Nearly three decades ago, House of Blues was founded with a simple but powerful mantra far ahead of its time in the U.S.:

Unity in Diversity.

The pursuit of peace, love, community, and acceptance has guided the organization’s cultural development daily and continues to gain new meaning and applications over the passing of time

House of Blues is committed to using its venues, voice, and platform to advocate passionately for human expression, racial equality and spiritual harmony.

The House of Blues mission is to celebrate and demonstrate the power of music to bring people together. Its founders drew inspiration from world culture, art and spiritual tenets in order to create a welcoming environment that would bring forth the mantra, Unity in Diversity.

The founders of House of Blues embraced American blues music as a testament to its mission, and sought to celebrate blues history through live music, art and cuisine.

House of Blues venues are home to the largest permanently displayed collection of Outsider and American Folk Art, often referred to as Southern Vernacular Art. More than 150 untrained, self-taught and mostly African-American artists are represented in this living museum that features artwork that is as diverse as the music on the House of Blues stages. Notable artists such as Mose T., Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Leroy Almon, Roy Ferdinand, Howard Finster, Richard Burnside, Ruth Mae McCrane, Jon Bok and Archie Byron, to name just a few, created emotional, raw, primitive and powerful pieces which serve as a Visual Blues, and is exhibited on the walls of all its restaurants and music halls. Art and music portraying 20th century black Americans is a powerful representation of the cultural journey toward healing the traumas of slavery and systemic racism. In the presence of darkness and division, artistic expression brings forth the light of creation and community