The HMF Mission
The Heritage Music Foundation Gospel House will be a permanent, year-round public facility. It will be the world's first complete Gospel music center. The primary objectives of the Heritage Music Foundation Gospel House will be to preserve and perpetuate the centuries-old cultural heritage of Gospel music, and to facilitate learning, understanding, and enjoyment for the enrichment of all who enter its doors.
The Facility
The Heritage Music Foundation Gospel House will contain:
• A performing arts theater, concert hall, and Educational Facility
• An acoustically designed and equipped concert auditorium to facilitate vocal, instrumental, dance, and theatrical performances of Gospel music;
• A wing with six-fully equipped classrooms for the teaching and exploration of Gospel music as a fine art form;
• A lecture hall/community room with audio-visual equipment to facilitate lectures, workshops, seminars, forums, and visual presentations on Gospel music;
• Acoustically designed, private, listening rooms for music, record and cassette tape collection;
• Five acoustically designed practice rooms for use by persons enrolled in the year-round vocal, instrumental, dance, dramatic arts, and cinema classes
A Museum
• A Gospel music museum, library and archives to house and preserve Gospel music manuscripts, sheet music, records, cassettes, video tapes, books and other
memorabilia;
A Recording Studio
• A soundproof, fully equipped studio with professional lighting and sound recording equipment for on-site recording of compositions of the Gospel music
experience.
Support Facilities
Support facilities at the Heritage Music Foundation Gospel House will include:
• An administrative office suite to accommodate a management and clerical staff of five
• A public relations and tour guide office
• A public exhibit area equipped with wall-mounted and free-standing fixtures for display of paintings, photographs, Gospel music memorabilia, and other items
of interest to visitors
• A fully equipped kitchen to be reserved for special events which will be staffed by temporary workers and volunteers
• A maintenance room to house janitorial equipment and supplies for interior and exterior facility maintenance
• A small room to be reserved for use as a day care facility during special events when necessary
• A mens and womens restroom with an adjoining lounge area
Support Vehicles
Support vehicles required for the Heritage Music Foundation Gospel House will be:
• Two large vans to facilitate pre-school and senior citizen activities at the center and outreach concerts in the community
• A car to provide transportation for administrative and service personnel
• The Heritage Music Foundation Gospel House, as outlined here, will be a practical operating facility for teaching, learning, performing, enjoying, and furthering
the development of Gospel music as a cultural and historical art form
The Heritage Music Foundation
"Gospel House" Program
The Heritage Music Foundation Gospel House will sponsor and conduct year-round educational programs and activities that will be open to people of all ages. Programming will be designed to promote awareness and appreciation of Gospel music among all participants and visitors. Programming will strive to engender pride among young African-Americans in an aspect of their cultural heritage that some are unaware of or have not experienced. Unexposed youth will be actively recruited an encouraged to participate in this program.
The Primary Focus
At the heart of the Heritage Music Foundation Gospel House program will be its emphasis on the cultural heritage of Gospel music through classes, workshops, performances, lectures, and special exhibits.
These activities will explore the development and growth of Gospel music in each of the following periods of its evolution:
• Traditional African Song
• Slavery Period (1750-1990): Songs of Slavery
• Post-Reconstruction Period (1900-1950): Emerging Literacy
• Gospel Period (1920-1975): The Birth of Gospel music
• Civil Rights Struggle (Martin Luther King Era) 1955-1968
• Contemporary Period (1968-Present) The Now Music
