From the Jun 17 – Jun 23, 2004 issue

News

Slightly Less EMPty?

The future of the Experience Music Project looks to be nearly as tumultuous as its past. But unlike the past three years, which have been marked by mass layoffs, programmatic U-turns, and drastic budget reductions, it may also look bright.

Robert Santelli, the program director and, until recently, CEO and director of EMP, has a vision. The EMP of his dreams (if not yet reality) is interactive, educational, and, most importantly, aimed at one of EMP's biggest (and most lucrative) demographics: kids between the ages of 6 and 14.

Santelli, who came to EMP from Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, acknowledges that when the museum opened four years ago, "it wasn't at all focused on kids." In those days, Santelli says, kids would gravitate to one of two exhibits: the now-closed Funk Blast--"because it was a ride"--or the Sound Lab, where visitors can dink around on actual instruments.

But in the past year or two, Santelli says, EMP has slowly shifted its focus from middle-aged dads (who flock to the Hendrix exhibit) to their kids, whose musical knowledge spans the spectrum from Britney to the Strokes. "[Kids] always ask, 'Where's Britney?'" Santelli says. Starting soon, they won't have to: A new exhibit, called "Off the Charts," will focus on "whatever's hot and contemporary" and playing on TRL. "People ask whether this belongs in a museum. In our museum, it does, because we're able to reinvent ourselves as quickly as the music industry does," Santelli says.

The ultimate goal, Santelli continues, is "to get kids motivated in how songs are created"--not only with exhibits on the star-of-the-minute, but with educational programs aimed at getting kids playing and singing and thinking about music. To that end, EMP offers music lessons, a youth choir, and teacher training. And in two years or so, the museum plans to unveil a new exhibit, which Santelli calls "Sound Lab Jr.," aimed at the 6-to-8-year-old set. "We don't want to make it a babysitting service," Santelli stresses. "We want you to be able to go in there and have a musical experience with your kids."

If EMP's numbers are any indication, the strategy may already be bearing fruit: Since last September, Santelli says, EMP's attendance has "continually risen beyond our predictions." The 60,000 kids who come through the museum's doors every year couldn't hurt those prognostications. ERICA C. BARNETT