Country Music Hall of Fame
|
|
Country_Music_Hall_of_Fame.jpg
2001 - Present
In 1961, the Country Music Association (CMA) announced the creation of the Country Music Hall of Fame. The first three inductees, Jimmie Rodgers, Fred Rose and Hank Williams, were announced at a CMA banquet in November. Bronze plaques, with the facial likeness and a thumbnail biography of each new member, were cast in bas relief. They were unveiled on the Grand Ole Opry by Ernest Tubb. These plaques, and those for subsequent Hall of Fame inductees, were displayed in the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville until 1967.
In 1963, the CMA announced that a Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was to be built on Music Row in Nashville. In that same year, Tennessee chartered the Country Music Foundation (CMF) as a nonprofit, educational organization to operate the museum.
CountryMusicHallofFame1967.jpg
1967 - 2000
On May 17, 2001, the CMF held the grand opening of its new $37,000,000 facility in downtown Nashville. Featured exhibits include "Sing Me Back Home: A Journey through Country Music", with a collection of original recordings, instruments, costumes, photographs, et cetera, as well as the Hall of Fame Rotunda, which displays the plaques of all the inductees to the Country Music Hall of Fame. An intimate concert venue, the Ford Theatre, is also located within the building.
The new building's exterior is laced with symbolic images. The most obvious of these are the windows that look like the black keys of a piano. More conspicuous images include the diamond-shaped radio mast, which is a miniaturized replica of the WSM tower located a few miles south of Nashville. The round discs surrounding the tower symbolize the different size records and CDs country music has been recorded upon. When viewed from the air, the building is in the shape of a bass clef.
Many have commented the museum is facing the wrong direction. The museum's artistic front side faces toward the downtown area, while only the blank rear side of the building is visible to any skyline-viewers. Architects claim the building was meant to face downtown so visitors would be able to view the historic Ryman Auditorium, longtime home of the Grand Ole Opry, from the glass-encased lobby. Ironically, a large high-rise hotel has since been built between the museum and the Ryman, thereby obstructing the view.
See also
External link
- Country Music Hall of Fame (http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/)