The Northshore Regional Endowment For The Arts

The Northshore Regional Endowment For The Arts is an organization that was formed in June 2001 by Ted J. Hudspeth, Sr., MD. He is a family practice physician at Ochsner Clinic Foundation in Hammond, LA and practices medicine in the same hospital that he was born in, North Oaks Medical Center. Having grown up in Tangipahoa Parish and having once been a music teacher in the area, he felt that the children of the area could use more music and art exposure and a chance to learn those as talents. He also believed that young aspiring musicians and artists of the region should have more support for their talents in the way of fostering refinement and promotion.

With this as his base, an opportunity was afforded him in May of 2001.  Working closely with The Ponchatoula Chamber of Commerce, he was able to form the region’s newest and most exciting festivals.  Called "The Strawberry Jam’n Toast To The Arts", it hosted 40 bands and performers on 6 different stages and 26 artists on the streets of Historic Downtown Ponchatoula. As a festival, it was a wonderful venue that provided regional musicians and artists an opportunity to be seen and heard. As an offshoot of his yet-to-be-formed Northshore Regional Endowment For The Arts, he saw it as a potential financial supporter to accomplish the goals of what he dreamed The Northshore Regional Endowment For The Arts could do.

After having a successful event on May 26, 2001, he worked with childhood friend and fellow musician, Douglas Brown, who is now an attorney in Hammond, LA. Together, they worked to register the organization with the State of Louisiana and later assembled a very strong board. These people include the head of the Music & Arts Dept at Southeastern Louisiana University, Dr. David Evenson, an art professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, Don Marshall, a grant writer for Tulane College, Crystal Rock, an LSU graduate of music, Becky Eymard, O.T., then assistant Hammond City Attorney, Douglas Brown, a local musician who knew many of the local groups in the Northshore music scene, Diana Buras, LPN, and the founder of the organization, Ted J. Hudspeth, Sr., MD. After the first year, two other members have been added which include Mrs. Mary Scanduro who has been very influential in the success of each of the festivals and Mrs. Mary Hudspeth, RPh who has assisted with the entire concept of the Endowment and the Festival since its inception.

As an organization, it has three written purposes. First, the Endowment will promote music and art education for the children of the Northshore Region. Secondly, musicians and artists will be promoted in the Region. Thirdly, the Endowment will raise the level of awareness of music and art amongst the residents of the region. This will be accomplished by sponsoring children in music and art programs in this area. The Endowment has sponsored the teaching of music to students from the Ponchatoula and Hammond area.  This has been done at the Community Music School at Southeastern Louisiana University under the direction of Dr. Thais Perkins.  In 2004, the Endowment sponsored three a direct teaching project in which a music educator went to 3 different parish schools and educated 100's of students on the differences between all of the stringed instruments.  This included teaching the differences between various musical styles that the stringed instruments can be used in.  The was capped off by performances in the schools by string musicians.  The highlight of the year was the enrollment of every 5th grader in the Ponchatoula school district into the Recorder Music Program at Ponchatoula Jr. High School.  In this program, the Northshore Regional Endowment For The Arts purchased recorders, CD's and the music for all of these students to take a semester of music with the music educator, Mrs. Claudia Landry.  The Endowment also funded the purchase of a computer for the talented and gifted art program here in the parish and we paid for all of the art supplies that are used in the program for the entire year.  This program services 10 different public schools in Tangipahoa Parish.

Increasing the venues where musicians and artists can be seen and heard will be the main way that the endowment will help musicians and by pooling marketing and promotional energies, more can be recognized for what they do. The endowment has sponsored and completed various compilation CD's of  the regions most popular bands and plans to use this as a tool to promote these musicians with promoters and marketers. Providing free web pages for all of these musicians and artists is also a way for these guys to be seen by folks who may never have seen them before.

As the organization moves forward, plans are in the works for building The Louisiana Museum of Music & Art.  It is hoped that this will start  as a "museum without walls" in which the entire downtown Ponchatoula area will become "the museum". It is Dr. Hudspeth’s plan to put items of interest in each business in the downtown area with respect to the musical and artistic history of the region. A walking tour of this will be published and will be one more attraction to lure tourists to the downtown antique area. As this grows, it is hoped that one day, an actual building to house all of the artifacts will be built. It is hoped that this will have an outdoor ampitheatre so that bands can play in the downtown area and also a recording studio that will allow many bands from the region to record their music. Also, this will provide a home for the Northshore Regional Endowment For The Arts. Mrs. Irma Thomas, the Soul Queen of New Orleans was born in Ponchatoula and was the first inductee into The Louisiana Museum of Music & Arts Hall of Fame.  She received The Lifetime Achievement Award from the Northshore Regional Endowment For The Arts on March 23, 2002.