LAFAYETTE PARISH — The future Louisiana Music Museum is beginning to take shape inside a former downtown Lafayette hardware store, with organizers envisioning a space that not only preserves the state’s musical history but keeps it alive for future generations.
The project will become part of the Acadiana Center for the Arts and will connect directly to the existing facility, allowing it to tie into current arts programming while adding new gallery space, event areas, and an upstairs performance venue.
“The museum is great, but music is alive. And so, you know, one of the main goals of the museum is to have spaces and programming that promotes music into the next generation,” said Jane Vidrine, director of the Louisiana Music Museum.
Fundraising for the project began in April 2025, and organizers say momentum has grown quickly. The Acadiana Center for the Arts is currently in the middle of a capital campaign to bring the museum closer to reality.
“We’re in our capital campaign right now. We’ve secured, as of today, about 70 percent of the funds needed to be able to proceed on this project, which is extremely exciting. We only really began the fundraising for this less than twelve months ago,” said Samuel Oliver, executive director of the Acadiana Center for the Arts.
Organizers plan to combine private donations with possible state capital outlay funding to push the project across the finish line. Interest from state leaders has already followed.
Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser recently toured the space to see the plans firsthand, just a week after meeting with the state’s music commission, which is newly reformed under the legislature.
“I started working on getting the music commission back formed under the legislature, and they fully supported that. This surely is going to be something that we can promote around the world,” Nungesser said.
Construction on the museum is expected to begin in late spring, with an estimated build time of about 18 months once work gets underway. Nungesser said the museum has the potential to serve as both an educational resource and a platform for emerging artists, while also strengthening Louisiana’s music industry.
“This is a no-brainer to highlight, to do some education, to help the up-and-coming. This will be a place that can do all those things and really show the music industry we support them,” Nungesser said.
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