The Mississippi Delta has influenced popular music and
culture with its unique American musical art form known
as the Blues. And since its creation a quarter of a century
ago, the Delta Blues Museum has strived to preserve, interpret,
and encourage a deep interest in the story of the musical
style known as the blues and those who shape, play and
preserve it. A public and private funded institution,
the museum enriches the lives and broadens the perspectives
of its local, national, and international visitors.
The Delta Blues Museum is dedicated to creating a
welcoming place where visitors find meaning, value and
perspective by exploring the history and heritage of this
unique American musical art form known as the blues.
Established in 1979 by the Carnegie Public Library Board
of Trustees, and made a stand-alone museum in 1999, the
Delta Blues Museum is the state’s oldest music museum.
A five-member board appointed by the Mayor and Board of
Commissioners of Clarksdale governs the museum. Funded
annually by the City of Clarksdale, its gift shop revenue,
granting agencies, and donations, the museum uses public
and private funds to carry out its mission.
As a public educational institution the museum’s
vision is to:
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Encourage a deep interest in the story of the musical
style known as the blues and those who shape, play and preserve
it.
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Establish a clear and a comprehensive understanding of
the relationship between the blues and other forms of American
music.
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Provide relevant, creative educational programs, performances,
exhibits and visitor experiences.
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Create a museum environment where ideas are shared with
objectivity and respect for our diverse audiences.
The Delta Blues Museum values:
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The preservation of our music community’s unique
cultural resources.
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Spirit of cooperation, trust and open communications between
ourselves, our visitors and those who continue to preserve
the blues traditions.
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The highest professional standards and institutional integrity
in all organizational endeavors.
The goal of the
Delta Blues Museum is to create a working partnership
between the museum and local schools and businesses
to support, through planning, programs and teacher education,
an integration of education about blues music at all
grade levels in the classroom curriculum. While this
goal is a stand-alone issue, we continue to reinforce
this service through all of our endeavors.
The Delta Blues Museum hopes to expand upon our partnership
with local schools: George Oliver Elementary, Higgins
Middle School, and Coahoma Community College. We will
continue to display student art and promote upcoming performances.
Board support
and involvement is essential to the future success of
the Delta Blues Museum. In keeping with this goal, the
board has committed itself to advancing the museum and
establishing the institution as a recognized professional
entity in the community.
We will strive to:
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Offer in-house board training throughout the year.
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Utilize our national advisory committee.
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Attend professional museum meetings and workshops at the
state, regional, and national levels. (i.e. Mississippi
Museum Association, Southeastern Museums Conference, American
Association of Museums, Music Museum Alliance, Mississippi
Center for Non-Profits)
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Educate the Delta Blues Foundation Board.
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Provide financial support through annual giving, solicitation
of corporate support, and partnerships. (ongoing)
Use the blues
to support the development of the Clarksdale community.
Music is a non-threatening way to address social issues
by bringing people of different backgrounds together.
More socialization among different groups leads to a
better understanding of each other and ultimately, a
better quality of life.
The Delta Blues Museum Arts and Education Program is
a prime example. The class currently has approximately
sixty-five students who come from different schools, age
groups, and ethnic and economic backgrounds. Some of these
groups would ordinarily experience very limited interaction.
We will strive to:
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Expand our arts and education program through community
partnerships including symposiums and concerts of blues
and related music to include: Juke Joint Festival, Sunflower
River Blues and Gospel Festival, Coahoma Community College
Homecoming and Special Events, and the Clarksdale Holiday
Parade.
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Recruit non-arts community organizations such as Habitat
for Humanity, the Levee Board, and Delta Regional Authority
for blues based projects.
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Create partnerships with community nonprofits including
the local chapter of the NAACP.
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Create committees to assist and advise the staff and board
on various aspects of the museum ’s operations.
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Create new and build upon existing partnerships with regional
arts museums such as: Delta Cultural Center, Highway 61
Blues Museum, and B.B. King Museum.
Update our publications
and Web site to promote blues music and culture
We will strive to:
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Continue distribution of a newsletter to members putting
out at least four issues annually. Add to our nearly 10,000
subscribers.
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Improve and make more user-friendly the current Website,
including linking to other music related institutions (i.e.
Experience Music Project, Seattle, WA; Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame, Cleveland, OH; International Bluegrass Music Museum,
Owensboro, KY; Jazz Hall of Fame, Kansas City, MO).
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Develop an exhibits guide to the new permanent exhibits.
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Expand our efforts as a research facility to scholars
interested in blues music and culture.
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Further our educational outreach to blues fans and scholars
via existing website features (Explore and Learn), and create
new features such as: enhanced online lesson plans, multi-media
tutorials, and even the possibility of an entirely independent
online class.
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Create live Podcasts of our DBM Band performances.
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Utilize the multitude of constantly
emerging social media platforms. Link with more than
our current 3,000 followers via Facebook, and begin
to explore the possibilities provided by Twitter and
other services.
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Use the social media platforms
to link with other like-minded museums and programs.
Strengthen education
in and about the history and culture of the blues. Education
is an essential component of the Delta Blues Museum
’s mission.
We will strive to:
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Recruit more schools to visit the museum through presentations,
a traveling trunk program, and email. (ongoing)
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Utilize an educational packet for teachers and home schools
to be used in pre and post visits to the museum.
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Work with local schools and businesses to develop exhibits,
programs, and workshops that allow educators to integrate
blues into the school curriculum. (ongoing)
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Strengthen the museum’s partnerships with the private
sector to search for ways to promote blues education. (ongoing)
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Increase our physical range of influence by sending the
traveling trunk beyond local and regional boundaries.
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Reach out to local educators, to include Teach for America,
and strive to be a part of their classroom activities and
out of class excursions.
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Improve our Arts and Education Program by providing more
opportunities to our students.
Increase knowledge
of and pride in the unique American art form known as
the Blues. Traditionally, blues artists have learned
their skills from within their community. The Delta
Blues Museum’s Arts and Education program is devoted
to keeping this tradition alive.
Although many local artists have brought Mississippi
and Clarksdale national and international attention, the
artists and their music is not always appreciated within
Clarksdale and the State of Mississippi. The Delta Blues
Museum seeks to broaden awareness and support of the Blues
and the artists through public education with exhibits,
performances, and programming.
We will strive to:
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Encourage local support of the Blues - publicly document,
interpret, honor and celebrate blues artists and their music.
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Provide opportunities for blues artists to present and
perform their art.
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Increase the number of students in our Arts and Education
Program.
The museum must be effectively managed in order to carry
out the strategic plan. In addition to the dedicated tax
millage, the museum will seek additional funding from
state and federal agencies, foundations and fundraising
efforts.
We will strive to:
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Disseminate information about the museum’s activities
and programs via its Website, brochures and newsletters.
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Enable staff to participate in one professional development
program annually.
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Maintain membership in state, national and regional museum
organizations.
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Administer and monitor implementation of the strategic
plan and report on progress to the DBM Board of Trustees.
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Continually evaluate the effectiveness of the Delta Blues
Museum ’s programs and exhibits.
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Create a national advisory board made up of artists, scholars,
and representatives from the music industry.
The Museum will professionally document its holdings
including future acquisitions. We will develop new in-house
exhibits and traveling exhibits. We will engage professionally
prepared traveling exhibits that will provide fresh educational
experiences for our audiences.
To ensure freshness in the museum, we have engaged a
nationally recognized museum-planning firm to assist in
the conceptualization and implementation of new interpretive
exhibits.
We are currently establishing criteria for future staffing,
exhibitions, and collections management.
We will strive to:
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