OKPOP Museum adds new collection featuring Chester Gould, cartoonist behind Dick Tracy: 'Giant piece of pop culture'

The OKPOP Museum has gotten a new collection.

The latest addition will focus on Pawnee native Chester Gould, a cartoonist who created Dick Tracy, a police detective.

A goal to inspire

OKPOP hopes a kid from a small town in Oklahoma who loves to draw will see what Chester Gould has accomplished and think they can do it, too.

The OKPOP Museum wants to tell Oklahoma stories about Oklahoma artists and showcase their creativity. 

Jake Krumwiede, Executive Director of OKPOP, said, "There's a lot of awesome people that have come before us that have done some really awesome things with their creativity, and Chester Gould is one of them."

Who is Chester Gould?

Chester Gould was born in Pawnee, Oklahoma Territory, in 1900.

He created Dick Tracy, a comic book detective who fought crime and always did the right thing.

"He liked to doodle and draw, and he just kind of slowly started to find a path into a really awesome career that turned into becoming this piece of pop culture, this giant piece of pop culture," said Krumweide.

The legend of Dick Tracy 

A movie was made in 1990 about Dick Tracy starring Warren Beatty. The new collection will include the original two-way wrist radio worn by Beatty in the movie.

"That Dick Tracy, the two-way wrist communicator. I mean, it's kind of basically a, you know, a smart watch," said Krumweide. "You can still see Chester Gould's influence on the world today,"

A new collection for OKPOP

On top of the two-way wrist watch, the collection will also have Gould's comics, photographs, newspaper clippings, and more.

When the museum opens, it will be on the second floor, in what will be called imagined worlds, next to other film, TV, and literature pieces.

"The big Tracy comic strip is just one small part of what Oklahomans have done, you know, throughout time, and you know, we want to celebrate that. We want to inspire the next generation of artists," said Krumweide. 

What's next 

The museum says it has to raise its final $3 million by November to guarantee it gets the matching state funds and can open. The state's portion is $18 million.

The museum says it will take about two years to build the exhibits.