Since its founding, the Louisiana Music & Heritage Experience (LMHE) has been committed to preserving, celebrating, and advancing Louisiana’s global musical legacy in ways that honor its origins while expanding its reach. That intention is now taking physical form through a new agreement solidifying its riverfront site in New Orleans, where a purpose-built museum and performance destination is moving from vision to development. Positioned near the city’s major convention and tourism corridor, the future 120,000‑square‑foot institution is designed as an immersive, story‑driven environment where exhibits, live performances, scholarship, and education converge in a continuous experience.
For Chris Beary, founder and Board Chair of LMHE, the riverfront location symbolizes the continuity between past and future. “Louisiana’s music emerged from gatherings, from shared spaces, from people finding common rhythm,” he says. “Placing this institution along the river acknowledges that flow of culture and invites the world to participate in it.”
While the riverfront campus provides a physical anchor, LMHE defines itself as a cultural ecosystem extending far beyond its walls. Asynchronous lesson plans, curriculum materials, and digital programming are being developed for educators across Louisiana and for global audiences. Visitors who engage online will have access to interactive content and downloadable resources, ensuring that participation continues long after a museum visit.
Training programs for musicians, stage managers, lighting technicians, and sound engineers are also planned, linking cultural storytelling with workforce development. In this way, preservation and economic mobility may reinforce one another. “Cultural recognition carries responsibility,” Beary states. “When we tell this story, we also create pathways for the next generation to thrive within it.”
The forthcoming museum will include approximately 120,000 square feet of space, including exhibits, supported by a theater and soundstage, archival and research facilities, classrooms, a museum store, gathering spaces, and a music club/restaurant. The music club and restaurant will be operated through a long‑term partnership with Sodexo Live!, integrating live performance into the visitor experience. Sodexo Live!’s capital commitment suggests confidence in the project’s operational model and its potential to become a cultural anchor.
Curatorial leadership brings national perspective and deep experience. Grammy Award winner Robert “Bob” Santelli, former Executive Director of the GRAMMY Museums and a founding figure behind the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, serves as curator. His background in shaping major music museums informs LMHE’s approach to narrative design and interactive storytelling.
Santelli says, “Louisiana’s story has shaped American music from the ground up, and being part of an organization devoted to telling that story feels like a natural extension of my life’s work. After decades of building museums that honor our shared musical heritage, I’m excited to bring that experience to an institution with the potential not just to preserve history, but to inspire new generations to create it.” His work continues to expand, as he is in the final stages of opening the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, a major new cultural institution located near New York and deeply connected to the Springsteen community.
Santelli’s work is complemented by LMHE CEO Terry Stewart, whose own career has long intersected with New York’s cultural and business landscape. Stewart led extensive M&A work in New York, Marvel Comics, and later served as CEO of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for over a decade. Beary notes that his leadership brings both institutional experience and industry credibility. “Louisiana’s musical heritage is one of America’s greatest cultural treasures,” Stewart says. “Our goal is to build an institution worthy of that legacy, an institution that honors the past, energizes the present, and creates opportunity for the future. We’re centrally focused on honoring Louisiana’s role as the origin of American music genres while creating and supporting an equitable, thriving music economy.”
The timing of LMHE’s development aligns with a resurgence in New Orleans’ visitor economy, creating particularly favorable conditions for a new cultural institution. In 2024, the city welcomed more than 19 million visitors. This momentum is further reflected in the city’s ranking as the third-most popular convention destination in the United States.
These indicators suggest that LMHE is positioned to serve a market with a strong interest in dynamic experiences. The museum’s riverfront presence is envisioned as a year‑round destination that extends visitor engagement beyond traditional event schedules. “Music in Louisiana has always generated community, enterprise, and identity simultaneously,” Beary states. “I believe that if we invest in preserving that story, we are also investing in opportunity for the people who carry it forward.”
LMHE’s economic projections underscore the scale and long‑term ambition behind its vision. According to Beary, current estimates are approximately $150 million in annual statewide economic impact, supporting over 200 full-time equivalent jobs and catalyzing additional indirect and induced activity across hospitality, retail, and transportation sectors.
Comparable institutions offer instructive precedent for how music‑driven cultural centers have the potential to influence local economies. In Cleveland, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, where Santelli helped establish the museum’s early curatorial and educational framework, has been associated with significant downtown revitalization. A study found that the Rock Hall contributes roughly $199 million annually to Northeast Ohio’s economy, with visitors alone accounting for $127 million in yearly spending. These outcomes illustrate how a music institution, when paired with authentic storytelling and strong civic partnerships, can become a catalyst for broader urban investment.
According to Beary, funding for LMHE has been secured from multiple sources. “These commitments will enable us to continue design development and bond planning as we prepare for construction,” he says. Meanwhile, LMHE’s public programming continues through events such as NOLA Funk Fest, offering a preview of the immersive model planned for the museum.
As New Orleans welcomes millions of visitors and strengthens its position as a global host city, the Louisiana Music & Heritage Experience proposes an expanded narrative where culture, community, and commerce inform one another. The riverfront museum stands as an evolving chapter in that story, offering a framework through which Louisiana’s musical legacy can continue to inspire audiences at home and around the world.