Funding Helps Expand Programming, Youth Engagement, Digital Collections Access, and Preservation of Oral Histories
NEW ORLEANS — Historic BK House & Gardens has received a $25,000 one-year grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through its 2026 Inspire! Grants for Small Museums program. The funding will support Beautiful Spaces: BK House at 200, a series of programs and initiatives commemorating the 200th anniversary of the historic French Quarter house while creating new ways for audiences to engage with its history.
Inspire! Grants for Small Museums (Inspire) is a special initiative of the Museums for America grant program designed to support small museums of all disciplines, including small rural or small remote institutions and small museums that have not previously received federal funding. The program funds project-based efforts to serve the public through educational programs and exhibits, community partnerships, and collections stewardship activities.
The grant supports two major public programs highlighting BK House’s bicentennial year. The first, “Still Standing After All These Years,” was held in September and brought together experts for a day of presentations and discussion exploring preservation, architectural history, legacy, and stewardship. The series will continue in February 2027 with a Spring day-long symposium focused on the people and stories connected to BK House and its history.
Beyond the symposium series, IMLS funding will help BK House broaden the reach and long-term impact of its educational and interpretive work. The grant will support technology related to presentations and program documentation, video recording, the documentation of oral histories, expanded digital access to BK House collections and archives, and new interpretive resources designed to make the site’s history more accessible to visitors, researchers, and the broader community.
A central component of the project is a partnership with Be Loud Studios, a New Orleans youth-powered media organization. Through the partnership, local young people will engage with BK House’s history and mission and develop a youth-led social media project that brings their perspectives into the interpretation and sharing of the site’s stories.
“Teenagers bring questions and perspectives that help us see familiar places differently. Through this partnership with BK House, we’ll explore its history and mission, then produce social media that shares what they believe other people need to understand,” said Alex Owens, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Be Loud Studios.
The partnership is part of a broader effort to connect BK House’s history with new audiences while using digital tools to expand access beyond the museum’s physical walls. The grant-supported work will benefit visitors and program participants, BK House’s online audiences, researchers, staff, and docents.
“This grant gives us an opportunity to invest in how BK House tells its stories for the future,” said Jen Gick, Executive Director of Historic BK House & Gardens. “We are deeply grateful to the Institute of Museum and Library Services for supporting work that allows us to bring people together through thoughtful programming, connect with younger audiences, use technology to make our history more accessible, and document stories that can continue to inform and inspire visitors long after our 200th anniversary year.”
The IMLS-supported project reflects BK House’s ongoing work to balance preservation with relevance by creating opportunities for audiences to experience the historic property not simply as a preserved house, but as a community resource for learning, conversation, and discovery. The grant will help BK House strengthen both in-person and digital engagement while creating resources that extend the impact of its bicentennial programming beyond the anniversary year.
About the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums. We advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. IMLS envisions a nation where individuals and communities have access to museums and libraries to learn from and be inspired by the trusted information, ideas, and stories they contain about our diverse natural and cultural heritage. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
About Be Loud Studios
Be Loud Studios is a New Orleans youth-powered media studio that creates opportunities for young people to develop skills in radio, podcasts and digital storytelling while sharing their ideas and perspectives with the wider community. Be Loud works with young people to build confidence and creative digital-media skills and to provide platforms where youth voices can be heard. Be Loud Studios
For more information, visit beloudstudios.org.
About Historic BK House & Gardens
Historic BK House & Gardens is located at 1113 Chartres Street in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Founded and opened to the public as the Beauregard-Keyes House in 1970, the historic house museum presents educational programs and tours exploring the diverse experiences of the many people connected to the property and its surrounding neighborhood. In 2026, BK House celebrates the bicentennial of the house’s construction in 1826.
For more information, visit www.bkhouse.org.