Envisioned as a synthesis of two important aspects of New Orleans culture—its unique architectural heritage and its wildly musical spirit—The Music Box struck a chord with residents, eventually expanding to become a permanent fixture of the city.

The Music Box currently resides in New Orleans’ upper 9th Ward, and hosts performances by artists such as Tank and the Bangas, The Sun Ra Arkestra, and Preservation Hall Jazz Band, as well as local school field trips and project-based learning experiences. Airlift has gone on to create hundreds of unlikely collaborations that use art and music as a tool to rebuild community. 

The Music Box rose up in direct response to the heavy toll that Hurricane Katrina exacted on all aspects of life in New Orleans, including its arts and architecture.  

From 2011-2017, Swoon and the Heliotrope Foundation helped the arts organization New Orleans Airlift to create The Music Box; transforming a condemned shotgun house in the Bywater section of New Orleans into a playable musical village that is a living testament to the healing capacity of play and wonder.

A collaboration between dozens of builders, artists and musicians, the Music Box village is part homemade playground and part experimental music hall.