The Future of Our Past
The OKPOP Foundation has officially completed the $18 million Heart & Soul Campaign, and the State Treasurer has now approved and certified the pledges, releasing the state’s matching funds. This milestone marks the beginning of OKPOP’s next chapter: exhibit design, fabrication, and the build-out of Oklahoma’s first museum dedicated to the global creative impact of its people.
Hello Friends and Potential Donors,
“You know, this whole campaign wasn’t just about raising $18 million – it was about backing a mission that means something. OKPOP is here to celebrate the crazy amount of creativity that comes out of Oklahoma, to tell the stories of the folks who shaped music, film, and art, and to fire up the next generation to chase their own big dreams. The way people showed up to support this blows me away. Oklahoma should be proud of what’s coming.”
Honorary Campaign Chair
The new documentary Counting Crows: Have You Seen Me Lately? was directed by Amy Scott—Oklahoma born and raised. Amy is a director-editor known for deeply human, music-driven storytelling. Her work includes Hal (Sundance 2018) and Sheryl, chronicling the life of Sheryl Crow, along with directing projects for MasterClass and artists across film and music. From Oklahoma to Los Angeles, Amy continues to export powerful creative voices to the world.
🎶 And yes—we’ve also been spinning Spaceman in Tulsa by Counting Crows right here at OKPOP. #oklahoma @amyelizscott
This week, we had the honor of sitting down with Francisco Treviño — Tulsa musician, singer-songwriter, cultural leader, and longtime advocate for Hispanic arts and history — to record his story for the Oklahoma Historical Society archive and future OKPOP exhibits.
From learning English through rock and folk music after immigrating in 1978, to buying his first guitar at Roy Clark Music, to founding and shaping Casa de la Cultura as a home for inclusive cultural expression, Francisco’s journey is one of music as bridge, memory, and community.
We talked about:
🎸 Music as identity and language
🏛️ Preserving Tulsa’s Hispanic history (pre-statehood to today)
🎶 Children’s songs, mariachi, bolero, and spiritual music
📻 Spanish-language radio and Tulsa’s evolving music ecosystem
❤️ Passing culture forward through education, storytelling, and song
These stories — and voices like Francisco’s — are exactly why OKPOP exists. We remain grateful.
#OKPOP #OklahomaMusic #TulsaStories #CasaDeLaCultura #OralHistory CreativeLegacy CommunityCulture MusicAsMemory
Happy birthday to Wayne Coyne 🎂
Thanks for helping keep Oklahoma the weird, wacky, and wonderfully original place it is. @waynecoyne5 @flaminglips 🌈 🚀 🤖 💥
We recently sat down with singer-songwriter Kierston White to talk about her Oklahoma roots, songwriting, and the community that shaped her.
From growing up in Bethel Acres to finding her voice through the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, Kierston shared how early influences—country, grunge, punk, church harmonies, and her brother Bryon White (The Damn Quails)—helped form her sound. She also talked about the Norman scene, collaborating with other artists, and recording her first record in 2014.
Beyond music, Kierston is also an ICU nurse and a graphic designer/visual artist—creating artwork, posters, and logos for fellow musicians while continuing to write songs rooted in simplicity and truth.
More soon from this interview—grateful for her time and story. 💛
#OKPOP #OklahomaMusic #NormanOK #SingerSongwriter #CreativeCommunity OralHistory OklahomaCreatives @misskierston
On this day in 2014, the film adaptation of August: Osage County premiered.
The movie is based on the acclaimed tragicomedy play by Oklahoman Tracy Letts, which debuted on stage in 2007 and earned the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The film was shot in Oklahoma’s Osage County, grounding the story in the landscape that inspired it.
From the OKPOP vault: two screen-worn costumes from Meryl Streep, worn in her role as Violet Weston—part of the film’s powerful translation from stage to screen and a reminder of Oklahoma’s enduring impact on American storytelling.
#Oklahoma #OKPOP #TracyLetts #AugustOsageCounty #FilmedInOklahoma
OKPOP is proud to announce the John Barbata Collection and Archive. Barbata’s drumming shaped defining years of American rock through his work with The Turtles, Jefferson Starship, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. He later lived in Ada, Oklahoma, connecting his legacy to the state’s music story.
The collection includes career-spanning artifacts and nearly one hundred archival tour photographs, capturing decades of craft, travel, and behind-the-kit life on and off stage. We’re honored to preserve and share this announcement with you.
#OKPOP #CollectionAnnouncement #DrumLegends #AdaOK #MusicArchive
We had so much fun connecting with scenic artist Amanda Hagy from Bixby, Oklahoma. She discovered scenic art by accident in high school after a soccer injury led her to paint her first scenery in 10th grade for The Martian Chronicles. After studying at Oklahoma State University and completing scenic training and internships at Music Theater of Wichita, Cobalt Studios (NY), and the Juilliard School, she moved to New York City with minimal resources, working multiple jobs while building her career. Her first major film credit was Noah, followed by work on John Wick 2 & 3, The Post, West Side Story, The Irishman, Joker, and Fallout. Known for grounded, detail-driven painted environments—often aged and weathered—she credits authenticity, hard work, and resilience as creative fuel. As an IATSE union member and scenic instructor, she now focuses on mentorship and skill-sharing. Thanks, Amanda, for sharing your story and reminding us that creativity rises from integrity, community, and showing up, no matter where you start.
#OKPOP #ScenicArt #OklahomaCreators #BehindTheScenes
Remembering John Berryman (1914–1972) today—an Oklahoma-born poet and scholar whose work helped shape 20th-century American poetry. 
Born in McAlester, with early years in places like Anadarko and Chickasha, Berryman went on to write The Dream Songs—including 77 Dream Songs, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. 
If you’ve never read him, today’s a good day to start—brilliant, restless, funny, aching poems that still feel electric.
#OKPOP #Oklahoma #JohnBerryman #Poetry #TheDreamSongs OklahomaWriters LiteraryHistory
Donate
Your charitable donation directly contributes to OKPOP’s future, we are grateful for your support! Donations to support the OKPOP Museum may be made to the OKPOP Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.
Donations may be made through the secure online donation form or mailed to:
OKPOP Foundation
422 North Main Street
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103
If you have questions about additional gifting options, please contact Abby Kurin at akurin@okpopfoundation.org
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