“Then I met Ashlye [Keaton], and I realized the Ella Project also was helping musicians. This is invaluable resource to me and all musicians,” he said. “They answer all my legal questions, and it’s incredible that this is free.”

Player has used the Ella Project’s assistance for any number of legal issues, including copyrights, trademarks, contracts, operating agreements, partnership agreements, and establishing his LLC. “No matter what my project, I can count on them for excellent legal advice,” Player added. 

He also gave a shout out to the Ella Project’s Crescendo Program. Attorney Bri Whetstone and musician and music entrepreneur Lou Hill lead the sessions, which are free of charge. It is a series of seven workshops on topics such as copyrights, music licensing, collecting royalties, touring, festival gigs, album releases, and keeping up with the technologies changing the music economy. 

Now in its second week, the 2026 Jazz and Heritage Festival features numerous artist friends and clients of The Ella Project in the Contemporary Crafts, Congo Square African Marketplace, and the Louisiana Marketplace sections that will open to the public on Thursday April 30^th. Here is a preview of the work of Karen Ocker, Chester Allen, and Erica Swanson:

Erica Swanson established her Etsy store EricaLeeArtNOLA in 2015, offering a mix of paintings, pottery, and mixed glass and has sold her artwork and pottery at various local night art markets, Freret Fest, Po Boy Fest, and New Orleans Clayfest. In conversation, Swanson shares how her foundational experiences as an art vendor at the annual Christkindlmarkt at the Deutsches Haus and the Crescent City Blues BBQ Arts Market, both managed by Ella Project’s Gene Meneray, set a standard for well-organized and supportive infrastructure for artist-vendors.

This past Mardi Gras Day was especially memorable for photographer Joshua Lee Nidenberg, known professionally as Joshua Lee. It was the day he took his millionth photograph, as he says “for no apparent reason.”

Lee is a prolific photographer who specializes in the things he loves: images of New Orleans and Louisiana. His more than 20 collections of work include Carnival, Jazz Fest, architecture, food, and so much more. His website calls the images “focused on the Louisiana you remember.”

“I think Cuban musicians are very attracted to New Orleans because we love jazz. Music is quite a serious pursuit in Cuba, and I guarantee the Cuban sound here is only going to grow and strengthen,” Martí said.

  The Ella Project has assisted Lillian with creating contracts for such and for collaborations such as the 2025 Golden Comanche Mardi Gras Indians official poster portrait of Big Chief Juan Pardo. This agreement serves as a template that can be added to for additional editions and future projects. Aguinaga recounts, “Working with Big Chief Juan Pardo just felt right. Our visions have been aligned in this ongoing collab.  When Ashlye helped in building our contract, she made everything feel easy and seamless. She was really there for both of us and so genuinely gung-ho about our collaboration. It’s super refreshing to have someone that excited to help artists do things the right way.”

Five New Orleans-based artists joined together to develop a site with studios at below-market rents and gallery space at 822 Camp Street in New Orleans’ Arts District. Cristina Molina, Sara Madandar, Ryn Wilson, Nurhan Gokturk, and Tom Walton had been variously connected through artist-run gallery The Front and The Joan Mitchell Center Residency program, with additional overlaps throughout New Orleans’ wide-ranging art ecosystem. Their experiences in such environments would shape their vision for an equitable artist-run center with multiple purposes; Camp Street Studios were established first in early 2022, and the Parlour Gallery opened its doors to the public with the inaugural exhibition, “Echoes and Shadows”, in January 2023. This first exhibition spoke to the building’s history as each founding member exhibited artwork that envisioned their presence as part of a larger continuum.

What types of materials are archives looking to have donated? Each archives repository is different. TUSC primarily accepts paper-based items such as business or personal papers, correspondence, memorabilia and other ephemera, and non-commercially available audio or video recordings such as field recordings, interviews, home movies, or personally recorded events.

In the specific case of the Hogan Archive at TUSC, Weber explains that the material should fit their collection policy. Their curatorial vision focuses on the history, culture and community of New Orleans jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel, blues, ragtime, Creole songs, and related musical genres. For example, the archive contains the papers of trumpeter and bandleader Louis Prima, a New Orleans native known for lively swing and jump blues tunes. 

The beginning of this project led Woodworth to the Ella Project again for advice on forming the company. At the same time, he decided to get a master’s degree in filmmaking. He earned his master’s while teaching, editing and writing a screenplay. All this seems normal for Woodworth.

The Ella Project has helped with various legal matters such as contracts, partnership agreements and funding deals. “It usually takes several back and forth versions to get things right,” Woodworth said. “This represents hours of attorney fees that the Ella Project provides pro bono for their clients. I say a big ‘thank you’ for that.” 

Have you ever thought about donating something to a museum? How does it work and how do you find out what they want?

The Ella Project recently spoke with David Kunian, curator at the New Orleans Jazz Museum, to get the answers to these questions and more. At the branch of the State Museum housed in the historic Old U.S. Mint, the focus is on Louisiana music. But other museums have similar criteria, Kunian said…

When Meneray and Ashyle Keaton founded the Ella Project, Curtis followed. “It is such a great resource for artists and so needed,” she exclaimed. She recalled being asked to lead a November 2024 national exhibition for Arts Hancock (of Hancock County, Mississippi) and feeling like she had been “thrown into the fire.” So she reached out to Meneray to be on the selection jury. “As usual, he was so, so helpful,” she said.

It was a month later when, out of the blue, she got a call from Larry Smith at Somerset House Publishing. Being suspicious of scams and phishing, Curtis did her research and learned in fact that Somerset is an arts distribution company with a stable of artists whose images are sold to commercial and private clients, including Buc-ee’s, a Texas-based chain of large roadside convenience stores.

Once she was playing with top bands in Japan, she decided to move to the United States for more opportunities. She first went to New York City, where she has friends. After listening to a lot of live jazz, she decided to visit New Orleans in 1998.

“It was totally different!” she exclaimed. “I liked the groove, and realized this is the place where I wanted to be.”

Although she didn’t know anyone in New Orleans, she had rented a room from a woman who introduced her to piano player Mari Watanabe.

Mark Melasky always seemed to know that he would end up becoming an intellectual property attorney. And the Ella Project is the beneficiary of his expertise for its pro bono patent program, Gulf South Invents. 

 “Even before college,” Melasky said, “I knew that intellectual property was going to be my destiny.”

 Being a successful patent attorney requires a background in engineering or science as well as law…

It didn’t take long for visual artist Dirk Guidry to realize that, if he wanted to be a successful artist, he also had to learn how to be an entrepreneur.

Born and raised in Galliano, Louisiana — “down the bayou,” as he says — Guidry has a close-knit family. “Although no one was a professional artist,” he said, “my family – and my parents in particular – very much appreciated the arts.”

When young Guidry began drawing, his parents had the foresight to enroll him in a summer arts program. By junior high school, he was in a talented arts curriculum, and even took extra classes. He credits the support of his parents and those classes for leading him to the path to become a full-time professional artist…

The Ella Project has joined forces with Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Language and Culture, a division of the French Embassy in the United States. New Orleans is one of 10 U.S. cities with a Villa Albertine office, housed within the Consulate General of France.

Villa Albertine offers artists’ residencies as well as professional development programs to French artists. The Ella Project is one of the local organizations helping the visiting artists make connections they need to meet their residency goals.

These cross-cultural exchanges benefit everyone, according to Ella Project co-founder Gene Meneray…

Big Chief Juan Pardo of the Golden Comanche tribe was born into New Orleans’ beloved Black Masking Indian tradition. He grew up experiencing family members’ sewing, dancing, singing and masking. He followed his older brother, Wallace Pardo, who was the Spy Boy in the Golden Arrows tribe under the leadership of Big Chief Eugene “Pepe” Esteban. 

 Throughout his career masking, as well as his numerous other artistic pursuits, he said, The Ella Project has been his “lawyer on retention.” Pardo considers The Ella Project team an invaluable resource. They respect the traditions that sprang from New Orleans’ backstreets and work to protect the culture bearers.

“I’ve always been creative, and New Orleans is certainly a good fit,” he said. “Creativity runs deep here. I’d say by any standard it’s the most culturally rich place in the country, if not the world.” 

Now an award-winning musician, Robin Barnes is aptly named “The Songbird of New Orleans.” Her repertoire spans the soft and soulful to the powerful and electrifying. A commanding stage presence, she can be heard singing R&B, funk, soul, and jazz, to mention a few. Her high-energy soul funk band, the Fiya Birds, regularly appears with her at festivals. 

She came to the Ella Project after she was asked to license a song for television. It was her friend Bethany Paulsen who pointed her in the right direction. “And I never looked back!” Barnes says. “I cannot imagine what my life would be like if I didn’t have the Ella Project.”

The Crescendo program is more of a conversation than a lecture. Musicians’ stories and actual situations are used to present the information. The combination of Whetstone’s and Hill’s perspectives is what makes the series so dynamic. 

 Whetstone’s advice centers on the legalities of the industry — and watching out for red flags. Hill’s guidance centers more on the strategies and processes of the music business. 

 “We want to make the material relatable,” Whetstone said. Now in its sixth year, the series is available virtually in Louisiana and in-person at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Although participants can pick and choose which sessions to attend, the series is designed to build a body of knowledge in sequential order. 

 Knowing how important it is to have good legal advice and representation, Williams says, "I've recommended the Ella Project to all my friends who have brokered deals and needed legal counsel, whether it’s management, sync or publishing.