The Bob Dylan Center, Tulsa
We had a very special commitment scheduled for September 4th at WriterCon in Oklahoma City where we participated in an awards ceremony with the ruth weiss Foundation helping to present the “Maverick Spirit Awards.” Now in their second year, these poetry awards were established in ruth’s memory by Elisabeth Montgomery and Melody Miller, who made the documentary film ruth weiss: The Beat Goddess, and we were proud to be involved.
With so little time to make the drive, we flashed by Reno and then the Bonneville Salt Flats like we were Craig Breedlove in the Spirit of America in 1965, pushing 400-500-600 mph. The Mighty Beatmobile ran strong and true. After a brief stop at Naropa in Boulder we continued east, reaching the Eisenhower Library and Museum in Abilene, Kansas. You can’t run a museum about the Beat Generation without a deep understanding of what Dwight David Eisenhower and the Eisenhower administration meant to America in the 1940s, the 1950s, and beyond, and a good many of the exhibits they had in their museum matched up perfectly with our own: WWII, postwar America, the launch of Sputnik in 1957 (spawning the term Beatnik) and many more. So it seemed most appropriate that the Beat Museum on Wheels should visit Abilene, Kansas. We were excited to be there, and they certainly seemed happy to see us! Before we left we paid tribute to Ike and Mamie, who are buried on the grounds.
The Beat Museum on Wheels at the Bob Dylan Center in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. 
Bob Dylan flanked by Michael McClure and Allen Ginsberg in Larry Keenan’s photo from 1965. The trailer was stolen mere weeks before we embarked on this journey. 
The highlight of Oklahoma though, was the new Bob Dylan Center. There we were greeted like long lost cousins. The Dylan Center just opened this past May and it is truly amazing! After meeting with the press and then some waiting dignitaries, we were given a personal tour by Steven Jenkins, the newly appointed Executive Director who himself is a very recent transplant from San Francisco.
After the trailer was stolen we had to adapt quickly. We picked these graphics up in Oklahoma City as we’ve been designing and printing on the run. We’ll be picking up two more, soon. 
“The Beats influenced everyone, starting with Bob Dylan, which is why we’re here in Tulsa today.” 
Steven Jenkins, the new Executive Director of the Bob Dylan Center, showed us the exhibits. This sculpture that greets you as you enter was created by Bob Dylan himself in 2021. 
“Gates appeal to me because of the negative space they allow. They can be closed, but at the same time they allow the season and breezes to enter and flow. They can shut you out or shut you in. And in some ways there is no difference.” Artist: Bob Dylan 
Suffice it to say the Bob Dylan Center does the Beat Generation proud! As you enter the first exhibition hall, Dylan speaks on film about Kerouac’s influence on him in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Allen Ginsberg’s image is seen in numerous places, as are copies of HOWL, which is prominently displayed in various exhibits and available for purchase in the gift shop.
From the video Subterranean Homesick Blues. The photo on the bottom right is by Dale Smith. 
I love the reference to “the road” and the painting that goes with it.
