Since its inception in 2000, the Krewe of Muses has always viewed community
involvement as an important component of its mission. Of course, hosting
a free parade for the community is, in itself, a public gift. The Krewe’s
initial vision for its parade was to have it be collaboratively sponsored
by the community. To this end, our first parade featured guest artists
who helped decorate the floats and local school children who made the
masks worn by our riders. In our second year, we expanded our community
involvement to include adult groups such as senior citizens and individuals
in rehabilitative environments, who took over the mask-decorating activities.
In this way, adults who might not be able to attend our parade could contribute
in a meaningful way towards throwing the party, and those who could attend
would be able to see their handiwork actually in use by riders. This program
continued through 2005, when Katrina displaced or eliminated many of the
programs operated by our mask-decorating community partners. In addition,
in 2002 and 2003, school children made headdresses that complemented the
themes of each float to adorn the heads of the riders. In 2003, the headdress
program was shifted to a contest conducted among our riders, who are encouraged
to procure local artists to make those headdresses.
However, area children have not been forgotten. From our very first year,
a cup-decorating contest has produced the artwork on the cups thrown by
riders. Each year, the cup contest includes a basic lesson about the Muses
of Greek mythology, and a particular Muse is featured for the year. The
winner’s school receives a $500 donation towards its art programming,
which was increased to $1,000 in 2008. Our winners have been: 2001, Natalie
Sciortino of Ben Franklin; 2002, Carl Trim of Rabouin and the Ya/Ya group;
2003, Arwen Byrd of Ben Franklin; 2004, Kevin Thomas of Warren Easton;
2005, Rashawn Williams of Rabouin; 2006, Erica Aupied of Hahnville High
School; 2007, Alisha Lewis of McMain; 2008, Dat Nguyen of McMain; 2009,
Lauren Moret of Hynes Elementary; 2010 Dylan Pham of McMain and in 2011,
Michael Washington of O. Perry Walker. We have also sponsored public displays
of submitted artwork at venues such as the Contemporary Arts Center and
the World Trade Center lobby.
The feature Muse program was expanded in 2002 to focus on a local charity
that supports the cause championed by that year’s Muse. A local
woman who exemplifies that cause is honored and given a free ride in our
parade. A charitable contribution is made by the Krewe to the selected
charity. The following are our feature Muses and the honorees and charitable
recipients:
Year
Muse
Honoree
Charity
2002
Cleo, Muse of History
Cherise Harrison-Nelson, Mardi Gras Indian historian
NOPD/NOFD
2003
Terpsichore, Muse of Dance
Maria Giacobbe, ballet teacher
NORD/NOBA Dance Program
2004
Thalia, Muse of Comedy
Becky Allen, comedienne and actress
My House Center for Learning
2005
Euterpe, Muse of Music
Charmaine Neville, singer
New Orleans Musician’s Clinic
2006
Urania, Muse of Astronomy
Becky Zaheri of Katrina Krewe, our “star”
NOPD
2007
Erato, Muse of Love Poetry
Brenda Marie Osbey, Louisiana’s poet laureate
Literacy programs Community in Schools of NO
and NO Outreach
2008
Polymnia, Muse of Sacred Song
Marva Wright, gospel and soul singer
Shades of Praise
2009
Melpomene, Muse of Tragedy
Kimberly Rivers Roberts, Katrina survivor
NOPD Tragedy Fund
2010
Calliope, Muse of Epic Poetry
Mary Matalin, political advisor
NO Musician’s Relief Fund
2011
Terpsichore
Liz McCartney, St. Bernard Project
St. Bernard Project, Drop-In Center
Krewe of Muses has also annually donated a ride in our parade to area
charities to enable them to sell the ride to raise funds for their programs.
The Krewe particularly favors organizations which provide services to
women and children. Recipients of our donated ride have included Newcomb
College, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Grace House, and Dress for
Success. In 2007, in order to maximize the proceeds that our recipient
charities receive from the donated ride, we began a program of auctioning
off the ride at our Twelfth Night party and donating the proceeds. This
event resulted in a donation of over $2,000 to Raintree in 2007, and was
part of the overall fundraiser for St. Jude Community Center in 2008.
In 2009, raffle proceeds plus the auctioned ride raised over $4,000 for
Lindy’s Place. In 2010, the ride was auctioned via e-Bay and $2,949
was raised for our 2010 recipient, House of Ruth. St. Bernard Project
received the $3,877 paid for the auctioned ride in 2011.
Our featured symbol, the shoe, has inspired another program instituted
by the Krewe – shoe drives to match the overflow from our members’
excessive shoe collections with women at area rehabilitative programs
who are always happy to receive a new pair of shoes! In addition, shoes
have been donated to an area literacy program as incentives for women
to participate in the program. In 2007, the program was expanded to include
shoes for men and children, who share our love of footwear. Additionally,
the artistry exhibited by Muses who decorate glitter shoes has produced
profits for non-profit organizations when glitter shoes are donated for
silent auctions held at these charities’ own fundraising events.
In 2010, the St. Bernard Project, the American Heart Association, and
the Women’s Business Enterprise Council South were recipients of
custom-made shoes for their silent auctions.
The Krewe of Muses has been spurred to benevolence as a result of tragedy.
After the events of 9/11, the Krewe donated $1,000 each to the New Orleans
Police and Fire Departments and donated free rides in our 2002 parade
to two police officers and fire fighters. In 2004, the Krewe created and
funded a trust to benefit David Allen Bell, the one-year old child of
a woman who was killed on the parade route during our parade that year.
In order to stimulate the raising of funds for this trust, the Krewe instituted
evening cocktail hours called “Thirsty Thursdays,” which featured
door fees or donation from the proceeds of drinks sales as well as raffles
of donated items. The Krewe also created the Muses Foundation, a donor-advised
charitable fund maintained by the Greater New Orleans Foundation. This
foundation enables the Krewe to receive deductible donations which are
utilized to fund our charitable gifts. After funding over $15,000 for
the Bell Trust through Muse donations, proceeds from the Thirsty Thursday
events were then directed to our Foundation.
In 2007, the Thirsty Thursdays were revised to direct the proceeds of
each separate event to a particular designated recipient. Charities that
have received the proceeds of Thirsty Thursdays have included Girls First,
the Metropolitan Battered Women’s Program, CASA New Orleans, and
the Youth Rescue Initiative. More recently, we raised $1,260 for Roots
of Music at our April 2010 Thirsty Thursday. In 2007, we combined our
Twelfth Night party with a vendor bazaar for the benefit of St. Jude Community
Center, which provides services to the homeless, including women with
children. That event netted over $10,000 for St. Jude. In 2008, the bazaar
was held at Kingsley House and raised over $16,700 for that organization,
and again in 2009 the bazaar raised over $11,000 for Kingsley House. Our
summer party also has become a fundraiser, with proceeds from the 2008
event going to the Moms and Babes program of Covenant House, and the 2009
event raised over $6,500 for the New Orleans Women’s Shelter. The
recipient of the $10,246 raised at the 2010 summer party was Hagar’s
House.
Another tragedy to which the Krewe responded with enormous empathy and
generosity was Hurricane Katrina. Despite the great losses suffered by
a significant percentage of our membership, the riders clamored to parade
in 2006 as an act of healing. To assist affected members, the Krewe offered
free throw packages to those riders whose Katrina losses might have otherwise
prevented them from being able to participate in our parade. The Krewe
also made emergency cash grants in 2005 to members who were financially
devastated by the hurricane in order to “tide them over.”
To assist our most vital community partner, the New Orleans Police Department,
the Krewe made a grant in 2006 of $50,000 to the department and challenged
other area Mardi Gras organizations to do the same. For our 2006 parade,
we offered free rides and throw packages to twelve area first responders,
including animal rights and healthcare workers and area law enforcement
officials who valiantly served the community in the early post-Katrina
days. In 2008, the Foundation donated $2,000 to Katrina Warriors to help
fund the Metropolitan Battered Women’s Program in connection with
the Vagina Monologues Tenth Anniversary celebration in New Orleans. Additionally,
in 2010, we collaborated with St. Bernard Project to raise $30,000, $17,000
of which was dedicated to the Katrina rebuild of the home of single mother
Pamela Johnson in New Orleans, and the excess for the charity. An amount
of $5,445 was raised at our 2010 brunch for this cause, plus an additional
$1,199 was raised via solicitations of members. The Twelfth Night Party
raised $7,870 and the auctioned ride raised $3,877.
Bereavement donations have also been made, including $100 to Jewish Family
Services in honor of member Roz Koretzky, $500 to Susan G. Komen Foundation
in honor of Pixie Naquin, and $200 to Bridge House in honor of lieutenant
Jennifer Badeaux.
The television show Treme’ filmed part of our 2011 parade for inclusion
in its depiction of our 2007 parade, and in exchange, the producers of
Treme’ funded a $2,000 donation in 2011 to the Backstreet Museum
through our foundation.
The Krewe has annually thrown a private parade to the residents of Lazarus
House, who are one of our most valued community partners and graciously
decorated our masks for five years. The residents are always enthusiastic
recipients of our best throws. We also throw a mini-parade for the residents
of St. Margaret’s Nursing Home. Muses has previously sponsored mini
parades for patients at Children’s Hospital and the children’s
ward at Tulane Medical Center. Another Muse activity to benefit children
is the sponsorship and staffing of children’s art tables at local
arts events such as the Arts Council’s fall fair, KIDsmART’s
spring fair and other events. The Krewe has also financially sponsored
teams to walk in the Police Foundation’s Walk the Beat event and
organized a team to help rebuild houses for St. Bernard Project.
Would you like to contribute to the Muses Foundation for community support?
We support local charities with a focus on women, children, the arts and
ongoing Katrina recovery. Contributions can be mailed to:
The Krewe of Muses Foundation
5500 Prytania St. #621
New Orleans, LA 70115
" Happy are they whom the Muses love." Hesiod
