Visualizing Sound: Music, Memory, and Identity in New Orleans
In this talk, discover how visual artists have captured the vibrant musical traditions at the heart of the city.
The birthplace of jazz, brass band capital of the world, and home of the second line, the identity of New Orleans is inextricable from its music.
In this Shortcut Talk, presented in conjunction with New Orleans Musicians in Art: Selections from the Permanent Collection, learn how visual artists have interpreted the people, places, and traditions behind the city’s distinctive musical culture. Through close examination of artwork from HNOC’s holdings—including a number of portraits from the legendary Preservation Hall—explore the connections between art, music, and the history of the city.
Hear This Talk
Available beginning July 8, 2026
Offered daily at 2 p.m., Wednesday–Sunday*
Free and open to the public (no registration required)
Duration: Approximately 20 minutes
Location: Tricentennial Wing, 520 Royal Street
*This talk is offered on a rotating basis with other Shortcut Talks and may not always be available on a given day.
For groups of 10 or more, please contact tours@hnoc.org.
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Tours & Daily Programs
Get more out of your museum visit with a guided tour, Shortcut Talk, or daily program.
Shortcut Talks
Enjoy free, daily talks that explore Gulf South history and culture through the lens of our exhibitions.
Related Exhibitions
New Orleans Musicians in Art: Selections from the Permanent Collection
Explore works of art inspired by New Orleans music and musicians from HNOC’s holdings.
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Beyoncé is the latest artist to stir up conversation about country music and Blackness, but she’s not the first. Those roots go back to the beginning of American music.
Promoting Tipitina’s in Its Raucous Early Years
Through unusual posters and interviews with two of Tipitina’s co-founders, we take a look back at the club's early years.
Related Collection Highlights
Jimmy Maxwell Orchestra Papers
Photographs, diaries, and promotional materials documenting a father and son’s 80 combined years in the music business
The Fat Man / Detroit City Blues
Fats Domino’s first single, produced in New Orleans, is considered one of the first rock ’n’ roll songs in history.
Les lys et les roses
A bound volume of eight pieces for piano and voice sheds light on the role of women in New Orleans’s 19th-century music scene.
Related Virtual Exhibitions
French Quarter Life: People and Places in the Vieux Carré
Artistic impressions of New Orleans’s most iconic neighborhood
From Cameo to Close-Up: Louisiana in Film
Explore how the picturesque scenery of Louisiana has provided the backdrop for films since the early 1900s.
Related Books
Ernie K-Doe: The R&B Emperor of New Orleans
by Ben Sandmel
with a foreword by Peter Guralnick
French Baroque Music of New Orleans
edited by Alfred E. Lemmon
with essays in English by Jennifer Gipson, Andrew Justice, Alfred E. Lemmon, and Mark McKnight, and in French by Jean Duron
