The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong

Internationally renowned as a trumpet player and vocalist, Louis Armstrong created more than 500 collages, clipped and assembled from photographs, news stories, postcards, letters, telegrams, and other items. It is said that he "artfully affixed these collages to the boxes of his vast private collection of audio tapes."

An exhibit of these collages is currently on display at The Louis Armstrong House Museum in Corona, Queens, New York. The exhibit, A Little Story of My Own: Louis Armstrong's Collages, opened April 7, 2009 and will continue through July 12, 2009.

Another exhibit of large scale reproductions of Armstrong's collages is on display at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. This exhibit, The Collage Aesthetic of Louis Armstrong: "In the Cause of Happiness.", opened May 2, 2009 and continues through September 26, 2009.

These exhibits coincide with the release of an art book of Armstrong's collages titled Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong. The publisher describes the book as "a biography in the form of an art book. It tells the story of Armstrong's life through his writings, scrapbooks, and artworks, many of which have never been published before."