-7a39-546d-a08e-cbe814b610dd.html

By JERRY WOFFORD World Scene Writer | 0 comments

Eighty years to the day after Bob Wills' first broadcast from what would be the legendary Cain's Ballroom, his archives are closer than ever to coming back to Tulsa.

To make that final push, officials need a little help from Oklahomans.

A fundraising campaign is launching Sunday to help create the definitive documentary on Wills using his expansive archives that will one day be housed at the proposed Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture in Tulsa.

"What we're doing now is starting the development of the content," said Jeff Moore, project director for OKPOP. "We've been collecting for several years now. We thought it would be the right time to launch this project. Feb. 9 — 80 years to the day — was Bob Wills' first performance on KVOO."

The planned Wills documentary is the first using material already in the archives of the proposed museum, organized and maintained by the Oklahoma Historical Society.

The museum, which would sit at the corner of Archer Street and Cincinnati Avenue in the Brady Arts District, is waiting on funding via a bond issue from the Oklahoma Legislature. Moore said that the funding method for the building is similar to the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City, where the state provides funds for the construction cost but uses private donations and fundraising for the operation and development of exhibits.

"Once we get the green light from the Legislature, we're going to hit the ground running," Moore said.

And the King of Western Swing seemed like a great place to start, Moore said.
Bob Wills' legacy

Wills' broadcasts on KVOO in Tulsa from Cain's Ballroom would be heard around the world, popularizing a new style of music and making Wills one of the country's biggest pop culture icons in the 1930s and 1940s.

"He was doing rock 'n' roll in the 1930s before anyone in the '50s," said Kevin Meyer, an Oklahoma native and the documentary's director.

"He was one of the best and most well-known bandleaders in the '40s. He used strings in his band and the others didn't. He combined that sound with Dixieland he picked up in Texas."

Wills played on the radio in Texas for several years, but it wasn't until 1934 that Wills, Cain's Ballroom and KVOO became a fixture on radios across the country.

"He was on the radio in Texas, but they were smaller stations," Moore said. "But KVOO was picked up in Pearl Harbor. It really was the launching of him being a national and international fixture."

His style of western swing music, known for its upbeat country-infusion of jazz and blues, was new territory in the music world and became widely popular. And many contemporary artists point to Wills as the seed for their style.

"That music, of course, influenced artists all across the country," Meyer said. "We have so much support from artists today who want to talk about Bob Wills."

Wills relocated to California after World War II where he continued to lead bands and enjoyed success from the Oklahomans who had relocated to California during the Dust Bowl.

He eventually moved back to Oklahoma and Texas before his death in 1975 at age 70.
Take me back to Tulsa

Carolyn Wills and the Wills family maintained a collection of Bob Wills' items and donated the bulk of it to the Oklahoma Historical Society to be later used for the proposed OKPOP Museum.

"It's all the stuff we grew up with," Carolyn Wills said about the collection. "There are hats and coats and a couple of fiddles, but there are also household items like a desk and chair. There's a trunk from the Triple B Ranch in Fresno where I was born, all kinds of trophies, lots of cigar holders."

There is also a large collection of photos and other items from the collection that will be used to make the documentary, the first of six planned by the OKPOP Museum as a way to kick off their content and exhibit development.

"You have all these collections — Leon Russell and Garth Brooks and so many more — the question is, are they going to be in Oklahoma, promoting the creativity and history of popular culture in Oklahoma, or are they going to be in other states?" Moore said.

So by launching the Bob Wills documentary project, organizers are hoping to get Oklahomans to take ownership of their historical influences on the world's culture.

"What we're really hoping to do is rally the state of Oklahoma behind this, not just for the documentary but for the museum," Meyer said. "We want everyone to be involved."

If a bond issue to move forward with the OKPOP Museum passes through the Legislature this year, organizers hope to start work immediately with a completion date sometime in 2018.

Carolyn Wills hopes that with the documentary and public involvement, the OKPOP Museum can be the home for Bob Wills' story, so close to where it all began 80 years ago.

"That's the dream," Carolyn Wills said. "I can't wait to walk in to OKPOP and see all of it."

Jerry Wofford 918-581-8346

jerry.wofford@tulsaworld.com
For more

Learn more about the Bob Wills documentary fundraising campaign and donate at http://bit.ly/OKPOPwills

Learn more about OKPOP Museum, its goals and collections at http://okpop.org