Grants awarded to creatives, cultural organizations, educational institutions, and more to promote and sustain Louisiana’s creative economy
NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, the nonprofit organization that owns the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell, recently awarded over $2 million to 513 individuals and organizations through its Community Partnership Grant program. Recipients’ work across the state contributes to the preservation, promotion, and longevity of Louisiana’s music, art, traditions, and cultural heritage. Grant awards ranged from $1,000 to $7,500 and were offered within the Education (In-School), Education (After-School), Presenting, Media: Documentation & Creation, and Louisiana Cultural Equity Arts & Creation categories. A full list of recipients can be found at www.communitypartnershipgrants.org
“The Community Partnership Grant program underscores the Foundation’s commitment to investing in the people and programs that strengthen Louisiana’s cultural fabric,” says Sarita M. Carriere, the Foundation’s Interim Executive Director. “From schoolhouses to festivals to recording studios and everything in between, these grants help to elevate the stories, traditions, and creations that exemplify Louisiana’s rare cultural identity. We are excited to experience our recipients’ projects and wish them much success as they bring them to fruition.”
Since 1979, the Foundation has invested proceeds from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell and other funds directly into Louisiana’s communities with funding to support projects that align with the Foundation’s mission – to promote, preserve, perpetuate, and encourage the music, culture, and heritage of communities in Louisiana through festivals, programs, and other cultural, educational, civic, and economic activities. Over the last decade, over $20 million in grant funding has been distributed to creatives, musicians, culture carriers, educators, documentarians, and presenters statewide.
“Receiving a Community Partnership Grant from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation has become part of a much bigger story for me. My latest album, Louisiana Love, is rooted in rediscovering my Creole culture, heritage, and language – not just for myself, but so my daughters know where they come from,” says award-winning singer and songwriter Robin Barnes. “This grant is helping me continue that journey and giving me the space to tell that story in the way it deserves to be told. These opportunities allow me to keep growing as an artist while carrying this heritage forward and making sure our voices continue to travel from Louisiana to the rest of the world.”
The Foundation’s Community Partnership Grant Program creates pathways for Louisiana’s culture creators, carriers, and advocates to share their work and stories with surrounding communities and around the world. The 2026-2027 grant cycle funded projects representing over 50% of Louisiana’s parishes, and they comprehensively represent the integral contributors of Louisiana’s creative economy, including recording projects, art exhibitions, festival presentations, documentary productions, educational programs, literary projects and more. Notable projects and recipients supported by the Foundation’s Community Partnership Grant include (but are not limited to):
- Emmy Award-winning documentary produced by Michael Murphy, Irma: My Life in Music, celebrating the life and career of New Orleans music legend Irma Thomas.
- WYES New Orleans’ Emmy Award-winning documentary, Blue: The Life and Art of George Rodrigue, recognizing the film’s exploration of Louisiana artist George Rodrigue’s life and work.
- Nick Spitzer, award-winning folklife presenter, educator, and radio producer of American Routes was named a 2023 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship, one of the nation’s highest honors in folk and traditional arts.
Support for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell transcends beyond the Fair Grounds gates – reaching Louisiana’s classrooms, nonprofit organizations, studios, museums, broadcasts, second lines and more, ranging from the Northwest in Caddo Parish to the Southeast in Plaquemines Parish. The Community Partnership Grant Program continues to serve as an engine of economic growth and opportunity for Louisiana’s cultural landscape and bolsters visibility to the creators and organizations who keep it alive every day. For more information, visit www.communitypartnershipgrants.org.
ABOUT THE NEW ORLEANS JAZZ & HERITAGE FOUNDATION
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc. is the nonprofit organization that owns the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell. The Foundation reinvests proceeds from Jazz Fest and other funds raised throughout the year in education, economic development, cultural enrichment, and preservation programs that support Louisiana’s artists, students, culture bearers, organizations, and communities. Its programs and assets include the Don “Moose” Jamison Heritage School of Music, Community Partnership Grants, community festivals and concerts, WWOZ 90.7 FM, the Jazz & Heritage Archive, and the George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center. For more information, visit www.jazzandheritage.org.