The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation was recently awarded a $250,000 grant from ArtPlace, a new foundation made up of six of the nation’s largest banks and 11 national and regional foundations. Its stated goal is “investing in art and culture” that “transforms communities.”

The building that will become the Jazz & Heritage Center

The Jazz and Heritage Foundation’s award will be used to convert a building it owns at 1225 North Rampart Street into the “Jazz and Heritage Center”, a major community resource in the Treme neighborhood.

Renovation plans include the addition of seven new classrooms and a 200-seat auditorium in the center. Once the project is completed—the current goal is early 2014—the former funeral home will serve as a home for the Foundation’s signature education program, the Don Jamison Heritage School of Music as well as a venue for other art-based education programs. Other Foundation activities that will find a home at the Jazz and Heritage Center include the Jazz Journey concert series, Tom Dent Congo Square lecture series, and the Sync Up conference.

Don Marshall, Executive Director of the Jazz and Heritage Foundation, expressed his gratitude towards ArtPlace saying, “We are honored that a major national organization like ArtPlace has recognized the importance of this project, and the positive effects it will have for the people of our community.”