George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts

George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts (GRFA) advocates the importance of the arts in the development of our youth. GRFA encourages the use of art within all curriculums and supports a variety of art educational programs. Student success at any age depends on self-confidence, specifically the belief in one’s own ability.  Research proves that personal growth benefits from creative expression and that artistic accomplishment provides students the self-esteem needed for success in all areas of life. However, due to budget shortfalls and misconceptions, schools find it increasingly difficult to incorporate art in education.  GRFA wants to reverse this trend. As a young boy George dreamed of being an artist, and as an adult he credited the support of his parents and teachers with helping him realize that dream. Over the years, Rodrigue assisted numerous non-profits, not only in the arts, but also humanitarian organizations, disaster relief, animal welfare and others. In 2009, George Rodrigue (1944-2013) formed GRFA as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Today, the Rodrigue family and the Rodrigue Foundation's primary focus is to encourage the use of art in education, hoping to inspire in others an early and on-going creative passion similar to George's. Click on the image to find out more; to donate, click here.

Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans (MACCNO)

Since 2012, the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans (MACCNO) has been organizing, empowering, and advocating with New Orleans’ musicians, artists, traditional culture bearers, and other members and allies of the cultural community.

MACCNO’s roots lie in a community meeting called by prominent musicians in order to address a crackdown on small New Orleans music venues carried out in advance of New Orleans hosting Super Bowl XLVII.  At this meeting, it quickly became clear that the problems extended far beyond the silencing of a few music clubs.  Complaints included an unclear permitting process and overly restrictive zoning ordinance that drastically limited live music citywide; police harassment of brass bands and street musicians; widespread financial instability and lack of economic opportunity for the cultural community; political disenfranchisement of musicians, artists, and culture bearers, and many more. Realizing that such a broad range of topics could not be adequately resolved in even several such meetings, a core group of participants continued to meet weekly to strategize, and MaCCNO was born.

Today, MACCNO maintains their grassroots ethos and approach as they work at the intersection of culture, policy, and social justice.  While they continue to address immediate issues like the loss of live music permits and the inconsistent enforcement of street performance laws, they know that for New Orleans’ culture to survive and thrive—and for musicians, artists, and traditional culture bearers to enjoy a good quality of life—they must address the larger systemic issues they face, like the lack of affordable housing, low wages, and a massive income disparity.  They also know that no one knows the issues the cultural community face, and the solution to those issues, better than the members of cultural community themselves.  They work everyday to make sure those voices are heard, and that the solutions become reality.

The Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans is a registered 501c3 non-profit corporation, and all donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Click on the image for more information, and to donate, click here.

Friends of City Park

Friends of City Park is a regional, non-profit organization whose mission is to maintain and increase the value and importance of City Park as a place of natural beauty, culture, recreation and education for the public. All monies raised by Friends of City Park will be used for the capital needs of City Park at the discretion of the FOCP Executive Board.

At 1,300 acres, New Orleans City Park is one of the largest and most beautiful urban parks in the country. The park houses the largest collection of live oaks in the world and acres of wildlife and community attractions, including the New Orleans Museum of Art, the New Orleans Botanical Gardens, the Carousel Gardens Amusement Park and more. Annually, City Park must raise 89% of its operating budget which leaves little to no resources for park capital improvements. Friends of City Park is vital and important to the Park’s growth. Over the years, Friends has given millions of dollars to City Park for capital improvements.

In the 1970s, lack of local and state funding sent the Park into a state of disrepair. Vice president of City Park’s Board of Commissioners, J. Barbee Winston teamed up with the dynamic Mrs. Henry J. “Peggy” Read to organize the first fundraising organization for the park. Mrs. Read recruited volunteers, drafted a charter and bylaws, and at the urging of the Board of Commissioners President, Waldemar S. Nelson, Friends of City Park was born in 1979. Mr. Nelson selected Mrs. Read as the organization’s first president.

Friends of City Park sustains its efforts from its robust membership program that offers benefits to Friends’ members. The three major fundraisers are Lark in the Park, our premier fundraiser; Martini Madness, our wildly popular martini tasting; and Ghosts in the Oaks, our spooktacular family bizarre! The efforts of Friends of City Park sparked a catalyst for change and improvement and started a rebirth of City Park.

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Le Petit Theatre

New Orleans’ most historic playhouse, Le Petit Théâtre Du Vieux Carré, has played an important role in our nation’s theatrical history since 1916. Located just off Jackson Square, we have called our current stage at 616 St. Peter Street home since 1922. Since moving into its current home, the “Little Theatre” has entertained thousands of audience members in a wide array of dramas, comedies, and musicals. Hundreds of actors, designers, directors, and technicians, both locally and nationally, have shared their talents to make Le Petit a true shining star in the theatrical world.

Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré, a 501(c)3 organization, is passionately dedicated to presenting the highest quality theatrical performances to entertain and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of the greater New Orleans area. By offering a full season of contemporary and classic dramas, comedies, musicals, and children’s productions, as well as master classes and special events, the theatre embraces the work of the city’s professional artists both onstage and backstage, all the while nurturing and mentoring up-and-coming talent with its array of outreach programs.

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Preservation Hall Foundation

Since its founding in 1961, Preservation Hall has been dedicated to preserving New Orleans musical traditions. From its inception, founders Allan and Sandra Jaffe fostered a community of inclusion, committed to the preservation of New Orleans Jazz and to caring for elder musicians. More than 150,000 visitors attend memorable shows 360 nights each year. While the building may not have changed much over its history, the Hall ensures that musical traditions are revered and celebrated, while allowing it to breathe and evolve with the contributions of subsequent generations, and raise up those who play and appreciate it.

The Preservation Hall Foundation, founded in 2011, is based on the ethos, values and practices of Preservation Hall and brings them to life in classrooms, detention centers, concert venues, and community centers around New Orleans, the nation, and the world. The Foundation protects, preserves, and perpetuates the musical traditions and heritage of New Orleans through its four program areas: Education, Community Engagement, Legacy and Archives. We believe that tradition is not just a static body of knowledge, but it is the personal bond between generations of practitioners that allows culture to be transmitted and made meaningful in the present.

Education: primary activity is developing educational programming that targets troubled areas in new orleans with no current music programs in their schools. Outreach: extends traditional jazz music and culture outside of new orleans. Activities include free performances at schools, libraries and other public spaces as well as lectures and master classes in academic and professional settings. The long-term goal is to contribute to the larger body of knowledge and practice that protects the transmission of local cultural traditions worldwide. Click here for more information.

French Quarter Festivals, Inc.

French Quarter Festivals, Inc. (FQFI) annually produces three festivals: French Quarter Festival, Satchmo SummerFest, and Holidays New Orleans Style. FQFI is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the Vieux Carré and the City of New Orleans through high quality special events and activities that showcase the culture and heritage of this unique city, contribute to the economic well-being of the community, and instill increased pride in the people of New Orleans.

French Quarter Festival was first produced in 1984 as a way to bring residents back to the Quarter; following the World’s Fair and extensive sidewalk repairs in the French Quarter. More than 20 stages throughout the French Quarter celebrate local music and represent every genre from traditional and contemporary jazz to R&B, New Orleans funk, brass bands, folk, gospel, Latin, Zydeco, classical, cabaret, and international.

New Orleans great restaurants serve food and beverages in Jackson Square, the Jazz Museum at the Mint, JAX Brewery, and Woldenberg Riverfront Park during French Quarter Festival weekend; Satchmo SummerFest hosts New Orleans restaurants with Louis Armstrong-inspired dishes and great local cuisine. Louisiana restaurants are invited to participate in these festivals. FQF employs more than 1,700 local musicians during Festival weekend, and hosts over 60 local restaurants which make up the “World’s Largest Jazz Brunch” at the Festival. FQF employs only local companies during the Festival (sanitation, stages, sound, security, etc.). All money spent to produce the festival stays within the local economy.

French Quarter Festival has been consistently voted “favorite festival”, “favorite food festival”, and “favorite event open to the public” by locals. Click here for more information.

Ogden Museum of Southern Art

Located in the vibrant Warehouse Arts District of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art holds the largest and most comprehensive collection of Southern art and is recognized for its original exhibitions, public events and educational programs which examine the development of visual art alongside Southern traditions of music, literature and culinary heritage to provide a comprehensive story of the South. Established in 1999, and in Stephen Goldring Hall at 925 Camp Street since 2003, the Museum welcomes almost 85,000 visitors annually, and attracts diverse audiences through its broad range of programming including exhibitions, lectures, film screenings, and concerts which are all part of its mission to broaden the knowledge, understanding, interpretation and appreciation of the visual arts and culture of the American South.

The mission of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art is to broaden the knowledge, understanding, interpretation and appreciation of the visual arts and culture of the American South through its events, permanent collections, changing exhibitions, educational programs, publications and research.

The Museum is based upon the founding donation of more than 600 works from New Orleans entrepreneur and philanthropist Roger H. Ogden’s private collection. Since his original donation the Museum’s collection of paintings, watercolors, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, wood and crafts has grown to include more than 4,000 works donated from individuals and collectors from across the US. The Museum’s collection consists of work by artists from or associated with fifteen Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia as well as the District of Columbia. Among the many artists represented in the Museum’s collection are Walter Anderson, Benny Andrews, Clementine Hunter, George Dureau, William Dunlap, Ida Kohlmeyer, Will Henry Stevens, Kendall Shaw and George Ohr.

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Save Our Cemeteries

Save Our Cemeteries is dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and protection of New Orleans’ historic cemeteries through restoration, education, and advocacy. In 1974, a plan was proposed to demolish the wall vaults surrounding St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 and replace them with chain-link fencing. The preservation community was incensed. Local preservationist Mary Louise Christovich and group of dedicated citizens formed Save Our Cemeteries as an advocacy organization in response to the proposal. Eventually, Save Our Cemeteries partnered with the Archdiocese by assisting with fundraising, creating awareness, and recruiting professional masons to assist. Demolition was halted, and the walls were not only saved, but stabilized and repaired. Save Our Cemeteries quickly realized the problem of cemetery neglect was not limited to just one cemetery and began working towards restoring tombs and vaults throughout the city.

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Backstreet Cultural Museum

The Backstreet Cultural Museum exists to preserve and perpetuate the unique cultural traditions of New Orleans' African American society through collections, exhibitions and publications, public programs, and performances. These cultural traditions include Mardi Gras Indians, Skull and Bone gangs, Baby Dolls, jazz funerals, social aid and pleasure clubs, and other related activities, rituals and celebrations.

The vision of the Backstreet Cultural Museum is to foster the appreciation of New Orleans’ African American processional traditions as important to American history and contemporary visual culture. The Backstreet Cultural Museum is a gathering place of memory, celebration, and communion that uses art and culture to enrich and sustain its community. Click here for more information.

New Orleans African American Museum of Art, History and Culture

The New Orleans African American Museum of Art, History and Culture (NOAAM) is dedicated to the preservation, presentation, and interpretation of the culture of the African Diaspora. NOAAM was founded in 1996 under the guidance and extensive support of the City of New Orleans Department of Housing and Neighborhood Development. NOAAM is located in the Tremé section of New Orleans, a neighborhood that was home to the nation’s largest, most prosperous and politically progressive community of black people by the mid-1850s.

In the 18th century, the land was occupied by the Morand Plantation and brickyard, which was later acquired by hat maker and real estate developer Claude Tremé. In 1810, Tremé sold the land to the city of New Orleans, and it became home to many free persons of color. Congo Square, was a gathering place for free persons and slaves to gather, play music, and sell goods.

Tremé is unique in its architecture, it’s streets are a gumbo of double shotgun houses, Creole cottages and townhouses. An excellent example of Creole architecture is the Meilleur-Goldthwaire House, a villa built in 1828 which makes up part of the NOAAM campus. The New Orleans African American Museum is situated near the St. Augustine Church, one of the oldest African-American Catholic parishes in the nation, and two other museums that center black culture and contribution: the Backstreet Cultural Museum and Tremé’s Petit Jazz Museum.

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New Orleans Museum of Art

New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA), the city’s oldest fine arts institution, opened on December 16, 1911with only nine works of art. Today, the museum hosts an impressive permanent collection of more than 40,000 objects. The collection, noted for its extraordinary strengths in French and American art, photography, glass, and African and Japanese works, continues to expand and grow, making NOMA one of the top art museums in the South.

The twelve-acre Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at NOMA is one of the most important sculpture installations in the United States, with over 90 sculptures situated on a beautifully landscaped site amongst meandering footpaths, reflecting lagoons, Spanish moss-laden 200-year-old live oaks, mature pines, magnolias, camellias, and pedestrian bridges.

NOMA is committed to uniting, inspiring, and engaging diverse communities and cultures through the arts — now more than ever. As a non-profit, the museum relies on admission sales, membership, and donations to execute this mission. You can support NOMA by donating; your gift will make a direct and immediate impact in the museum’s ability to care for its staff, collections, and community. Click here for more information.

WWOZ 90.7 - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Community Radio Station

WWOZ's mission is to be the worldwide voice, archive, and flag-bearer of New Orleans culture and musical heritage.

WWOZ 90.7 FM is the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Station, a community radio station operating out of the French Quarter in New Orleans. They are a listener-supported, volunteer-programmed radio station. WWOZ covers many events live in and around the city and across the United States. We also broadcast live from the famed New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival annually.

Friends of WWOZ, inc. operates a noncommerical, educational radio station which celebrates the cultural diversity of New Orleans and its surrounding regions through music and information. The station is funded mainly by federal and state grants, support from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, community fundraising and underwriting contributions.

New Orleans Musicians' Clinic & Assistance Foundation

The New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic has provided medical care to musicians and performing artists in New Orleans for more than 21 years. They offer occupational and comprehensive health services for musicians, performers, cultural workers and tradition bearers of New Orleans (Mardi Gras Indians, Social Aid & Pleasure Club Members). They serve any patient over the age of 19 and their family, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. Their mission is to keep New Orleans music ALIVE by sustaining members of New Orleans’ traditional music cultures. They do this by providing cost-efficient access to comprehensive and preventive health care, wellness education, mental health services and social services.

The Musicians’ Clinic is funded through donations and grants to the New Orleans Musicians’ Assistance Foundation. Due to the fact that most of the NOMC’s funding comes from individual contributors, we have the freedom to focus on what matters most – providing quality care to the performers who keep New Orleans’ culture ALIVE, regardless of their financial situation. NOMAF is the 501(c)3 non-profit organization which supports and expands the mission of the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic. Click here for more information.

WWOZ 90.7 - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Community Radio Station

WWOZ's mission is to be the worldwide voice, archive, and flag-bearer of New Orleans culture and musical heritage.

WWOZ 90.7 FM is the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Station, a community radio station operating out of the French Quarter in New Orleans. They are a listener-supported, volunteer-programmed radio station. WWOZ covers many events live in and around the city and across the United States. We also broadcast live from the famed New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival annually.

Friends of WWOZ, inc. operates a noncommerical, educational radio station which celebrates the cultural diversity of New Orleans and its surrounding regions through music and information. The station is funded mainly by federal and state grants, support from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, community fundraising and underwriting contributions.