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ARHOOLIE FOUNDATION COLLECTIONS:Arhoolie News

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2023 Year-End Letter

2023 Year-End Letter

Dear Arhoolie family, As the year comes to a close, we remember our founder and inspiration, Chris Strachwitz, whom we lost on May 5 at the...

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Down Home Music: The Stories and Photographs of Chris Strachwitz

Down Home Music: The Stories and Photographs of Chris Strachwitz

A visual storytelling celebration of American roots music in its rich variety through unseen and newly scanned photographs by the founder of the legendary Arhoolie Records....

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The Arhoolie Foundation Year-End Letter

The Arhoolie Foundation Year-End Letter

Looking back at this last year, the Arhoolie Foundation continues the work of promoting and preserving roots-based American music. From Mississippi to Louisiana, Florida, Mexico, and...

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GRAMMY MUSEUM® GRANT SUPPORTS ARHOOLIE FOUNDATION

GRAMMY MUSEUM® GRANT SUPPORTS ARHOOLIE FOUNDATION

(JUNE, 2022) — The GRAMMY Museum® Grant Program announced $200,000 in grants will be awarded to 16 recipients in the United States to help facilitate a...

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The Backus Museum presents Tuned To The Spirit: Photographs from the Sacred Steel Community

The Backus Museum presents Tuned To The Spirit: Photographs from the Sacred Steel Community

The A.E. Backus Museum and Gallery will present Tuned to the Spirit: Photographs from the Sacred Steel Community March 11 – May 8, 2022. The Museum...

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The Ann Savoy Cajun Interviews Collection

The Ann Savoy Cajun Interviews Collection

The Arhoolie Foundation is excited to announce the newest addition to our archives, the Ann Savoy Cajun Interviews Collection.

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Announcing the Robert Stone Sacred Steel Gospel Collection

Announcing the Robert Stone Sacred Steel Gospel Collection

The Arhoolie Foundation is proud to announce that our archive will now be home to the Robert Stone Sacred Steel Gospel Collection. 

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Arhoolie Foundation Receives NEA Grant to Increase Public Access

Arhoolie Foundation Receives NEA Grant to Increase Public Access

It’s our great honor to announce that we have received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to continue our work of creating curated...

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Arhoolie Foundation Receives Grant Award from California Humanities

Arhoolie Foundation Receives Grant Award from California Humanities

We are happy to share that we have received a Humanities For All Project Grant award for Rumbo A California—An Exhibition of the Strachwitz Frontera Collection....

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A 2019 Year End Letter From Chris

A 2019 Year End Letter From Chris

  December 19, 2019 Dear Friends, It has been a busy year for the Arhoolie Foundation. We head into 2020 with lots of plans to continue...

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Dear friends, 

We’re thrilled to announce that the Arhoolie Foundation and Les Blank Films are joining together to purchase our longtime home at 10341 San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito. 

The decision to buy the building comes after several months of thoughtful consideration and a strong response from our community. It has become clear to us that continuing our work in the place where Chris Strachwitz originally conceived it is the best way forward for the organization. Staying in our longtime home preserves an important part of Arhoolie’s cultural legacy, prevents the disruption that moving would cause, and—most importantly—opens up possibilities for closer collaboration with Les Blank Films, Down Home Music, and our local East Bay community.

Now comes the hard part. While we are under contract to buy the building, we need to raise $2.4 million to meet the purchase price by April 15. Here are two ways you can donate to our cause:

  • The GoFundMe page for the capital campaign
    (donations to this fund are shared by all three of the tenants).

  • Direct tax-deductible donations/securities to either of the two non-profits who are buying the building:
    Contact Harrod Blank at Les Blank Films https://lesblank.com/contact/;
    or Adam Machado at Arhoolie Foundation, adam@arhoolie.org.

As we begin this capital campaign, we will continue our normal operations in the building while forging a closer institutional bond with Les Blank Films and taking modest, collaborative steps to bring more public programming into Down Home Music. We plan to revive Les Blank and Chris’ tradition of in-store film screenings and will host more informal, free performances and gatherings in the store as part of our outreach work. We believe this collaboration will result in a vibrant community gathering place dedicated to music, film, and deep roots culture. 

We’re grateful for your support. We look forward to updating you on our progress in the coming weeks and months.