Seattle’s EMP Museum rebrands to MoPOP

What does EMP stand for anyway?

That was the frequent question that nagged the popular Seattle Center museum for years, finally prompting a name change that makes clear what it’s about: The Museum of Pop Culture, or MoPOP for short.

This marks the fifth name change for the museum, owned by Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen, since it opened in 2000. First it was the Experience Music Project, then just EMP, then the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Hall of Fame (aka EMPSFM), and was most recently known as the EMP Museum.

The new name properly sums up the evolution of the museum over the last decade — from music-oriented exhibits to displays from the worlds of science fiction, fantasy and horror.

Curatorial director Jason Emmons told the Seattle Times that the latest name change “is just catching up with who we are.”

That means the museum probably won’t be changing the direction of its content, but rather owning its present diversity. In 2016, it had exhibits on video games, Hello Kitty, Nirvana and “Star Trek.” Planned exhibits for 2017 will honor Jim Henson, David Bowie and Rube Goldberg.

That diversification has led to record visitation numbers, proving that there’s good reason for the old Experience Music Project to broaden its horizons.