The Museum of Pop Culture’s long-running Nirvana exhibition will close Sept. 7 after 14 years, the museum announced.
A farewell celebration is planned for Sept. 6 with live music, workshops, and a panel discussion featuring key voices from Seattle’s music scene.
The exhibition, originally intended to run for only 18 months, became one of MoPOP’s signature displays.
It was created by Chief Collections and Exhibitions Officer Jacob McMurray, who said he designed it to feel authentic to both the band and the community.
“It took me about two years to make the exhibition, and there was a lot of stress going into that because it felt like we had every reason to mess this up—you know, a big museum founded by Paul Allen is going to tell the Nirvana story,” McMurray said. “I really tried to focus on how we could make it feel of and for the community.”
The show included material from about 20 different lenders along with objects from the museum’s collection.
It explored not only Nirvana but also the broader context of Northwest music and global culture during the rise of punk and grunge.
“Pretty quickly it was like, okay, this has become a pilgrimage kind of situation, so we just kept it up,” McMurray said.
The closing event on Sept. 6 will feature DJ sets by Marco Collins, live performances by Dusty Henry, a zine workshop with Push/Pull, and T-shirt printing with The Vera Project.
McMurray will moderate a panel with industry veterans including Kate Becker, Megan Jasper, Jessica Toon, Ben London, and Terry Morgan.
The discussion will focus on how Seattle’s music scene changed in the early 1990s and the lasting influence of that period.
Attendees will also be able to view archival footage, including Nirvana’s 1990 performance at the North Shore Surf Club, the first concert featuring drummer Dave Grohl.
When the exhibition closes, artifacts will either return to lenders or go into MoPOP’s vault.
At least one of Kurt Cobain’s guitars will remain on display in the museum’s Guitar Gallery, and many items will be available through MoPOP’s online collection.
The museum says Nirvana will continue to be part of its DNA, with more than 1,200 objects connected to the band in its holdings.
A new Northwest music exhibition is planned for fall 2026.
It will feature Nirvana alongside artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Heart, Sir Mix-a-Lot, and others, while also highlighting lesser-known but influential stories from the region.
McMurray said the upcoming show will be “a living exhibition” designed to evolve with input from visitors.
While the Nirvana show is ending, McMurray emphasized that the band’s influence will remain.
“Nirvana may not have as much of the focus as it has had in the past, but it will always be a part of MoPOP,” he said.
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