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The subtext of the "I Can't Stop Loving You" special exhibition about Ray Charles at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum affirms how the music was the catalyst of civil rights and a sea change in race relations. And like any institution of higher learning, particularly those with religious callings, the scholarship and mission does not end at the close of the school day. The Country Music Hall of Fame spreads its musical gospel in paper, plastic, and over the airwaves. During the last 20 years, Country Music Foundation Press, the in-house publishing arm of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, has produced some 24 meticulously researched and entertaining books about country music and its history. The Hall's magazine, The Journal of Country Music, is published three times a year to critical acclaim. The foundation also produces CDs and DVDs from both archival sources and contemporary artists. "We are always trying to reach out and help the public have more exposure to what we have," says Young.  The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum safeguards a million priceless artifacts for the public to enjoy. What the public does not see in the repository is daunting: recordings, papers, instruments, documents, photographs, films, music scores, letters, costumes, posters and artifacts, approaching a million specimens, and all needing preservation. Every stage of country's long history has left an imprint on the music, and each impression is secured in the hands of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. And every week something happens. A new star is born, another dies, as the genre of country music morphs and evolves as does the nation from whose heart it was born. Such is both the blessing and curse for a museum director like Young. Dinosaur fossils don't change much – either in the ground or behind glass cases. The exhibits at the Museum of Natural History in New York look and smell the same as when I was a kid. "We are an organic and dynamic place, a living museum, and so much more than what people normally associate with the exhibits," says Young. In part the location of the hall in Nashville – at country music's ground zero – makes Young's job as full as it is challenging. "We are documenting the history of this music in the very town where so much of it is being made, and was always made," he says. "To be able to tap those people who are actually doing it distinguishes this place from anywhere else." This year alone the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will present some 170 different programs to the public, ranging from songwriter and musician workshops, instrument demonstrations and outreach to schools. "From a 'how pleasant is your job point of view?' the incredible generosity and creative energy in this town is something very unique and wonderful." From a business model, the Country Music Hall of Fame is also unique in the world of not-for-profit museums. Though most such institutions typically draw 70 to 80 percent of their annual operating budgets from philanthropy – and the remainder from visitor commerce – the Country Music Hall of Fame is the inverse. About 75 percent of its funding comes from visitors and ancillary enterprises, relying on charitable contributions for only a quarter of its needs. From a donor point of view, this statistic underscores a confidence that their philanthropy is bolstering a healthy endeavor.
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Newswire 
