Boarded Up Foundation
Boarded Up Foundation was created in the heart of Deep Ellum in Dallas, Texas by Ron Wilson and Joey Hamende, owners of Louie Louie’s Piano Bar. In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, like many businesses around the globe, Ron and Joey watched as their local neighbor’s restaurants and bars of Deep Ellum boarded up windows and doors. Ron and Joey knew these closures would create such a financial strain on the musicians who relied on performing as their source of income, so the idea of Boarded Up Foundation was born. Initially an aid to help displaced artists during the pandemic, Boarded Up Foundation has grown into a complete non-profit. Our mission is completely focused on providing free resources and opportunities to help music artists strive to find their footing within the music industry. As we grow, Boarded Up will always remember where our grass roots began and can’t wait to share our passion for helping musicians thrive.
Our Mission
The Boarded Up Foundation mission is to provide complimentary resources such as live music videos, website building, and internships to empower the journeys of those seeking success in the music industry. Our role is to act as a standing resource to propel artists’ careers through the Production, Promotion, and Preservation of independent music and to help bring awareness to careers in the music industry. We serve ALL genres and music fields. We offer a variety of programs in service to artists, these resources help independent artists create a demo for future venues and help talented students find scholarships or potential employment opportunities. Most importantly, Boarded Up provides all of these services FREE to the artists and FREE to the public to enjoy!
Our Team
*From Left to Right*
Paul Trausch , Anthony "Oddy" Williams, Jasmin Mirik, Joey Hamende, Kate Hamende, Naida Harrell, Jacob Hernandez, Eleanor Aiken, Ron Wilson
We are lucky and grateful that our foundation has grown and we now have a very special team that works in specialized areas of our cause. Our team consists of our founders, office manager, social media technicians, video editors, sound engineers, camera operators, and photographers; all of whom often collaborate and work together and are not solely confined to their positions. We believe this makes our team stronger and adds to our creative ability to reach our collective goals, as well as allows our staff to grow and dabble in their areas of interest.