About MOPOP

GARNET MCELREE Founder/Director

Surrounded by fellow art aficionados at a much-anticipated New York City art opening, Mopop curator Garnet McElree couldn’t help but notice just what it was that was not being noticed: The art. Instead guests nibbled merrily on their canapés – their backs to what they had come to admire – and talked animatedly amongst themselves: great shoes (Manolo Blahnik? Knew it!).

In a seemingly-unrelated parallel-universe moment, Garnet found himself in his own un-arty dialogue about, well, Pez dispensers actually. However, as the conversation progressed so too did the surrounding circle of Pez-enthusiasts. Before he knew it, it was a veritable parade of people’s personal Pez-isms. It became obvious to Garnet that what was happening wasn’t just a matter of who could out-Pez who. It was, in fact, the rumblings of a much bigger cultural phenomenon.

Where the art failed to spark dialogue or stir emotion, the artifact succeeded. On a level created by the people, for the people, of the people. Because the rumbling wasn’t just about pellets of Pez. It was about stories, connections, and memories. It was about the power of nostalgia. In that moment Garnet knew – with Great Gazoo insight – that people craved a different kind of experience: An arena to showcase the pieces that evoke the unrivaled brand of enthusiasm reserved for matters of the heart, the past, or – quite simply – the supremely cool.

In that moment, the first seed of the Museum of Pop Culture was planted. And, like the mini-family of sea creatures we longed to order from the back of the comic book and raise as our own little pets, so too did Mopop grow into its own.

MARY-JO DIONNE Writer

The only thing writer Mary-Jo Dionne loves more than pens is the act of stealing them from hotels around the world. And the only thing she loves more than that bit of debauchery is, well, her collection of Boy George t-shirts, Law & Order re-runs, Bea Arthur, hoop earrings, chick- lit, anything tofu-based, memories of watching Welcome Back Kotter with her mom, soy lattes, driving in her convertible Bug (his name is Doug), rainy days, rainy nights, When Harry Met Sally (and anything by Nora Ephron), red shoes, animal rescue, her grandma''s quilts, low- maintenance friendships, puffy stickers, puffy vests, the spirit of entrepreneurialism, Monopoly marathons (she''s always the car), and the fact that she has every journal from the time she was 8 stacked chronologically in her office today. They''re sitting next to an awfully large cup of pens. (Oh, and for what it''s worth, she would never ride a turtle today. Not when there''s a perfectly good beetle sitting in the driveway.)