Incorporated in 1990, in its early years the International Bluegrass Music Museum (IBMM) was dark and quiet, a library-like facility primarily concerned with the collection and preservation of bluegrass music’s history and artifacts. Once a year it came alive when thousands convened for IBMA’s FanFest. In 1999, the State granted IBMM $3 million for renovation of its first two floors.

The museum closed for three years, reopening in 2002 as a state-of-the-art facility rivaling the finest cultural/educational institutions in the nation. Then began the exciting prospect of transforming the somber, respectable little museum into a living museum through community-based and internationally-renowned programs.

Now IBMM is a bustling, thriving, community arts center educating thousands annually, and has become a national and international port-of-call for the tens of millions attending bluegrass concerts or tuning in to bluegrass radio to hear the music they love.

IBMM’s mission is to develop and maintain an environment in which people of all ages can discover the richness of bluegrass music through an exciting and educational experience. From video documentation capturing bluegrass history, to fostering and sponsoring the musical expression of thousands, we strive to be a leader for positive social change at home and abroad.

Your donations help:
They will benifit the Video Oral History Project, which now leads our nation’s archival endeavors. Using professional interviewers and filmmakers, we are capturing the history of Bluegrass Music’s First Generation (those responsible for creating the genre). Our first priority is to amass the raw footage, the songs, stories, performance styles, and interlocking histories of these national icons while they are alive. As each documentary is complete, we host a premiere at ROMP (below), show DVDs to museum visitors, host film festivals around the world, and post snippets on RBI (below). To date, we have filmed 110 of these national treasures, with 40 additional sessions planned for 2007/08.

http://www.bluegrass-museum.org/

There are many ways you can get involved.

Click here to learn more:

http://www.bluegrass-museum.org/store.htm

http://www.bluegrass-museum.org/membership/member.htm