NEW ORLEANS—In early August, Historic River Street welcomed JAMNOLA, a 5,400-square-foot experiential exhibit curated to meet all of the city's Instagramming needs. Open through next fall, the interactive museum has already welcomed over 15,000 attendees to its 60-minute experience, which includes 12 rooms that pull influence from and pay tribute to New Orleans (think rooms highlighting NOLA's annual Mardi Gras parade, hometown hero Louis Armstrong, and, of course, Louisiana crawfish).
But how does a seemingly high touchpoint operation open during a pandemic? BizBash chatted with JAMNOLA co-founder Jonny Liss to get the low down.
How did inspiration spark for JAMNOLA?
I have had a deep love for all things New Orleans since my first Jazz Fest in 1992. I’ve always had a passion for happiness, too, and wanted to create something that made people smile. New Orleans could be the only place to bring JAM (joy, art, music), and we wanted to support the cultural economy. I knew this was the perfect place to work with local artists and culture contributors to create a piece of happiness.
What extra safety measures did your team have to implement in order to open the photo-driven pop-up amid the pandemic?
We really think of ourselves as the experiential museum and cultural funhouse of the ‘new normal.’ We were in the process of building our exhibits when the pandemic hit earlier this year, and were able to work with our artists to reimagine our exhibits to be less hands-on. Tickets must be reserved online, in advance, and admission is limited to semiprivate and private tours of no more than six people to allow for necessary social distancing. All our guests and staff are required to wear face masks, too.
Why was this fall the perfect time to open JAMNOLA?
We took a risk opening an experiential museum in the middle of a pandemic and gave it our all to combat the negativity in the world to give people joy. When I set out to open JAMNOLA, I didn’t know that I would be opening in a year like 2020. I feel that happy moments and experiences are needed now more than ever. My intention was to bring people in for a fun experience, but now I feel like it’s so much more.
Keep scrolling for a closer look inside the experience.
