Statements

Mission

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum collects, preserves, and interprets the evolving history and traditions of country music. Through exhibits, publications, and educational programs, the Museum teaches its diverse audiences about the enduring beauty and cultural importance of country music.

Background

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum opened more than 50 years ago on Music Row, and moved to its landmark facility in downtown Nashville in 2001. It unveiled a 210,000 square foot expansion in 2014, more than doubling its space with dynamic state-of-the-art galleries, additional archival storage, classrooms, retail stores, and special event spaces. The Museum's core exhibition immerses visitors in the history and sounds of country music, its origins and traditions, and the stories and voices of many of its honored artists and personalities. A dozen limited-engagement exhibitions each year expand the Museum's presentation of American musical history, like the recently opened major exhibition, "Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of LA Country Rock", exploring the closely interconnected and innovative Los Angeles music scene from the 60s through the 80s, and the impacts it's had on country music to this day.

In addition to world-class exhibitions, the Museum includes the 776-seat CMA Theater, the 213-seat Ford Theater, and the 7,500 square foot Taylor Swift Education Center. It also operates Hatch Show Print, one of the oldest continuously-operating letterpress print shops in the country, and Historic RCA Studio B, Nashville's oldest surviving recording studio. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has developed multiple platforms to make its collection accessible to a wider audience. From weekly instrument demonstrations to its flagship songwriting program for schools, Words & Music, the Museum offers an extensive annual schedule both virtual and in-person educational programs. The Museum also operates CMF Records, a Grammy-winning reissue label, and CMF Press, which releases exhibit-related books in cooperation with University of Illinois Press and other major trade publishing houses. The Museum's collection of artifacts and archival items, considered the finest and most complete of its kind in the world, provides the foundation for all of its activities. Holdings include musical instruments, costumes, sound recordings, books, periodicals, songbooks, sheet music, photographs, business documents, films, and videotapes. The Museum's Digital Archive offers over 176,000 files for reference (digi.countrymusichalloffame.org). With these resources, staff members develop exhibitions, interpretive tours, virtual programming, and in-school and on-site educational public programs for children, families, and adults.

Impact

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (CMHFM) collects, preserves, and interprets the evolving history and traditions of country music. Through exhibits, publications, and educational programs, CMHFM teaches its diverse audiences about the enduring beauty and cultural importance of country music. Every year, interpretation of this rich and diverse art form-supported by CMHFM's collections-lays the foundation for at least ten permanent and rotating exhibits (18 in 2022, including two virtual exhibits on the Museum's website); nearly 1,200 in-person and virtual education programs for individuals ranging from children in Pre-K to elders in senior centers (over 134,000 participants in 2022); and the ongoing collection and preservation of artifacts and archival materials documenting the history and development of country music (more than 176,000 archival files were made available through the Digital Archive in 2022).

CMHFM develops and implements programs with more than 200 public and private entities in a typical year, which range from Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) and the National Museum of African-American Museum to the Americana Music Association and emergency housing nonprofit, Room In The Inn. In 2022, CMHFM led over 50 community outreach programs, in coordination with nonprofit partners such as Conexion Americas, Oasis Center, Nashville Public Library, and more.

Since embarking on its mission nearly sixty years ago, CMHFM has become one of the most visited museums in America. In 2022, the museum hosted 1.56 million on-site visitors, breaking the pre-pandemic record of 1.3 million set in 2019. An additional four million virtual visitors engaged with the Museum's live/guided and on-demand web content.

In 2022, CMHFM generated an economic impact of nearly $93 million, according to the Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 Calculator, supporting an estimated 2,636 full-time equivalent jobs.

CMHFM school programming reached more than 26,000 students in 2022, including 10,000+ through its flagship literacy-through-songwriting program, Words & Music. The 10-lesson curriculum offers a unique way to support the academic achievement of our community's young people, of whom less than 25% are reading on grade level. Students living in the Metro Nashville area account for more than 45% of all Words & Music participants.

The Museum also donates surplus food from on-site restaurants and catered events to local nonprofits, resulting in 34,668 meals provided to Middle Tennesseans in need last year. Through its award-winning sustainability practices, CMHFM diverted 104 tons of trash from landfills in 2022.

Needs

The Museum's pressing needs include: 1) Support for its Annual Fund, supporting the Museum's year-round operations. 2) Support for its curriculum-based Words & Music lyric-writing program. 3) Support for collection conservation and digitization. 4) Funding and equipment to create online exhibits using the Museum's collections. 5) Hardware and software enhancements to power the Museum's Digital Archive, website, live-streaming, and virtual presentations of programs, etc. 6) Funding to support expanded outreach programming in person and via online delivery to youth in Davidson County, TN.

CEO Statement

Dear friends:

We entered 2022 filled with hope for a fresh start and a return to normalcy. We trusted that the rigors of the pandemic were at last behind us. You trusted that through it all we would maintain our steadfast focus on the mission and continue to be a world-class museum. We deeply appreciate that trust.

What makes a world-class museum? One-of-a-kind collections. Exceptional exhibit design and storytelling. Publications that fascinate and illuminate. Educational programs that advance knowledge and appreciation of our shared culture in the local community and the wider world.

And accreditation. Since 1987, our museum has been accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, certifying that we operate according to the highest standards. Of the 33,000 museums nationwide, only three percent are accredited.

Your trust-and the wider public's trust-in our endeavors has been confirmed. As we detail in the Annual Report, 2022 was a banner year for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. We welcomed more than 1.5 million visitors. We acquired new treasures for the collection to hold in the public trust. Our wide-ranging education efforts were recognized with generous gifts and significant awards.

We mounted ambitious, one-of-a-kind exhibitions on Florida Georgia Line, Chris Stapleton, the photography of Reanne Rubenstein, and the revolutionary, communal phenomenon of Los Angeles country-rock from the 1960s into the 1980s. As we regained our footing, we gradually rebuilt our staff, which was much reduced during the pandemic by necessity.

Yet all was not easy. 2022 was a wrenching year of deeply personal losses in our music community. We lost six Hall of Fame members. Jeff Cook of Alabama. Ralph Emery. Naomi Judd. Jerry Lee Lewis. Loretta Lynn. Pig Robbins. In addition, our longtime colleague and gifted writer Peter Cooper passed away, as did our former colleague Carolyn Tate. We also lost several other talented, irreplaceable souls dear to our hearts, our music, and our community.

We miss each and every one of them. We miss their vibrant presences and their spark of creativity. But we have their life lessons and their enduring legacies of music to hold firmly and to share.

We trust that their music and their stories will continue to illuminate our culture and our everyday struggles to live right and speak truth.

Thank you for your steady, generous support, and for believing in our mission. Your trust in us makes every aspect of this noble enterprise possible and profoundly meaningful.

Keep the faith.

Sincerely,
Kyle Young

Board Chair Statement

Dear Friends:

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum plays a key role in the cultural life of Tennessee and the nation by preserving and interpreting heritage and history for local and global audiences. As declared in its mission statement and demonstrated through fifty-eight years of committed service, the Museum is an educational institution that collects, preserves, and interprets the evolving history and traditions of country music. Through exhibits, publications, and educational programs, it teaches diverse audiences about the enduring beauty and cultural importance of country music.

Even with the challenges of the past years, the Museum opened new exhibitions, ranging from short-term installations like "Florida Georgia Line: Mix It Up Strong" to major, multi-year masterpieces like "Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of LA Country-Rock." The Museum also engaged with its diverse audiences through public programs, like the weekly Songwriter Sessions that take place in the Ford Theater; educational programs, like the Harmonica Salute included as part of the award-winning Discover DeFord Bailey program; and off-site community events, like the Museum's iconic Instrument Petting Zoo pop-ups at local festivals and events.

At the same time, the institution remained committed to its substantial virtual audiences, regularly airing new Live at the Hall programs and hosting multiple fully online exhibitions like "Suiting the Sound: The Rodeo Tailors who Made Country Stars Shine Brighter." Whether you visit the galleries in person or engage with an exhibit or program online, you will see that the Museum remains steadfast in sharing the story of country music with its global audience.

The Board of Officers and Trustees is dedicated to ensuring the institution's longevity for future generations. Thank you for your continued friendship and support.

Sincerely,
Mary Ann McCready, Chair
Board of Officers and Trustees

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Arts, Culture & Humanities  - Museums
Secondary Category:	Arts, Culture & Humanities  - Music
Tertiary Category:	Arts, Culture & Humanities  - Folk Arts

Areas Served

International

National

TN