The Blues SchoolHouse transforms House of Blues venues into multimedia classrooms where 5th through 12th grade students and their teachers learn about the music, history and cultural impact of the blues and the traditions of related folk art.

Programs include a guided tour of the extensive collection of HOB folk art. Students learn about folk art and individual folk artists through a discussion of artistic expression and some of the methods and materials used by self-taught artists.

Each Blues SchoolHouse session also includes a live musical presentation tracing the history of blues music from its roots in African musical traditions, through its emergence and evolution as a unique American folk music and its influence on other forms of popular contemporary music including jazz, R&B, rock and roll, soul, funk and rap. The performance demonstrates how the blues musical form was influenced by and reflects events in African American history including the Atlantic Slave Trade, the institution of slavery, emancipation, Jim Crow laws, the Great Migration and the Civil Rights Movement.

Participating teachers are provided with a Blues SchoolHouse Classroom Guide designed to supplement their visit and support an interdisciplinary classroom unit integrating music, art, history, and language arts.

The Blues SchoolHouse program draws upon the universal appeal of music and art to promote appreciation for diversity and encourage creative expression. For more information about local Blues SchoolHouse programming opportunities, please contact an IHOBF location near you.

NATIONAL SPONSORS

HOB Entertainment, Inc. Foundation Room

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