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The Arts Intel Report

Bob Dylan Center Opening

The Bob Dylan Center / Tulsa

Bob Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman in a small, conservative town called Hibbing, in Minnesota. In 1960, life took him to New York, where he went from performing songs in Greenwich Village dive bars to becoming, well, Bob Dylan. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, the new Bob Dylan Center has been built in the singer-songwriter’s honor. Not only does it move through milestones from his life, starting with his childhood, but Dylanologists can explore something they’ve only dreamed of—his songwriting technique. Take, for example, the song “Jokerman.” A screen allows viewers to flick through 10 of the 17 known drafts. This 29,000-square-foot facility harbors an abundance of surprises. —Elena Clavarino