The Louisiana State Museum in the Old U.S. Mint at the foot of Esplanade Avenue has the most extensive collection of New Orleans jazz memorabilia in the city, and for years, the materials have been in storage. Their materials include valuable musical instruments; sheet music; writings and magazines; paintings, posters, prints and photographs; and recordings of all kinds, including old tapes; 78s, 45s LPs and CDs; film, audio and video archives. The collection is the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in this country. And yet, it’s sitting in storage where no one can get to it, learn about New Orleans jazz and its practitioners.
How sad.
French Sidney Bechet poster, part of the Louisiana State Museum Jazz Collection.
In the city where jazz was born, some of the most important artifacts are inaccessible to anyone but museum staff.
That should be changing however, as the LSM is planning to create a permanent jazz exhibit in the Old U.S. Mint. This has been talked about many times over years, but the funding to develop and maintain such an exhibit—including the conservation processes that are needed to restore and reinvigorate the older items, especially the musical instruments—has just not been there. Or it’s been there, and the budget has been The State of Louisiana has cut budgets drastically, and there’s just not money in the state budget to do this, more’s the pity.
The Louisiana Museum Foundation is a non-profit fundraising arm for the museum system. In the past few years, they’ve only done a couple of fundraising events annually, and the money they raise has to support the entire state museum system.
The next permanent jazz exhibit is going to reportedly cost from $300,000 to $400,000 and the museum is going to need funding to create and maintain the exhibit. Is it possible to set up a separate non-profit to help fund-raise for the planned jazz exhibit?
Isn’t jazz important enough to this city to set up a separate entity to make sure this happens?
On another front, a local group is working with a consultant to do a study on the feasibility of a music museum in New Orleans (finally!). No site has yet been selected. Where should a premier music museum be located? In a neighborhood? In a place that has more access to visitors? What’s your recommendation?
