What’s Happening at BHEF

Follow the Blues Heritage & Education Foundation as we build new opportunities to preserve, teach, document, and celebrate blues heritage on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

From hands-on folk arts education to cultural storytelling and community partnerships, this is where you can keep up with BHEF’s latest work.

Upcoming

BHEF Heads to Huntsville for Cigar Box Guitar Training

August 28–29, 2026 | Huntsville, Alabama

The Blues Heritage & Education Foundation is preparing for an important next step in the development of its Cigar Box Guitar Heritage & Education Program.

BHEF will travel to Huntsville, Alabama, for specialized training with Jeff and Tara Mello of The Cigar Box Guitar Store at Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment.

The training will focus on the knowledge and practical skills BHEF needs to bring hands-on cigar box guitar education back to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

This training is part of BHEF’s commitment to learning the tradition responsibly before teaching it to others.

Following the training, BHEF will continue developing its Gulf Coast educational workshops and programming.

[LEARN ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS]

BHEF News

Mississippi Arts Commission Awards BHEF $4,750 Grant

The Blues Heritage & Education Foundation has been awarded a $4,750 Fiscal Year 2027 Organization Project Grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission.

The grant supports BHEF’s development of a folk arts education program centered on cigar box guitars.

The project will combine traditional craftsmanship, blues heritage, hands-on learning, music education, and cultural storytelling to help participants experience a musical tradition rather than simply read about it.

For BHEF, the award represents an important step from organizational development into active cultural programming on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

[LEARN ABOUT THE CIGAR BOX GUITAR PROGRAM]

Building the Foundation for Gulf Coast Blues Education

BHEF is continuing to develop the organizational foundation needed to deliver sustainable heritage and educational programming.

Current work includes preparing for specialized folk-arts training, developing educational materials, establishing program procedures, building community partnerships, and creating the infrastructure needed to responsibly manage and expand BHEF’s work.

Our priority is not simply to create events.

We are building programs that can be repeated, improved, documented, and passed forward.

In Development

After the Smoke Clears

BHEF continues to develop After the Smoke Clears, a Gulf Coast cultural documentation and storytelling initiative.

The project is being designed to preserve the voices, memories, experiences, places, and people connected to blues culture on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Future storytelling may include recorded interviews, oral histories, video and audio features, community reporting, artist conversations, and documentation of the places and traditions that helped shape Gulf Coast music.

[LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS]

Coming to the Mississippi Gulf Coast

Following completion of its specialized cigar box guitar training, BHEF will move into the next phase of developing hands-on educational programming for the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Future program announcements—including workshop dates, locations, registration information, and community partnerships—will be posted here as they are confirmed.

We do not announce dates until the details are ready.

Check back for updates.

Partner With BHEF

Are you a school, museum, library, church, arts organization, cultural institution, community organization, or other group interested in working with BHEF?

We are interested in partnerships involving:

• Blues heritage education
• Cigar box guitar workshops
• Folk arts and craftsmanship
• Oral histories and cultural documentation
• Community storytelling
• Educational demonstrations
• Gulf Coast cultural programs