The EMP is a passionate love letter to rock with interactive music displays, a tower of electric guitars, Hendrix-inspired Sky Church, seasonal features like the recent ACDC display, and the supercool Sound Lab, which for me, is the black lipstick kiss on the envelope.
courtesy of wikipedia
There's a lot to see and do on the 3 floors, with an attached Sci-Fi wing of the museum included in the General Admission. I went on a Thursday morning, and it was easy to find parking a short walk away.
The kids and I ducked into this awesome Frank Gehry designed deconstructivist building, and made our way to the Sound Lab.
There, I set up my 4 yr old with a game in the corner of a sound proof booth, and jammed with my older two kids for hours. We sat in the Sky Church, which is a must-hear. It is the successful creation of Jimi Hendrix's dream of a perfect space for sound. It is a truly worshipful experience!
Then I saw it.
There was a sign encouraging me to plug my iDevice into the speakers of the booth and jam to my very own music - Ha! The memory still makes me so happy.
Eventually, we explored the bottom floor Avatar display, basically a museum of its own. No matter that I've never seen the movie, because I got to stand in a set and act out a scene as an Avatar.
They even gave me a link to watch myself on YouTube! The technology really works.
Later on, I watched myself as an Avatar, then watched my 4 year old play the same character. It was obvious who was a woman and who was a little boy. It's one of the coolest things I've ever done in a museum.
Hours are 10am-5pm in winter, 10am-7pm in summer.
Open daily. $18
General admission online, $14 youth (5-17), 4 and under are free.
Here's the website
www.empmuseum.org
