Toy Museum

[progressiveboy]

Saw this in today's Journal Record. I do not subscribe to the newspaper if anyone would like to post the full article, would be appreciated.





Toy museum may be headed to Bricktown

[ronronnie1]

Great idea!

[nik4411]

toy museum? could be cool.

[Steve]

I wrote a column about this last week and I've got more on OKC Central - Information about Oklahoma City, Bricktown and beyond today.

[Spartan]

So I've been wondering.. is this something that Steve/Jim Cowan/other Bricktowners have just decided to target and are coming close to successfully persuading to move from Pauls Valley, or were they interested in moving to Bricktown before?

[Kerry]

AHHHHHHH! Not Bricktown! Put it in the Arts District. Museums go in the Arts District. Why the hell do we have an Arts District if we aren't going to put things related to art and culture in it? If we concentrate art and cultural attractions together they will feed off each other. Take the Banjo Museum for example. In Bricktown, it is just a sideshow attraction. If it was in the Arts District it would be an anchor attraction.

[EBAH]

I very much agree with Kerry, museums go in the arts district. Bricktown should be somewhat limited to retail, restaurants, bars, etc.

[ourulz2000]

bricktown should be somewhat limited to restaurants, bars, etc.

fify

[Steve]

Spartan, I'm not a Bricktowner and they'd probably get upset at the implication, seeing how much grief I've caused them over the years. No, this is something the museum wants and Cowan hopes to accomplish. As for the arts district, not sure if there are many landing spots available there for this sort of thing and I think you're forgetting that entertainment districts are routinely home to attractions like this.

[Kerry]

As for the arts district, not sure if there are many landing spots available there for this sort of thing and I think you're forgetting that entertainment districts are routinely home to attractions like this.

That is because most cities don't have their downtown divided into districts with names like ARTS DISTRICT.

Wasn't the whole purpose of creating downtown districts to concentrate similar attractions and create in-fill projects. Then the chance comes along and the first thing everyone says is "Put it in Bricktown". Well hell's bells, are we going to have unique downtown districts or not? Because if the answer is "not",then we need to stop promoting the idea. How hard is it to create a plan - and then stick to it?

[metro]

Yeah, as Steve said, Cowan mentioned the idea weeks ago, Steve's blogged about it twice now. See his newest post as well. Here is the JR article per request.

Toy museum may be headed to Bricktown
By Brian Brus
The Journal Record
Posted: 08:19 PM Wednesday, March 31, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY – Kevin Stark is looking to increase Bricktown’s population by about 11,000 military personnel, aliens, robots and superheroes.

The curator of the Toy & Action Figure Museum has been chatting with Oklahoma City-based Architectural Design Group Inc. principal J.C. Witcher about possible designs for housing the toys in the district near downtown. The move from Pauls Valley is still only in the discussion phase until they identify an investor, Stark said, but it’s an exciting possibility that would fit the tourism aspect of Bricktown.

“We’re always looking to improve the museum, expanding the project and getting it to be the best it can be,” he said. “We’re not really looking to build something new, but we’re looking at the possibility of adapting something in Bricktown. We would be a really good match for the area.”

The museum was founded almost five years ago as a nonprofit organization; an anniversary party is being planned in October. Stark said he still needs to talk with the museum’s board of directors about the idea, but feels that they will back him up.

Stark started the museum as a community project based on his personal collection. Volunteers stepped forward to help develop his original idea, however, by adding a collection of famous Oklahoma cartoonists’ art, so the museum opened with 7,000 toys and 300 pieces of art, in a 6,000-square-foot old storefront off Pauls Valley’s Main Street.

Since the museum opened in 2005, Stark has grown the collection and refined the presentation. He rearranges the floor plan to feature different exhibit themes every so often – lately, for example, the museum has featured a collection and diorama of military toys with an emphasis on G.I. Joe. Many of the pieces are rotated out of storage because of limited space.

“We really want to make this a museum unlike anything else you’ve ever been to,” Stark said. “It would be part funhouse and part museum … and a family-oriented restaurant and theater.”

Witcher also designed the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City and has operated in Bricktown for nearly 20 years, so he has experience with tourism attractions that have unique personalities in his backyard.

“The possibilities for this museum are exciting and would help Bricktown realize its potential as an arts and entertainment district with another unusual family offering,” Witcher said. “I think I kind of have a predilection toward the kind of design they’d like to take. I really like Tim Burton movies, and I think it would be really fun to go in that direction.”

Museum Director Lisa Driscoll said she isn’t eager to see the museum move out of Pauls Valley, but that the benefits would outweigh hard feelings. Witcher contacted Stark after Driscoll posted the idea online on the Facebook portal, she said.

“There are a few exceptions, but for the most part people here don’t support us,” Driscoll said. “We’ve done really well, but we feel like we could do so much more if we were in Oklahoma City.”

Stark said the museum needs to find a backer for the move.

“We’re looking for an entrepreneur who sees this as a great prospect for Bricktown, someone willing to jump in there and help us financially get this off the ground,” he said.

[okcpulse]

AHHHHHHH! Not Bricktown! Put it in the Arts District. Museums go in the Arts District. Why the hell do we have an Arts District if we aren't going to put things related to art and culture in it? If we concentrate art and cultural attractions together they will feed off each other. Take the Banjo Museum for example. In Bricktown, it is just a sideshow attraction. If it was in the Arts District it would be an anchor attraction.

I very much agree, and keep in mind a future move is always possible. I do think, however, that space might have something to do with this.

Space in the Arts District might be quite limited, or not what the Banjo museum had in mind. But I do hope that future museums take a strong look at the Arts District.

On a side note, I don't think the Banjo museum would give OKC a bad rep. Actor Steve Martin is passionate about banjos, and is a life-long player himself. He always plays for others on movie production sets, and he might be a guest at our museum someday, so let us all be careful about criticism of the Banjo museum being in Oklahoma City.

[Matt]

I'd kind of like to see the toy and action figure museum partner up with the Bible museum we've been discussing in the other thread, just so they can exhibit one of these:

[gen70]

Might as well get a freak show in Bricktown too.

[Spartan]

That is because most cities don't have their downtown divided into districts with names like ARTS DISTRICT.

Wasn't the whole purpose of creating downtown districts to concentrate similar attractions and create in-fill projects. Then the chance comes along and the first thing everyone says is "Put it in Bricktown". Well hell's bells, are we going to have unique downtown districts or not? Because if the answer is "not",then we need to stop promoting the idea. How hard is it to create a plan - and then stick to it?

Kerry, the problem with the so-called "Arts District" is that it's difficult. Define the Arts District. What makes it a better location for arts than elsewhere in OKC? Does OKC really have the "arts" let alone in the "Arts District" or is it just a name that makes it sound like it does?

The Arts District is just the west side of downtown that has a large number of civic cultural buildings. That's it. Still waiting for that to translate into lots of art galleries, private museums, nice restaurants, etc etc..

[metro]

Steve, in regards to your blog, perhaps Nick Preftakes (big stakeholder in Arts District), would be a better candidate for us to push to give some space to the Toy Museum. This would bring much needed new life to the area.

Spartan, you're also forgetting about OKCMOA, Civic Center, Stage Center and what used to be the Carpenter Square theatre. That was a decent start to our district. Rome wasn't built in a day my friend. In all your world travels, you should know that Americans expect instant gratification, but it rarely happens when we're talking about evolution of cities.

[circuitboard]

I'd kind of like to see the toy and action figure museum partner up with the Bible museum we've been discussing in the other thread, just so they can exhibit one of these:

I have this still in the package hanging on my desk at work. I've got a lot of weird comments about it. LOL

[okcpulse]

Kerry, the problem with the so-called "Arts District" is that it's difficult. Define the Arts District. What makes it a better location for arts than elsewhere in OKC? Does OKC really have the "arts" let alone in the "Arts District" or is it just a name that makes it sound like it does?

The Arts District is just the west side of downtown that has a large number of civic cultural buildings. That's it. Still waiting for that to translate into lots of art galleries, private museums, nice restaurants, etc etc..

Well, Spartan, art galleries really don't translate to the arts. Added that OKC MOA is a private museum, throw in the National Memorial Museum (not really art, but a historical museum) and performances at the Civic Center as well as arts films shown at OKCMOA's restored theater... I'd say its a pretty good start.

What counts, and a lot of people forget this, is the fact that the catalyst has been created for that district.

[kevinpate]

gliding action?

[BDP]

That is because most cities don't have their downtown divided into districts with names like ARTS DISTRICT.

???

Lots of cities have arts districts. In fact, I'd pretty much say that most of them do.

We actually have two.

[Matt]

gliding action?

This actually works and it's so much cooler than Kung-Fu Grip Jesus. But you have to open up the package to see it in action, thus destroying it's value as a collectible.

It's a bit of a Catch-22: You're saved if you do, saved if you don't.

[Kerry]

???

Lots of cities have arts districts. In fact, I'd pretty much say that most of them do.

We actually have two.

I think what most cities have is a generalized area that is collectively referred to as "this district" or "that district". Downtown OKC actually has a defined district called Arts District. For example, I live in area of Jacksonville called The Southside. Everyone in Jacksonville knows what part of town that is but if I gave 1,000 people in Jax a map and asked them to draw the boundary of The Southside I would get 1,000 different versions. Downtown OKC only has 1 defined Arts District and everyone agrees on the boundary. For some reason we are just choosing not to add to the base collection of art and cultural facilities that gave the district its start.

[BDP]

For some reason we are just choosing not to add to the base collection of art and cultural facilities that gave the district its start.

I don't disagee with that at all. As far as district names and boundaries, that only goes as far as marketing and brochure maps. A district will be whatever it is in it and, yes, we could work to try and beef up our arts district with more arts. I'm not really sure a toy museum would do that, though.

I think what hurts us the most is the amount of museums and arts facilities we have spread out all over the place. With City Arts Center at the fairgrounds, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and the Science Museum in the Adventure District, and both the Fred Jones Museum of Art and Sam Noble Museum of Natural History in Norman, you've got five respectable museums spread out across the metro.

If you had those mesuems, the OKCMOA, and the Civic Center all in one district downtown, you'd have a really nice little cultural center going that would be pretty impressive. No doubt all of these attractions would benefit each other greatly if they were all in one place. As it is now, they kind of compete against each other instead of feeding off each other, which really limits their individual potential. It also kind of hinders our ability to attract more to the arts district as there no way this market will get two of any of these kinds of museums in the same market.

[Steve]

Well, here's the deal: the museum wants to move to Bricktown, and there in folks in Bricktown who want to make that happen. For those who think this sort of attraction doesn't fit in with an entertainment district, I'd suggest you've spent too much time on your computer and need to travel more.

[soonerguru]

I agree we need more cultural amenities in our "Arts District," but the Toy and Action Figure Museum is perfect for Bricktown -- and that's where the owner wants to be. We need to diversify the attractions in Bricktown as much as possible and the Toy and Action "Museum" is also a retail outlet -- something we desperately need more of in Bricktown.