Finally, after talking for at least ten years about it, a Les Paul museum exhibit will open this June 21st. The 3000 sq. foot exhibit will be a hands-on aural monument to his unbelievable, talented life. I'm so glad the 92 year old Les Paul will be able to participate in the grand opening.
This museum "seemed to make a lot of sense," Paul's business manager said. "Les is intimately involved with this. He has the connection: This is his home."
Les Paul called this location the "perfect place," and he feels a "special bond" to the area.
Unfortunately, today's Journal Sentinel wasn't reporting the opening of The Les Paul Experience at the Wauk. County Museum. The news was about a Discovery World exhibit at the lakefront in Milwaukee. While "the Waukesha group's efforts have languished despite years of fund-raising," and is "still working on getting it's act together," Discovery World staffers approached Paul about their exhibit just this year.
While donations for the Waukesha exhibit have totaled one million dollars or less, Discovery World opened in 2006 with more than $50 million in support, mostly from Michael Cudahy.
One step in the right direction is Wauk. County Historical Society's applying for a million dollar federal National Foundation for the Humanities grant. If the grant is granted it will have to be matched 3 to 1. To raise an additional 3 million won't be easy but maybe with the increase interest generated by Discovery World...
In the mean time, Waukesha's exhibit could open as early as 2010, when Les Paul is 94!
