Living archive
Field recordings are digitized only with family permission, and listening appointments run Wednesday afternoons.
October supper tickets include a lesson on triangle accordion basics.Reserve seats
Cultural association · Bywater and Marigny
Stories, songs and supper at long tables.
Folk & Frame Society preserves Louisiana folk music, hosts language tables for Louisiana French and Creole and rents affordable studio space to instrument makers in a converted warehouse on the river side of Bywater. Monthly suppers pair a house band with a guest chef from the membership, and ticket revenue pays teaching artists for school residencies in Plaquemines Parish. Our archive digitizes field recordings with permission from each family, and we lend instruments to students who commit to six lessons. Membership is sliding scale, and nobody is asked to prove ancestry to join a workshop.
How Folk & Frame Society works
Folk & Frame Society keeps program descriptions specific so donors know what each dollar buys and volunteers know which training to attend before their first shift.
Louisiana French tables
Beginner and advanced conversation tables meet before suppers with phrase sheets volunteers print in-house.
Affordable studio bays
Instrument makers rent river-side studios below market rate when they teach six student lessons per quarter.
Folk & Frame Society field photos
Supper tables, archive listening sessions and studio rehearsals at Folk & Frame in Bywater.
Folk & Frame Society impact
- Archive recordings digitized
- 840
- Monthly suppers hosted
- 26
- Instrument loans active
- 120
- Parish school residencies
- 14
Folk & Frame Society voices
“The archive team recorded my uncle’s fiddle tune with consent forms in Creole and English—our family kept the masters.”
“Supper tickets paid my accordion lessons for a semester; the house band stayed after dessert to tune student instruments.”
“Studio rent here is half what I paid Uptown, and the society still hosts open critiques for first-time exhibitors.”
Folk & Frame Society questions
Do I need Louisiana ancestry to join Folk & Frame workshops?
No ancestry proof is required. Sliding-scale membership keeps language tables and music workshops open to newcomers.
Are gifts to Folk & Frame Society tax deductible?
Gifts to Folk & Frame Society are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law for donors who itemize. Receipts include our EIN 72-1048293 and a link to download the IRS determination letter.
How does the archive handle recordings?
Field recordings are digitized only with family consent forms stored in our Port Street archive room.
Can I rent an instrument?
Students who commit to six lessons may borrow accordions, fiddles or rubboards with a refundable deposit.
Supper and archive nights
Folk & Frame announces language tables, suppers and archive listening sessions.
Visit Folk & Frame Society
2200 Port Street, New Orleans, LA 70117
- Archive Wed 13:00–17:00
- Supper tickets on sale first Monday monthly
+1 (504) 555-0122