Grammy Museum President and CEO Michael Sticka highlighted the museum’s work to reach more students post-COVID through the museum’s education program while accepting the Music Education and Advocacy Leadership Award presented by City National Bank at Variety’s seventh annual Hitmakers event.
“Being the President and CEO of the Grammy Museum has been the highlight of my career. Part of this is because it’s allowed me to meet some of my childhood idols along the way – giving Dolly Parton a personal tour of her exhibit was certainly one of those pinch-me moments, and I consider myself genuinely lucky that I get to combine my passion for the arts and music each and every day,” said Sticka. “But without question, the greatest part of my job is working alongside the fantastic team at the Museum. Our team is one of the hardest working in the industry, their collective passion for what we do is contagious, and my success is simply a result of theirs.”
The CEO continued: “The last few years were incredibly challenging as we faced a 14-month closure due to the pandemic and like so many other arts and culture institutions around the country, diminished attendance after we re-opened. However, I am proud to say that not only are we now seeing pre-covid attendance numbers again, but this past year we reached more students through our music education programs than ever before. And it is music education, which is woven throughout everything we do at the Museum, that brings us together today.”
Serving more than 530,000 students, Sticka went on to highlight the Grammy Museum’s previous work that includes hosting thousands of education and community engagement programs as well as nightly public programs, its curation of over 100 exhibits and more than $3 million in scholarships and financial grants that have been awarded.
“Our music education programs are possible because we have access to some of the greatest leaders, teachers, and professionals in the music industry. And we are committed to ensuring that every student who walks through our doors or participates in one of our nationwide programs has an opportunity to discover music, and a career in music, in a new way.”
Last year, the Grammy Museum announced the Campaign for music Education to raise money for its educational programming with the goal of offering free admission to the museum for all students and branching out its education programs across the country.
“We were thrilled that – Billie, Dua Lipa, Bruno Mars, Shawn Mendes, and Rosalia all joined our cause as co-chairs for this campaign,” Sticka continued, gesturing toward the “What Was I Made For” singer, who was also honored with Variety’s Film Song of the Year Award.
“I’m excited to share with you all, as the Museum celebrates our 15th anniversary this week, that we have reached a critical milestone in the Campaign and we are very close to reaching our goal of making the Grammy Museum free for all K-12 students,” Sticka said, in closing. “This will bring us one step closer to removing barriers to music education for students of all ages and I thank our many generous Campaign donors for making this possible.”
