Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans

Direct Assistance In 2023 we began our partnership with the New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund serving as the fiscal agent for the majority of their giving to individual members of the cultural community. This work also included setting up distributions contacting all recipients answering questions and in some instances assisting individuals in the application process. Over the course of the year we worked directly with almost 250 community members. We also directed musicians artists and culture bearers to other forms of assistance including connecting them with agencies that help with housing instability healthcare and financial management. In addition we worked with small cultural businesses and music venues including the Dew Drop Inn one of New Orleans most historic music venues that reopened after being shuttered for several decades.

Research and Building Civic Capacity We continued our development of the Frenchmen Notes website which includes extensive interviews with local musicians which are then transcribed and posted online. We also launched our series of Advocacy Guides which include Introduction to Community Engagement Working with City Council and more. This series will continue throughout the next year as well. This year we also began presenting to visiting school groups including high school seniors from the Jewish Community High School of the Bay and a class of gifted sixth graders from Rochester NY.

Develop and Advocate for Culture Friendly Policies and Procedures: This year we continued and were successful in our push to reopen the Royal Street Pedestrian Mall which included a partnership with local press and a series of meetings with musicians business owners neighbors and elected officials. We maintained a leadership role in the Creative Response Network which developed strategies to support the cultural community and we partnered with other organizations like Global New Orleans to discuss cultural policy.