Taylor Swift exhibit opens at Phoenix museum
Oct 31, 2012, 1:20 PM | Updated: 1:20 pm
The new Taylor Swift exhibit at the Musical Instrument Museum is now open, offering a glimpse into the early days of country music’s biggest star and her meteoric rise to superstardom.
The exhibit, on view in MIM’s Artist Gallery, features memorabilia from her early days as a songwriter, some of her onstage costumes and musical instruments she’s played on tour.
The exhibit focuses on two eras in Taylor Swift’s career: first as a teenage songwriter trying to make it in Nashville and then her hugely successful Speak Now tour in 2010.
Personal items include Taylor’s hand-written lyrics for her first single, “Tim McGraw,” the boots she wore in the video and a beaded Roberto Cavalli dress that she wore for the opening of her 13-month world tour for “Speak Now.”
Taylor Swift learned to play guitar as an adolescent girl growing up in Pennsylvania. Her candy-apple red Les Paul guitar is on display, along with a banjo and a ukelele she bought on vacation in Hawaii and played in the song “Fearless.”
Videos of Taylor performing are on view as part of the exhibit. Visitors can grab a pair of headphones at the front desk and listen in as she performs one of her recent hits, “Mean” and the “Tim McGraw” video, which to date has over 20 million views on YouTube.
The museum hopes to add pieces to the exhibit as they become available. It’s the second largest Artist’s Gallery presentation currently on view (The hugely popular Elvis exhibit is the largest).
There are also Taylor Swift items available in the museum gift shop, including CDs, Taylor Swift notebooks and T-shirts from her latest hit single, “Never Ever Getting Back Together.”
The Musical Instrument Museum is located at 4725 E. Mayo Blvd in Phoenix. Visit MIM online or call (480)478-6000 for more information.
