Alternative Arts New Orleans

Changing URL!!! to ARTSWAMP

2008-02-08T16:42:00.001-06:00

Alt Arts New Orleans is changing it's URL

please visit ART SWAMP starting 2-10-08

and we are welcoming a new weekly-ish contributor, Laura Blereau

Please check in to ART SWAMP frequently and don't forget to bookmark!!!!

Brooks Frederick

2008-02-06T14:19:00.001-06:00

January 17 – February 14, 2008
Abercrombie Gallery - McNeese State University
Closing Reception & Artist's Talk: 6-8 PM, Feb 14

Is it conservative or edgy to paint the bayou today? Might environmental activism be approached by simply putting the brush to canvas, depicting locations such as Cocodrie? Majestic waters fill the picture plane in Brooks Frederick's plein air panoramas, illuminating estuaries lying between the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers- about 85 miles south of New Orleans and home to the LUMCON laboratory.

Featuring more than fifty paintings and drawings, Frederick's recent landscapes depicting the Louisiana coastal wetlands are among the highlights offered by a new solo exhibition in Lake Charles. Based in Brooklyn for the last eight years, Frederick is a native of Houma who trained at an early age in color visualist technique with Henry Hensche . After attending LSU-BR and McNeese, he received a Masters from the New York Academy of Art in 2005. These days Frederick is influenced by Lennart Anderson, and seeks painted representation that offers us new possibilities for classic forms.

Posted by Laura Blereau

BECA opening Feb 9

2008-01-31T23:08:00.000-06:00

Here's a little post-Mardi Gras event for you... If you're in New Orleans please join us for Connection, BECA gallery's first international exhibition, opening February 9, 2008. This juried group exhibition was curated by Caroline Worthington, Curator of Art, York Museums Trust, York Art Gallery, England.

The exhibition features the following selected 16 artists from 9 countries:
Richard Bennett (Alabama, USA), Matthew Derezinski (Missouri, USA), Naomee Guest (Florida, USA), Pat Jolly (Louisiana, USA), Master Sun-Don Lee (Taiwan), Alberto Accettura + Florian Lüdde (Milan, Italy + Berlin, Germany), Margaret McLeish (Scotland, UK), Mary Anne Morrison (England, UK), Robert Peters ( Northern Ireland, UK), Jane Ponsford (England, UK), Zack Smith (Louisiana, USA), STASS+VOTSIS (Cyprus), Francine Stock (Louisiana, USA) and Hansen Thiam Sun (Bali, Indonesia)

Connection will run from February 9 – March 1, 2008 with an opening reception on Feb. 9th from 6-9pm.

address: BECA gallery
527 St. Joseph Street (directly across the street from the CAC)
New Orleans, LA 70130
HOURS: Wed-Sun (11am - 4pm and by appointment)
(504) 566-8999
becagallery(at)gmail.com

Education Coordinator position

2008-01-27T19:14:00.000-06:00

for U. S. Biennial, see Craigslist link

The House that Herman Built

2008-01-27T18:42:00.000-06:00

The House that Herman Built is a project by New York artist / activist Jackie Sumell. She began writing Angola prisoner Herman Wallace, a member of the Black Panther Party who has been in solitary confinement at Angola for 35 years. She asked him the question: What kind of house does a man who has lived in a 6 foot x 9 foot cell for over 30 years dream of? Check out this project about the strength and freedom found in the imagination.

LA Artworks Art Session Jan 29th

2008-01-25T18:09:00.000-06:00

The Role of the Artist, the Role of the Architect, in "Percent for Art"
Tues, Jan 29th 7-9pm Union Passenger Terminal, 1001 Loyola Ave at Howard Ave, 2nd floor

Moderator: Robert Tannen

Panel:
Mary Len Costa, Arts Council of New Orleans
Arthur Q. Davis, FAIA
Allen Eskew, FAIA Eskew+Dumez+Ripple
Kendal Henry, formerly of Arts for Transit MTA NY

‘Gray Ghost’ feuds with Nola Rising creator

2008-01-22T20:26:00.001-06:00

Reblogged from City Business online magazine:

Michael Dingler of Nola Rising has a court date on March 18th, in Orleans Parish Civil Court, for more than 1,100 counts of unlawfully posting signs on telephone poles, an act that he and many who view his signs consider an artistic and positive one. What a blow for artists in this city if Fred Radtke, aka The Grey Ghost, wins this one. Read the City Business article linked above, which brings up the question "Why isn't Fred Radtke's grey paint considered graffiti and an illegal act?"
See Michael's blog here, this affects all of us who wish to work in the public sphere.

The Carroll Gallery presents

2008-01-21T20:03:00.000-06:00

Marc-Anthony Polizzi: Thank you . . . Can I go home now?

A Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition of
site-specific installations and sculptures of glass and steel

Exhibition dates: January 23 – February 1, 2008
Reception: Thursday, January 24, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

more images of artwork by Marc-Anthony Polizzi

Gallery hours: M – F, 9 am – 4 pm
For more information, please contact:
**********************************
Laura Richens
Curator, Carroll Gallery, Newcomb Art Department
Woldenberg Art Center, Tulane University
phone: 504.314.2228

interview with Willie Birch

2008-01-20T22:52:00.000-06:00

by Billy Sothern
orignially posted in the blog The Brooklyn Rail

BECA Call to Artists - due Feb 21

2008-01-18T22:40:00.000-06:00

A call for 2D and 3D submissions for the second international emerging contemporary art group exhibition at BECA gallery, New Orleans

‘Mirror for the 21st Century’

Art is the means by which we communicate what it feels like to be alive.

- Antony Gormley

THEME: “Art is often described as reflecting the spirit of an age, providing an insight into the complexities of living in a particular time, place or society.

How will the early years of the third millennium be characterized? The theme for this exhibition focuses on works that reflect a personal or collective experience of what it means to be alive now and is open to artists globally. It can document a brief, individual moment, explore wider issues that relate to contemporary life or suggest cultural strategies for improving lives locally, nationally and internationally.” – Helen Pheby, PhD.

CURATOR and JUROR – Helen Pheby, PhD, Deputy Curator, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, England.

For more details, see link.

Katrina: An Unnatural Disaster

2008-01-17T09:26:00.001-06:00

See the work of the 31 Katrina Media Fellows, including the work of the Lower 9th's Keith Calhoun and Chandra McCormick, at the Open Society Institute's website. Lots of film, writing, photography and radio work all online, thanks to the Soros Foundation.

The New Orleans Artists Guild

2008-01-17T09:20:00.000-06:00

Dear Friends,

It is with great pleasure & anticipation that I write to you today, formally inviting you to a gathering this SUNDAY, JANUARY 20 at 2:00PM, 828 LESSEPS in the BYWATER (many thanks to poet Lee Grue for opening her home to this event), for a "founders" meeting of THE NEW ORLEANS ARTISTS GUILD.
This will be an all-inclusive, community-wide organization whose singular mission is to manifest the prospective goals & visions of all its members/participants for the purpose of underscoring the vital role and contributions of ARTS & ARTISTS in our dear community.
I can not overstate the importance of YOUR presence at this gathering of New Orleans artists.

The fundamental initiatives set forth for this gathering are:

1. To present clear-sighted objectives & resouces to individuals who wish to establish their own press for the purpose of publishing books, broadsides, journals, magazines & anthologies with the aid The New Orleans Artists Guild.

2. To initiate "outreach programs" for the New Orleans community via the Arts, comprised of members of the New Orleans Artists Guild, to present programs, presentations & workshops specifically designed to engage individiuals in hospices, disabilities homes, elderly homes, juevenile deliquents, etc.

3. To design an on-going curriculum of affordable workshops through the resources of The New Orleans Artists Guild in all the ARTS to be available for all ages city-wide who wish to enroll.

4. To help promote, support & inspire "neighborhood" interest in all currently established & new programs, poetry readings, art openings, etc. through the network of The New Orleans Artists Guild.

As a community, I have every reason to believe that, together, each of our own personal goals can be achieved with a great sense of purpose.

As a catalyst for these endeavors, I will strive for personal encouragement, new-found wisdoms (and old), collaborative ideas, consummate professionalism; and above all else, a thoughtful environment which can provide each individual with the best opportunity to transform their vision into a reality.

With our unwavering strengths & abiding focus as artists helping one another toward our personal objectives, and whose whose mission, and constitution, will provide guidance, inspiration and resources, for projects which otherwise might not have the opportunity to be fully realized, I know 2008 will be an extraordinary year for each of us in this great community.

Please make plans to attend this very special occasion!

Sincerest Regards,
Dave Brinks

REFRESHMENTS WILL BE AVAILABLE
ALONG WITH CRAWFISH & ALLIGATOR JAMBALAYA
AS WELL AS LEE GRUE'S AMAZING GUMBO!

2008 In Memorium

Mr. ELUARD BURT
Mr. ROBERT TURK "YICTOVE"

Note: 17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series will resume its weekly presentations on Thursday, February 7 @ 8:00pm -- featuring poets JOHN SINCLAIR and LEE GRUE, followed by OPEN MIC

Artspeak

2008-01-15T18:11:00.000-06:00

2008-01-08T23:01:00.000-06:00

BECA gallery

2008-01-08T22:57:00.000-06:00

A Bridge for Contemporary Art Opens in New Orleans
A new programme for emerging contemporary art has planted itself among the arts and cultural renewal of New Orleans, LA. In the midst of the post-Katrina landscape BECA gallery is surfacing as a bridge by which emerging contemporary art flows between New Orleans and the larger contemporary art community abroad. The artist run gallery is an 1100 square foot renovated warehouse space situated in the heart of the New Orleans arts district. It is located at 527 Saint Joseph St. directly across the street from the Contemporary Arts Center and within close walking distance to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. BECA gallery will host 12 exhibits each year. Six exhibits feature local, regional and national emerging contemporary art and 6 exhibits feature international emerging contemporary art.

For its opening exhibit BECA gallery presents the 'Gulf South Regional Contemporary Art Exhibit' from January 5 - 31, 2008. Please join us for the opening reception taking place on January 5, 2008 from 6pm-9pm. The purpose of the 'Gulf South Regional Contemporary Art Exhibit' is to discover and highlight new emerging Gulf South contemporary artists, their current work and the ideas that are motivating their creative processes. This group exhibition will feature new works by some of the most engaging visual artists residing in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida who work in 2-D and 3-D mediums. One artist from this group exhibition has been chosen for a future solo exhibit and details will be announced to the public on January 5th.

BECA

2008-01-02T17:34:00.001-06:00

Hi all,

A friend of ours just finished helping us to set up a way to accept submissions for the BECA international exhibit via email. This is going to make it so much easier for artists to submit their work. When you have a moment, please let the artists you know that they can now go to the link I sent earlier at http://becagallery.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/11/beca-gallery--1.html and download the information to submit via email. We are so grateful for techie friends!!

Best wishes and Happy Holidays,
~ Melissa

Studio In The Woods Restoration Residency

2007-12-19T08:01:00.000-06:00

Deadline January 4

A Studio in the Woods continues to offer Restoration Residencies into 2008 in order to give New Orleans artists the opportunity to rebuild their artistic lives and by extension contribute to and even inspire the rebuilding of our city.

Month-long Restoration Residencies are specifically designed for local visual artists, musicians, composers, writers and performing artists who experienced significant loss due to the hurricane and the failure of the federal levees, and who are in the process of reconstructing their lives and artistic careers here in New Orleans.

Restoration Residencies provide lodging, food, studio space and uninterrupted time in the rustic, natural setting in a bottomland hardwood forest on the West Bank of New Orleans. Also provided are transportation costs to and from New Orleans and within the city, a $2000 stipend and supply costs up to $1000.

March 9 April 6 (Application due January 4, notification by January 15) April 10 May 8 (Application due January 4, notification by January 15)
For more INFO, GUIDELINES and APPLICATION go to www.asitw.org

Quintron's "Metal Machine Music"

2007-12-18T07:58:00.000-06:00

Quintron delivers a Drum Buddy to a special client -
Reblogged from Rhizome - see link

Convening at LA Artworks SUNDAY

2007-12-14T17:04:00.001-06:00

From LA Artworks director Joy Glidden:

On December 16th from 3-5 PM, Louisiana ArtWorks will be holding the December artists’ convening session. We will be meeting at the Louisiana ArtWorks building, at 725 Howard Avenue. Artists in attendance will have the opportunity to voice problems, suggest solutions, share opportunities and resources, and discuss trends.
We will also be giving a tour of the Louisiana ArtWorks building, including the metalworking, ceramics, glassblowing, and printmaking workshops, as well as the artists’ studios. The convenings have been a fascinating component of Louisiana ArtWorks programming thus far; please join us on the 16th and help us continue to move them forward!
Pass the word to other artists, and be there promptlyat 3pm this Sunday.

DesCours

2007-12-14T16:59:00.001-06:00

Last weekend for DesCours, thanks to humidhaney for the concise arrangement of all the events in the order below.
also see Doug MacCash's blog for info and some photos

FRENCH QUARTER
723 Ursuline Ave. -- Michael Fox and Juintow Lin (FoxLin)
828 N. Rampart St. -- Marcella Del Signore
831 Dauphine St. -- Allison Kudla
926 Orleans Ave. -- Howeler Yoon Architecture
926 Toulouse St. -- FutureProof
726 Saint Peter St. (Preservation Hall) -- Noel Fisher

CANAL STREET
1015 Canal St. -- David Sullivan
920 Canal St. -- Anonymous
920 Canal St. -- Nano
800 Canal St. -- Nano
800 Canal St. -- Atomless
700 Canal St. -- Noah Klersfeld

ST. ROCH NEIGHBORHOOD
NOTE: These shows open on Dec. 10.
2448 N. Villere St. -- Erica Gangsei
1338 Arts St., -- Edward Bekkerman, Lisa Lozano and Gayle Laird
2459 N. Villere St. -- Janice Bellatto
1335 Music St. -- Natsu
2457 N. Villere St. -- Margaret Evangeline
2449 N. Villere St. -- Anne Senstad

UPTOWN
1031 Annunciation St. (Dixie Steel Mills) -- Victor Jones (FievreJones)

Artspeak Returns Weds Dec 12 @ CAC

2007-12-11T19:55:00.000-06:00

Art (Star) Fantasies and other Sundry Items

2007-12-07T11:34:00.001-06:00

I'm so intrigued by the "come to new orleans and make an artwork" movement. Several approaches to this process are emerging, from the official Prospect 1 Biennial "get-invited-spend-a-little-time-here" approach; to the Brad Pitt money-where-his-mouth-is approach (that's certainly community based! see photo and link); to Takashi Horisaki's self-reliant diy project (which he did get a small grant for from Socrates Sculpture Park); to Art in Action, which faciliates between local and national artists and the N.O. community; to the Paul Chan "put-in-the-time" with the help of Creative Time model of community art; to other sundry people who get grants from elsewhere and arrive (see interview with Mark Bradford and Sam Durant on Transforma website.) And based on my busy weekends, there seems to be alot of artmaking by folks who are pre- and post- storm residents. It feels really active here, but dialogue, other than that of our two local art critics, seems mostly centered around the national artists coming in to town. (**Plug- this is what this website is for, local dialogue...participatory...sorry, that means you! Write something!**;) This is good, right?--all the artists from elsewhere, making work here. And doesn't the "insider - outsider" dichotomy need to be ditched anyway? Maybe each local artist can "adopt" a visiting artist...a welcome wagon... Where is this going?

The Biennal and the crowds it will bring to town have put stars in local artists eyes. There's some talk about New Orleans artists getting together to create their own alternative track to the Biennial. Will alternative, local shows be just another art site for Biennial attendees to fit into their busy schedule? How can local artists leverage our daily lives here to create an alternative that is truly unique? (Art = Life we need you, Linda Montano! Maybe she could come in as a consultant for the local art scene!) But seriously, how can we reframe the Biennial approach to provide a must-see alternative that is more than a bunch of disparate artworks in a warehouse?

Read the linked article and check out the Transforma website, which posits a community based approach to artmaking. It will be interesting to see what community-based projects will be in the Biennial. The Transforma New Orleans project is a beta test for extension of this approach into other cities.

'Tis...

2007-12-04T21:04:00.000-06:00

a couple of holiday events, shop locally y'all

Newcomb Art Department Holiday Sale
Friday and Saturday, December 7th and 8th
10 am – 4 pm, in the Carroll Gallery, Newcomb Art Department
Special Preview for Newcomb Art League Members Thursday, December 6th, 6 – 8 pm
Join that night and enjoy early shopping and a special reception.

The New Orleans Craft Mafia presents…
The Crescent City Craft Market - Holiday Shopping Edition
The Big Top Gallery (504-569-2700)
1638 Clio St. - near Lee Circle, between St. Charles Avenue and Carondelet Street
Sunday, December 9th, 2-6pm

Last Stop Shop at The Big Top
The Big Top Gallery (504-569-2700)
1638 Clio St. - near Lee Circle, between St. Charles Avenue and Carondelet Street
Thursday, December 20th, 6-10pm
Further Info: New Orleans Craft Mafia

Marigny & Bywater Open Studios

2007-12-03T09:53:00.000-06:00

This coming weekend Dec 8 & 9 - go check out the wide variety of artists east of Elysian Fields, see link for details.
While you are there, stop by the Recycle for the Arts Art Auction and Oddities Bazaar!

articles about Godot

2007-12-02T11:31:00.001-06:00

Insider and outsider articles about Waiting for Godot. wait wait, which is which?

NYTimes article

NOLA Fugees article

NYTs article is about Paul Chan, his vision and his process as an artist / activist. NOLA Fugees article is a review of the experience of the play from a local's perspective.

Photo NOLA

2007-12-02T11:18:00.000-06:00

an amazing lineup of photo-related events from Nov 30 - Dec 15th, check out website for details.

Local Artists Biennial Meeting

2007-11-30T17:59:00.000-06:00

NOLA ARTISTS BIENNIAL PLANNING MEETING
**************************************
Calling all New Orleans visual artists:

We are gathering to discuss ideas, plans, and possibilities the upcoming New Orleans Biennial slated for the Fall of 2008. What do you want to do? Group shows in abandoned buildings? Art truck convoys? Parades? Massive grafitti and propaganda campaigns? Paint the superdome black? Bring your ideas and we’ll hash things out, get inspired by each other, and hopefully get a sense of where we’re all headed and what we’re all thinking. Work with us, work against us, it doesn’t matter just so long as we’re all working toward something to make an awesome show of New Orleans artists’ presence at the Biennial.

Meet at Buffa’s, 1001 Esplanade, Dec 8th, 8pm. Email hotironpress@hotmail.com if you have any questions.

Lucy Lippard quote for the day

2007-11-29T20:04:00.000-06:00

" Actions left untheorized tend to disappear from history, if only for lack of serious consideration."

Identifying Outsider Art - Tomorrow Night 11/27

2007-11-26T17:29:00.001-06:00

The Home Repo Project

2007-11-19T09:56:00.000-06:00

Installation on home demolition site, in Gentilly
Tuesday 3:30 - 6
1432 Aviators Street, one block from robert e lee towards the river, between st. bernard and paris

[ ] Projects is a collaborative group consisting of three artists: Rachel Jones, Jeff Rinehart, Natalie Sciortino and Fernando Braxton. The Home Repo Project will be the groups' first effort as a collective. Working on the remaining terrazzo floor slab of a flooded home in Lake Vista, [ ] Projects utilizes traditional materials of home construction and domesticity: nails, wood, floor polish, yarn, string and other fabrics. These materials and methods come together to create a type of installation reconstruction atop this existing floor while exploring ideas of growth, spaces, scale, and rebuilding. In addition, a sounds component will be incorporated into the art environment to broaden the depth of the experience as a whole. A small house will also be constructed and raised up in avoidance of potential threats - representative of the current neighborhood and city as a whole. It is these issues of "safety" and "domesticity" that [ ] seeks to address through this space. [ ] Projects also joins with Art in ACtion to promote and further a dialogue not only with other AiA artists, but with the community as a whole.

Prospect.1 New Orleans Announces Organizations and Preview Events Schedule

2007-11-17T17:03:00.001-06:00

November 17, 2007

Prospect.1 New Orleans

Prospect.1 New Orleans

Announces Participating Organizations and Preview Events Schedule

Website Launched

Preview Events Held on October 30 and 31, 2008

http://www.prospectneworleans.org

With just a year before the inaugural launch of Prospect. 1, Dan Cameron has announced an initial list of eleven organizations with which it will partner in hosting the biennial, which will be on view November 1, 2007 through January 18, 2008. The venues are among New Orleans' most prominent and beloved cultural institutions, and will form the hub for exhibitions during Prospect.1.

Participating Organizations (in alphabetical order):
The Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans
The Historic New Orleans Collection
L9
Louisiana Artworks
The U.S. Mint Louisiana State Museum
The National World War II Museum
The Louisiana African American Museum
New Orleans Center for Creative Arts|Riverfront
The New Orleans Museum of Art
The Newcomb Art Gallery at Tulane University
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art

Additionally, several historic landmarks are being renovated specifically for the biennial, and other venues, including warehouses, factory spaces, and municipal open spaces across the city will also welcome exhibitions. With a total of over 100,000 square feet of exhibition space, the biennial will have a visible presence across the city throughout its eleven-week run. On view will be work by 75 local, national, and international artists most of whom are creating new, original works that respond both to the locations in which they will be installed and to the city of New Orleans as a whole.

"It's a sign of the community's support for Prospect.1 that these eleven institutions have already joined us as exhibition venues. It speaks very strongly to our shared belief that the biennial can play a leading role in rejuvenating both the contemporary art scene and the economy of the city of New Orleans," said Dan Cameron, Director of PROSPECT.1 New Orleans.

Opening Events
The vernissage of Prospect.1 will take place on October 30th and 31s, with private previews to be held at all participating venues. A Gala Opening Ball to help underwrite the costs of presenting Prospect.1 will take place on the evening of the 31st. The biennial will open to the public with a ribbon cutting ceremony on November 1, 2008 and will remain open from 10am to 8pm throughout the weekend. Prospect.1 will be on view until January 18, 2008, Tuesday through Sunday, 12pm to 8pm.

Website
Prospect.1 has just launched its website http://www.prospectneworleans.org The site will act as a resource for information on the biennial, venues, artists, events, and the city as a destination and will be updated regularly.

About Prospect.1 New Orleans:
Dan Cameron conceived Prospect.1 New Orleans to reinvigorate the city, a historic regional artistic center, following the human, civic, and economic devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The primary goal of the biennial exhibition is to redevelop the city as a cultural destination where the visual arts are celebrated and can once again thrive. New Orleans was the first U.S. city to host a recurring international art exhibition, beginning in 1887 with the Exhibition of the Art Association of New Orleans. In this tradition, Prospect.1 will provide the public with new work by 75 artists conceived and developed for the city. The largest international art biennial ever held in the United States, Prospect.1 will reach an estimated audience of one quarter million visitors, half of which will likely be Louisiana state residents.

Prospect.1 is founded on the principle that art engenders social progress, so the exhibition and all related events will be free to the public. The biennial will be open every day except Monday, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and visitors can see the exhibition in any order they choose and as many times as they like. There will be daily guided tours of the biennial venues.

Fore more information on Prospect.1 New Orleans, please visit http://www.prospectneworleans.org or contact U.S. Biennial, Inc. at (212) 686-5305
or info@prospectneworleans.org.

###

Media Contacts:
For further information, interviews, and images, please refer to the following contact:

Kellie Honeycutt
Blue Medium, Inc.
T: (212) 675-1800
F: (212) 675-1855
E: kellie@bluemedium.com

53 Ludlow street
New York, NY 10002, USA

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Tulane 2007 Undergraduate Juried Exhibition

2007-11-16T18:59:00.000-06:00

The Carroll Gallery presents: 2007 Undergraduate Juried Exhibition
Juror: Dennis Sipiorski, Head of Visual Arts, Southeastern Louisiana University

Opening reception: Thursday, Nov. 15, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Exhibition dates: November 15 – 30, 2007
[gallery closed Nov. 21, 22, 23]

Cash prizes will be awarded.
questions? please contact Laura Richens, Curator, Carroll Gallery
Newcomb Art Department, Woldenberg Art Center, Tulane University
phone: 504.314.2228

Mid City Holiday Open Studios

2007-11-16T18:55:00.000-06:00

MID CITY STUDIOS Annual HOLIDAY OPEN STUDIOS AND SALE

Who: Artists at Mid City Studios
What: Holiday Open Studios and sale of original artworks
When: Saturday, Dec.8, 2007 12–5p.m.
Where: 4436 Toulouse St. corner Murat St.

Mid City Studios announces its annual Holiday Open Studios and sale of original artwork on Saturday, December 8 from 12 -5 p.m.

Located in a converted warehouse at 4436 Toulouse St. near City Park, Mid City Studios will feature original artwork from over 30 artists who will open their spaces to exhibit paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, ceramics, glass mosaics, and mixed media constructions. Food, refreshments and entertainment by Les Grattons de Berry will be featured throughout the afternoon.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, list of exhibiting artists, and site map contact: www.midcitystudios.com

Abdalian Art

2007-11-15T23:31:00.001-06:00

DATE: November 1 – December 7, 2007
VENUE: Dillard University Art Gallery, FN 116 Cook Communications Center
2601 Gentilly Boulevard. New Orleans, LA 70122
HOURS: Monday – Thursday, 10a-3p, Friday by appointment
WEBSITE: zarouhie.com

Dillard University presents new monotypes and oil paintings by Zarouhie Abdalian in an exhibition entitled "Approximations". The work is culled from aerial photographs of New Orleans taken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration soon after Hurricane Katrina. By turns sensuous and painstakingly detailed, her treatment of these images serves as an investigation of the relationship between distance and fidelity, scale and noise.

BECA Gallery opening in Warehouse district

2007-11-15T23:23:00.001-06:00

BECA gallery to open in New Orleans January 5, 2008 - Bridging Emerging Contemporary Artists
BECA, a new local gallery, is holding a regional group show and are accepting submissions, see the website.

Art Sessions - Identifying Outsider Art

2007-11-15T12:07:00.001-06:00

Brooklyn Int'l Film Festival Submission Deadline Nov, 30

2007-11-13T18:17:00.001-06:00

11th Brooklyn Int'l Film Festival: May 30 - June 8, 2008
| Festival NEWS | Submit FAQ | Submit RULES | SUBMIT ONLINE |

Submission Deadline: November 30, 2007
CATEGORIES: Feature, Documentary, Short, Experimental, Animation

AWARDS: $80,000 in services, products, and cash.

SUBMISSION DEADLINES: November 30, 2007 (Early) :: March 15, 2008 (Final)

FILM FESTIVAL DATES: May 30 - June 8, 2008

For MORE INFO or to SUBMIT: http://wbff.org/submit/

11th Brooklyn Int'l Film Festival
180 South 4th Street, Ste 2 South,
Brooklyn, New York 11211 - USA
ph: (718) 388 4306
submit08@wbff.org - http://www.wbff.org
+ click here to submit online
+ sent to: joyglidden@aol.com
+ click here to edit your subscription

Call to Artists: Special Editions Residency 2008

2007-11-13T18:16:00.001-06:00

Call to Artists:
Special Editions Residency 2008
Application Deadline Monday, December 3, 2007

The Special Editions Residency Program is a competitive national residency that offers emerging artists the opportunity to complete an important new body of work in printmaking. This work is created in collaboration with our experienced Master Printers, and is fully sponsored by the Lower East Side Printshop. Printmaking experience is not necessary.

The Printshop will provide materials, studio access, technical assistance, documentation, exhibition opportunities, limited travel and accommodation stipends for artists residing outside New York, and a $2,000 honorarium.

Applications must be postmarked or hand-delivered by December 3, 2007. Applicants must be legal US residents. For more information about the Printshop, the Special Editions Residency, and application requirements, visit www.printshop.org

Lower East Side Printshop, Inc. (LESP) is a non-profit printmaking center in New York City that promotes excellence in the art of printmaking by enabling artists to create new artwork and offering educational programs for the general public. Founded in 1968 as a community art center, the Printshop has provided thousands of emerging artists with studio space, technical and financial assistance. The Printshop enriches the field by promoting high professional standards in printmaking, artistic collaboration, innovation, and environmentally friendly practices. Printshop is the largest openly accessible print workshop in New York City, with studios open 24/7.

The Lower East Side Printshop's programs have been supported in part by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Con Edison Company of New York, Ford Foundation, The Greenwall Foundation, The Jerome Foundation, Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New York Community Trust, PECO Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs.

This program is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

24 Hr Draw-a-thon

2007-11-10T23:56:00.001-06:00

NEW ORLEANS – In conjunction with Recycle for the Arts, Press Street presents its second annual twenty-four hour drawing marathon. In activities led by local artists, both beginners and professionals can explore a variety of techniques and materials.

“We wanted to do something where the focus was on the process of creating, instead of just showing the finished project,” said Brad Benischek, an event organizer and Visual Arts Coordinator for Press Street. “Last year over two hundred people participated during the twenty-four period. It was inspiring to see families and individuals from so many different backgrounds and skill levels making so much art. Over 1400 drawings were produced.”

The schedule includes morning activities for children, life drawing, large scale drawing, voluntary collaborations, and a variety of art stunts, culminating in a celebratory breakfast and gallery show. Music and various food vendors will be on site throughout the day. A full schedule will be available at press-street.com on November 1st.

Free and open to the public. All materials will be provided.

WHAT: 24-Hour Draw-a-thon

WHERE: The Green Project, 2831 Marais St., NO. L.A

WHEN: 6:00 AM Saturday November 17 to 6AM Sunday November 18

see website for detailed schedule

Sean Derry-An Interlude to Stillness

2007-11-10T09:48:00.001-06:00

dont miss this -
the old Robert at Broad and Bienville, by the pumping station -
come see the 35 soft scuplture cars repopulate the parking lot!

Group Critiques at Palma Gallery

2007-11-07T21:24:00.000-06:00

Do you miss the days of those fiery art school critiques?
Do you find yourself alone in your studio wanting to connect with other artists in the New Orleans area but don’t know how?
Do you need serious criticism of your work, and ready to deal with it?

Then come to Palma Gallery every second Tuesday of the month for a group critique.

Recognizing a need within the New Orleans art community for more opportunities for artist to meet and discuss their work, Palma Gallery wishes to provide a space where artists can meet and have an informal, critical discussion about new works.

Contact Palma Gallery (504)598-2276 or go to www.palmagallery.com for more information.

Where: Palma Gallery, 828 Howard Ave., near Lee Circle, just past Carondelet heading towards the Super Dome.

When: Second Tuesday of each month, 6-9pm. Free Admission.

Who: Serious artists, professional artists, emerging artists, college level art students.

You are invited to bring a maximum of two works to the critique. As many works will be critiqued as possible, but please remember, time restraints may limit the number of artists that can be critiqued in a given evening. All attendees are invited to participate in the critique of presented works, and the critique will be moderated by the gallery director.

Palma Gallery wishes to create an environment where criticisms, views and opinions about presented works are freely and enthusiastically discussed. A lively, spirited critique will be encouraged, but rude and inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated.

LA Artworks Prof Career Development Workshops

2007-10-24T22:22:00.001-06:00

Art Egg Open Studios

2007-10-24T22:10:00.000-06:00

Waiting for Godot in New Orleans

2007-10-23T08:00:00.001-06:00

Let us not waste our time in idle discourse! (Pause. Vehemently.) Let us do something, while we have the chance! It is not every day that we are needed. Not indeed that we personally are needed. Others would meet the case equally well, if not better. To all mankind they were addressed, those cries for help still ringing in our ears! But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it, before it is too late! Let us represent worthily for once the foul brood to which a cruel fate consigned us! What do you say?
—Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Paul Chan's statement on his vision to stage Waiting for Godot in New Orleans begins with the above quote from the play, and I was hooked. Read his statement about the project on Creative Time's website.

The play will take place over the first two weekends in November, in the Lower 9th Ward and in Gentilly. See the website for details.

Here's a conversation between Paul and New Orleans based artist Willie Birch.

Art's Roundtable with artist Paul Chan this saturday at 628 Baronne St

2007-10-12T14:51:00.001-06:00

Just a reminder to everyone about the Arts Roundtable with Paul Chan this Saturday. Doors open at 6pm and the talk will begin around 7pm. Feel free to browse the online catalogue from the show for more information: www.unwrappedart.com.

What: Art's Roundtable with artist Paul Chan

Where: 628 Baronne St. (old YA/YA Gallery) now featuring work by eight local emerging artists: Kami Galeana, Rachel Jones, Jeff Pastorek, Jeff Rinehart, Megan Roniger, Natalie Sciortino, Michael Sowell and Marla von Ettenberg.

When: Saturday, Oct.13th (open at 6pm, talk starts at 7pm)

Please contact Natalie Sciortino-Rinehart for more information: 504.756.7060

Super Nova show and NOVA Projects Artist Registry

2007-10-12T09:00:00.000-06:00

Barrister's Gallery, 2331 St. Claude Ave, invites you to
Super Nova
October 13 thru November 3, 2007

an exhibition showcasing the first group of artists curated for NOVA Projects' New Orleans Artist Registry by Jeanette Ingberman, founding director of Exit Art.

OPENING: Saturday, October 13, 4:00-9:00

Adam Montegut, Christopher R. Harris, Dan Tague, Generic Art Solutions, Rachel Jones, Jayme Kalal, Kourtney Keller, Jamar Pierre, Ron Bennett, Heather Weathers, Myrtle von Damitz, III, and Malcolm McClay

This is a continuing effort to permanently catalog online working contemporary artists in the region.
The next curated selection will be exhibited June, 2008. Each exhibit will call upon a different curator--different region, different sensibility--pick up information at the opening.

Identity Show - Art for Arts Sake

2007-10-05T09:12:00.001-06:00

Please join us for the premier exhibition at the New Orleans Photo Alliance's new gallery space.

Identity: Contemporary Photographic Portraiture
Juried by Deborah Luster

Opening Saturday Oct 6, 6-9pm

New Orleans Photo Alliance
1111 St. Mary St
Nola 70130

ArtEgg Open Studios

2007-10-04T21:03:00.000-06:00

Artist Open-Studios in Partnership with Smithsonian Institute’s CultureFest: Oct. 26-28, 2007 – New Orleans
ArtEgg Studios is pleased to join CultureFest in hosting an Open-Studio event on October 28, 2007 from 12noon - 4pm at 1001 S. Broad Street, New Orleans, 70125.

ArtEgg resident artists will be opening their art studios for a rare opportunity to view artworks in progress and meet with the artists in person to discuss their work and learn about local contemporary art in New Orleans. Present your CultureFest Access Pass for Lagniappe! Directions from your location to ArtEgg may be found at http://www.mapquest.com or email mroberts411@yahoo.com for a .pdf map in advance.

Participating artists include: Amy Jean Boebel, Ty Dimig, Andre Downin, Jim Hart, Kenny McAshan, Tony Nozero, Melissa Roberts, Kurt Schlough, Tracy Thomson and Georgia Wohnsen.

UNWRAPPED

2007-10-03T21:21:00.000-06:00

The “Unwrapped” art series is an effort executed by artists for artists that focuses on the talents of local emerging individuals in New Orleans. Unwrapped seeks to promote the work of several up-and-coming artists in the city during one of the most active art events in New Orleans – Art for Art’s Sake. The next show, curated by Kami Galeana and Natalie Sciortino-Rinehart, will feature new work by: Kami Galeana, Rachel Jones, Jeff Pastorek, Jeff Rinehart, Megan Roniger, Natalie Sciortino, Michael Sowell, and Marla von Ettenberg. There is a variety of work that includes painting, drawing, photography, sculpture and mixed media. An opening reception with the artists will be held on Saturday, October 6th, from 6pm until midnight at the Temp Gallery on 628 Baronne St.

An open Arts Roundtable discussion, moderated by Paul Chan, will also be held at the gallery on Saturday, October 13th. Doors will open at 6pm and the discussion will begin at 7pm and end at 9pm. The work in the gallery will be on view from Saturday, October 6th to Saturday, October 13th from 10am to 4pm or by appointment. Please contact Natalie at 504.756.7060, or you can email Kami at kmgalean@aol.com and visit the website for more information

New Art New Media New Orleans

2007-10-01T15:04:00.000-06:00

The Carroll Gallery presents:

NEW ART
NEW MEDIA
NEW ORLEANS

curated by David E. Robinson and Derek W. Toten,
featuring work by:

Gerald Cannon
Sandy Chism
Teresa A. Cole
Courtney Egan
Barbie L’Hoste
Kevin H. Jones
Josh and Emily Minnie
Matteo Neivert
Tae Hong Park
Blake Sanders
Cynthia Scott
David Sullivan

Exhibition dates: October 4 – November 9, 2007
Opening reception: Wednesday, October 3, 6 – 8 pm

This exhibition is presented in association with the New Media Consortium.
Special thanks to Tulane Technology Services for their generous support of this exhibition.

Also opening that evening [in the Newcomb Art Gallery]:
A Spectral Image of Self: an exhibition of time-based media
from the Artist Pension Trust

Carroll Gallery hours: M – F, 9 am – 4 pm
Gallery closed on official Tulane holidays.

For more information, please contact:
**********************************
Laura Richens
Curator, Carroll Gallery
Newcomb Art Department
Woldenberg Art Center
Tulane University
New Orleans, LA 70118
phone: 504.314.2228
fax: 504.862-8710
www.tulane.edu/~art/carrollgallery
**********************************

1 DAY OF ART - NEW ORLEANS - (t)here magazine submissions

2007-09-27T07:38:00.001-06:00

On the success of the the first 1 DAY OF ART - NEW YORK and BERLIN, we
are proud to announce -
1 DAY OF ART - NEW ORLEANS

Artists of all disciplines will gather in NEW ORLEANS for a one day
creative event - 1 DAY OF ART. In this premier (t)here magazine
concept - photographers, writers and visual artists from New Orleans
will participate in an undisclosed editorial assignment. On the
evening of FRIDAY OCTOBER 19, at 9pm, our participants will gather in
one location where they will randomly draw their assigned subject.
Their subsequent content must be executed in one day, and executed
within the city limits of New Orleans. All files and relevant
materials are due at 9pm on SATURDAY OCTOBER 20, at a location to be
determined.

The resulting (t)here Issue 11, due for release in SPRING 2008.

You must be living in the city of New Orleans at the present time or
have some connection to New Orleans to participate.

(t)here is dedicated to creating content that is neither edited or
editorialized. It is a museum book that provides an advertising free
flow of original artistic content from beginning to end. In addition,
(t)here hopes to provide a platform for artists of all backgrounds to
come together in one city, rely on the inspirational people, culture,
history, architecture and art of New Orleans to execute a body of
work.

For more information please visit
http://www.1dayofart.com

University of California, Riverside Seeks Art Faculty Position

2007-09-24T14:18:00.001-06:00

NOTICE OF ART FACULTY POSITION
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE

The Department of Art at the University of California, Riverside, invites applications for an Open Rank (Assistant, Associate, Full) Professor in Photography and/or Imaging Technology, effective July 1, 2008.

QUALIFICATIONS:
(BA, MFA, or MA) in a relevant discipline. The department seeks an artist working with some form of imaging technology and possessing a broad understanding of contemporary visual arts. Candidates must be able to participate in shaping a curriculum that is inclusive of both technical and critical issues.

The department desires a candidate who is a working artist with a significant exhibition history, who has broad understanding of the history and contemporary practice within the medium as well as the practical and theoretical implications of new technologies. Hired candidate will teach on a 5 / 4 course yearly rotation and will participate in the formation of curriculum and other departmental planning.

SALARY:
Commensurate with education and experience

APPLICATION:
Applications should include cover letter, CV, statement of teaching philosophy, adequate representation of production with supplemental material, and three letters of recommendation (Assistant Level) or names & addresses of three referees (Associate/Full Prof. Level). A SASE for return of materials should be sent to:

Photography Search
Attn: Professor John Divola
Department of Art
900 University Ave.
235 Arts Building
Riverside, CA 92521-0319

DEADLINE:
Review of applications will begin on December 15, 2007 and will continue until position is filled.

The University of California, Riverside is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer.

Louisiana Artworks - ART SESSIONS

2007-09-11T06:25:00.001-06:00

Lower East Side Printshop, New York, Residency

2007-08-31T10:36:00.001-06:00

Dear Friends,

I hope this finds you well, and that you have enjoyed a good summer so
far. I wanted to let you know about a great opportunity for emerging
artists at the Printshop, that is also open to non-printmakers. If you
have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, and feel free
to forward this to anyone you think might be interested.

Wishing you a happy holiday weekend.

Regards,

Felicity

Felicity Hogan

Outreach Director
felicity@printshop.org
212.673.5390. x13

Lower East Side Printshop, New York, offers free year-long
studio residencies for emerging artists. Application deadline is
September 9, 2007; residencies start on October 1st.

Keyholder Residencies include free 24/7 access to a large shared
studio, professional printmaking facilities, storage and basic
supplies, exhibition opportunities, educational programming, and
support services. Artists from all disciplines are eligible;
printmaking skills are not required; basic instruction in printmaking
is available at no cost.

Click here for more information about the studio facilities, and
application requirements.

Contact:
Sei Kim
Programs Manager
Lower East Side Printshop, Inc.
306 West 37th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10018

212-673-5390
info@printshop.org
http://printshop.org

The Lower East Side Printshop's programs are supported by the public
funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State
Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural
Affairs. Private funders include: the Lily Auchincloss Foundation,
Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New
York, Con Edison Company of New York, Ford Foundation, The Greenwall
Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Wolf
Kahn and Emily Mason Foundation, MacDermid Printing Solutions, New York
Community Trust, New York State Artist Workspace Consortium, The
Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Inc., The Andy Warhol Foundation for the
Visual Arts, our members, and numerous generous individuals.

Curating Opportunity

2007-08-13T12:40:00.001-06:00

VOX POPULI

GUEST CURATED EXHIBITION: Tell all your emerging curator friends that Vox Populi is now accepting proposals for our annual Guest Curated Exhibition in January 2008. Proposals are due September 1, 2007.

For information on how to submit, please visit: http://voxpopuligallery.org/vox.php?contact_vox=on&id=21

via: Nurture Art

dialog on New Orleans at IN MEDIA RES

2007-08-12T11:00:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone is doing well. I wanted to inform your blog readers about an Internet-facilitated dialog about Katrina, the flooding of New Orleans, and continued political and social issues in the area. We will be posting brief texts and video clips to In Media Res beginning Monday 13 August 2007. In Media Res is a website where media researchers present brief statements and video clips in order to engage with the public about contemporary cultural issues. You can read this material at In Media Res and, more importantly, you can respond to each text. You do need to provide some basic registration information in order to post comments.

This critical engagement relates to ongoing discussions about the ways New Orleans is understood both locally and internationally. Our goal is to engage a larger community in considering what happens to place and site-based identity after it has been produced by the media, how we continue to understand or forget disasters, and the ways political and infrastructural failures may be displaced by narratives about individual “victims” rather than keeping these issues in tension. We also begin to highlight the practices of activists and artists from the area. We hope that you will participate.

The following people will be posting texts and video clips:

Michele White (Monday 13 August)
Betsy Weiss (Tuesday 14 August)
Marline Otte (Wednesday 15 August)
Mark Vail (Thursday 16 August)
Joy Fuqua (Friday 17 August)

The Aesthetic of Disaster: Live, Broken, and Pretty

2007-08-12T10:54:00.000-06:00

by Michele White

Driving the New Orleans streets, I cycle between rushes of pleasure at the magnificent architecture and melancholy. Views of cultural heritage are intermeshed with scenes of flooded homes, interiors and personal belongings littering the streets, spray painted signs indicating the bodies and living creatures found after the flooding, and people who struggle to put their lives, homes, and communities back together as buildings molder and sag next door.

In a series of important installations in gutted homes, artists from NOLA have been considering home, stories about disaster, the detritus that is left behind, and how to rebuild community. In Neighborhoods:2426 BRADISH PLACE, NOLA artists presented obsessive archives of detritus; clusters of tin-can phones (Elizabeth Underwood); and chairs filled with books, which were suspended from trees and reminded viewers of lynching, school system failures, and things hanging broken after the storm (Jonathan Traviesa). These neighborhood installations featured broken things displayed against gutted homes--rooms only marked by weathered slats and beams. The artists used materials that are available and appreciated for their beauty--bits of debris, worn wood, and other recycled items--and continue to chronicle endeavors in blogs like Art in Action and Alternative Arts New Orleans.

New Orleans has long been a site of “charming” decay and some tastes--built on the aesthetics of Arte Povera, scatter art, architectural fragments, open beams, and shabby chic--may only increase our appreciation of failure, wear, and neglect and make it more difficult to read what decades of governmental, corporate, and personal disinterest have produced. This aesthetic of breakdown and failure seems to, but doesn’t, connect those who can choose clean parts of it to the material realities of those living in NOLA and other post-disaster places. We need to further theorize this aesthetic and what it renders.

The news produces armchair disaster experts and situates people, through the rendering of liveness and connected spaces, in places they have never been. Nevertheless, some of us are unsure how to speak from and of a place that so many people “know” from the media. In NOLA, we keep telling stories about lost lives, missing stuff, reduced networks and communities, and maggot-infested refrigerators. As the stories repeat, without a new vocabulary that makes them legible to people in other places, we use a language that is harder to understand in a country that has moved on and suggests people can succeed without help, “get over it,” and “love it or leave it.” New Orleanians need, but have not fully found, visual and narrative strategies that have personal meaning and critical power.

Show Opportunity Katrina-related work

2007-08-10T16:52:00.000-06:00

From: "Rehema Barber" < Rehema.Barber@wadsworthatheneum.org>
Date: August 3, 2007 3:01:09 PM EDT
Subject: Open Call for Sculpture and 3-d works for Katrina Show

Hello All:

I hope you are enjoying your summer. I am reaching out to you in hopes that you'll be able to pass along this email to your fellow artists and colleagues that may be interested in the following opportunity. In the Spring of 2008, The Amistad Center is presenting a mixed media show that will be examining the aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast Region. I have found quite a bit of photography and other two-dimensional works, but I really am in need of three-dimensional works for the show. I know this is late notice and I am deeply apologetic about that, but I really need submissions by the end of this month. Please feel free to circulate my contact information (shown below) to any artist that may be interested in the opportunity to exhibit their work in the Katrina show.

Thank you for your help!

Sincerely,

Rehema

Rehema C. Barber
Curatorial Associate
for The Amistad Center for Art & Culture
at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
600 Main Street
Hartford, CT 06103
direct: 860.838.4089
fax: 860.527.0803

Zeitgeist Multi-disciplinary Arts Center – August 2007 Events!

2007-08-02T13:23:00.001-06:00

All events are at Tulane University – School of Architecture – Richardson Memorial Building – Rooms 204 or 201 – Next to Loyola University , second building off of St. Charles – Free Parking on campus after 7:00 p.m. and on weekends.

(504) 827-5858 www.zeitgeistinc.net zte@bellsouth.net

Admission is by donation: $7 general / $6 students & seniors / $5 Zeitgeist members and children 15 and under / Free for Tulane students and Faculty (unless otherwise noted.)

Site #22: Butch Merigoni "Sunrise" 9001 Pritchard Place, New Orleans via Art In Action!

2007-08-01T17:39:00.001-06:00

Google Map

'Sunrise' is a boxing match in which I will be the only contender. The bout will begin at 6 p.m. on Monday August 6th and end the next day as the sun fully rises (appx. 6 a.m). The consecutive rounds will be 3 minutes in length, divided by 1 minute breaks. Other breaks might be taken out of necessity. This performance will take place on a makeshift boxing ring built in front of Gregory White's home in New Orleans. His neighborhood, a community that is a quarter of what it was before Katrina, is one of many still struggling to rebuild.

The challenges of darkness (literal and metaphorical) truly exist in our lives, no matter how conscious we are of them. Though I will be standing in the middle of what can be the fearful night and repeatedly surrendering, I trust that I will come out whole into the clarity of the next day. In this regard, 'Sunrise' is symbolic of the devotion and risk that life in post-K New Orleans demands of its citizens.

Visitors are welcome to visit the performance at any time but I invite those who make the trek to stay for as long as possible. Given that 'Sunrise' is essentially about allowing quiet space to grow out of surrender, and falling into that space once it has opened, this process will take time. By investing in the performance of 'Sunrise' (the audience is as much a part of the work as anything else) you will participate in the performance and make it your own - it is as much for me as it is for everyone struggling to "let go" and recover their lives. That said, 'Sunrise' is especially dedicated to Gregory's family for many reasons, the least being that their contribution to this performance is priceless.

- Butch Merigoni

NOVA Projects

2007-07-26T07:57:00.001-06:00

Our new slide registry is up and running and there is a call to New Orleans artists to fill it up... The details are on the NOVA Projects website on the front page. It is being curated by Jeanette Ingberman, Exit Art founding director in NYC. We are very lucky to have her curating. This first round is to fill up the registry with its first 25 artists, 10 of which will be in the show for ART FOR ARTS SAKE at Barrister's Gallery. Deadline is August 1st so there is time but not much...

The purpose of the registry is to show New Orleans' has a thriving art community that makes world-class art. We want to show that good ideas can come from here. The world thinks of New Orleans as a provincial back-water which is simply not true. We are a city with many facets, many connections, and we have a world view. Its different than the rest of the world but its here - here is a chance to show it off!

Any questions about NOVA Projects feel free to contact myself, Dan or Karen. Our contact information is here.

Tim

Constance

2007-07-24T11:24:00.000-06:00

Constance is an art and literature publication that explores the fragmentary life that is New Orleans. Publishing various forms of visual art and creative writing, including photography, painting, illustration, drawing, collage, print making, graffiti, graphic design, poetry, fiction, nonfiction and creative nonfiction, Constance offers a fresh interpretation of a city that is in immense, and often times, overwhelming cultural and social flux. Constance aims to not only make sense of the fissured New Orleans identity, but to discover the creative and experimental possibilities of the present historical moment.

Constance is now accepting visual art and writing submissions for Issue 02, Delicate Burdens.

Delicate Burdens seeks work that confronts the everyday experience of making New Orleans home. Bring honest and uncompromising portrayals of yourself, your city and of those that look on or even look away. There’s a double meaning to everything in New Orleans – an anger in the devotion, a pleasure in the pain – and we want you to define it.

Inquiries/Questions to Constance
Mailing Address: Constance, 1437 N Roman Street, New Orleans, LA 70116

call for NOLA artists in Chicago ASAP

2007-07-15T18:55:00.000-06:00

Call for NOLA artists for Chicago show posted by Karen Louise Crain, July 15, 2007:

Heather Weathers told me about this Call for Artists for this upcoming Katrina- related show in Chicago. Curated by NOLA native Michelle Mashon the deadline is coming up QUICK—This Wednesday, July 18th!
The great news is that there is no submission fee, artists get 100% of the sale price and shipping is free! I’ve asked the curator for more info on where the show will be and what the exact dates of the show are and will pass those on in a comment to this post when I get an answer. But with the deadline coming so soon I wanted to post asap….

I thought David’s comments a couple of weeks ago on this blog regarding William Steacy were really interesting and the record number of comments suggests how resonate the post was. My thoughts on the subject are far more nuanced than this, but the bottom line is that if we want authentic “Katrina art” we have to make it ourselves and make sure it gets out there. Here’s a chance for us to represent in Chicago….Below is a statement by the curator, along with a bio on her, followed by more info on the show and submission process.

click here to download the curator's statement and application form

In A Responsiveness That Ultimately Expresses Itself In Action

2007-07-15T17:30:00.000-06:00

Behind my voice is the chorus of all the other people who made all the other things and all the other people they made them for. All work is collaboration, all work contains the eyes of other artists. I know I’m collaborating with them but they don’t know about this collaboration… vs. say, Francis Alys. I walk his path through Mexico City when I walk Gentilly in New Orleans and he always says, “Point beyond yourself, beyond the diaristic, beyond the artist as solo flyer. Collaborate with your “Self”. Let’s get it on making art in the partnership mode.”

We cannot be in the present moment and run our story lines at the same time. Experiment with this for yourself, and watch how it changes you. Impermanence becomes vivid in the present moment; so do compassion and wonder and courage. And so does fear. In fact, anyone who stands on the edge of the unknown, fully in the present, without a reference point, experiences groundlessness. That’s when our understanding goes deeper, when we find that the present moment is a pretty vulnerable place and that this can be completely unnerving and terribly tender at the same time.

What gets made is no single subject, it’s not appropriation, not about the death of originality, death of the author, blah, blah, blah. It’s a wild, generous, sexy thing. Someone called me an anarchist yesterday; we laughed because it’s true.

The Battersean Bee Station
The Homeless Vehicle
Africa
Re-create forgotten tools
The two towers of Saint Leu d’Esserent

When a particular cultural idea like freedom becomes so abstract and overvalued, as in the case of Richard Serra, that it finally assumes control of the entire personality (or collective mentality) and suppresses all other motivations, then it becomes dogmatic and limiting. Anything which is not “in the whole” is not individuality but egocentrism.

Change is most likely to occur through people who are as far removed from cynicism as they are from utopianism. Making art as if the world mattered. Resisting the dehumanization of art. In order to change the social ills that we see we will first need to change our vision. Art is not only art. I submit that when vision is made concrete and situational, its traditional formalism and abstractness are overcome. In other words, vision that is truly engaged with the world in not purely cognitive, or purely aesthetic, but is opened up to the body as a whole and must issue forth in social practices that “take to heart” what is seen.

Within the framework of art as it is currently understood and practiced, the pedigree of work that is oriented toward compassionate action is always somewhat suspect, not least because its potential for yielding an income is low, and it creates few opportunities for the prevailing business culture. Obviously, in a cultural climate where radical autonomy has been the built-in assumption of artistic practices for so long, to propose a shift in the artist’s role from that of a self-directed, achievement-oriented professional to something like that of a cultural awakener or healer is to open oneself up to the accusation of mistaking art for a medical emergency team trying to save Western culture from itself. I think that is funny and a lot of fun.

Art oriented toward dynamic participation rather than toward passive, anonymous spectatorship has to deal with living contexts; and once an awareness of the ground, or setting, is actively cultivated, the audience is no longer separate. Meaning is no longer in the observer, nor in the observed, but in the relationship between the two. Interaction is the key that moves art beyond the aesthetic mode: letting the audience intersect with, and even form part of, the process, recognizing that when observer and observed merge, the vision of static autonomy is undermined.

“Sea Full of Clouds, What Can I Do?”
World as Lover, World as Self
Walker Mettling
Grief
The Adivasi
A city designed, crumbles
Here to fish?

How do we achieve the “world view of attachment” that James Hillman talks about? At this point we lack any practical blueprint for action, unless we are willing to act as architects and engineer a new conceptual framework for our lives. It is precisely to the periphery and the margins that we must look, if we are to find the core that will be central to society in the future, for it is here that it will be found to be emerging. It is here. You know where to find me.

Authors: “The Sienese Shredder”, “Proxemics”, Jane Hammond, “Bald Ego”, The Federal Levee Breaks That Flooded My City, Frida Motherfucking Kahlo, Pema Chodron, Pigeons, Suzi Gablik, My Great-Grandfather Who Escaped Russia With Nothing But The Violin He Made With His Own Two Hands And My Great-Grandmother Who For Some Reason Tried To Murder Him, Sojurner Truth, Dr. Isabelle Wallace, Chess Life & Review.

Biennal Mardi Gras

2007-07-11T09:09:00.000-06:00

Does New Orleans need a Biennal?
There are alot of possible pros and cons for an event like this in our city.
One might question who benefits from something like this, and how.
Does this event improve our public schools or our murder rate? Can a contemporary art that denies its social responsibility have a positive effect in a city that's desperate for social responsibility?

On the flip side, much radical and contemporary art has been made in this city, and it's under the art world's radar. Could a biennal change that?

We live in New Orleans becaue it has a certain quality of insulation to it, like it or not. it's not NY, Los Angeles, Miami or Venice. Will the work of the art industry, in attempting to put N.O. on the comtemporary art world map, a la the above cities, change the character of the city in such a way that those making art here now will want to leave?

There's much to discuss about this. The art industry community has actively set their sights on New Orleans as a location for a biennal. I am curious as to how the artists and arts administrators feel - whether or not this may help them, short term or long term.
What exactly is the goal / hope for an event of this nature being held in N.O. and why specifically N.O.?

Discuss.

-Master of Disaster, guest moderator

art review haikus

2007-07-08T12:16:00.001-06:00

beautiful installations at kirsha's gallery, see the post below for info.
haiku for the mcKay's installation:
particles in space
ephemeral point cloud home
shimmer and vibrate

haiku for sally heller's installation (with Thomas little):
colorful web spun
in post-k terrarium
for nighttime gymnasts

-ds

Hot Iron Press Call For Visiting Artists - Printmaking Residency

2007-07-08T09:42:00.001-06:00

http://www.hotironpress.com/visitingartists.htm

How the program works:

Selected artists may use the Hot Iron Press letterpress and silkscreen
facilities in New Orleans for free for a period of up to two weeks in order
to work on and complete their proposed project. We welcome all artists to
apply - from those with no prior printmaking experience to seasoned
printmaking experts. Hot Iron Press staff will be available in whatever
capacity the artist needs - anything from occasional technical assistance to
hands-on collaboration in the art-making process. The ultimate goal of the
program is for the artist to use our facilities to complete an editioned
work of art. Upon completion, the artist retains 3/4 of their edition while
Hot Iron Press receives the other 1/4 to sell in our online catalog, display
in art shows, or use for other promotional purposes. While visiting artists
are allowed to use our facilities for free, they are also expected to
provide paper for their project at their own expense as well as any other
items they may need that we don't have on hand. It is also the artist's
responsibility to find and pay for his or her own accomodations and
transportation while in New Orleans, though we can be of assistance in
helping locate affordable options.

Our facilities include:

Showcard sign press (printing area of up to 14.5" x 44.5")

Showcard sign press (printing area of up to 22.5" x 28")

Vandercook Universal I proofing press (printing area of up to 21" x 15")

Chandler and Price guillotine paper cutter (cuts up to 30" x 30" and 3.5"
thick)

120 different typefaces

Various old cuts and engravings

Vaccuum table with hinge clamps for silkscreen (printing surface area of up
to 36" x 60")

Exposure unit (capable of burning image area up to 26" x 42")

Various size silkscreens

Various inks - acrylic for silkscreen; rubber-based, oil-based, and
water-based for letterpress or relief

AB Dick 360 offset press (prints up to 11" x 17")

Drying rack

How to submit a proposal:

There is no deadline for proposals as this program is open year-round.
Interested artists should submit a detailed written description of their
proposed project accompanied by some sort of visual representation of what
they're envisioning (sketches, photos, etc.). Additionally, artists must
submit a resume and 10 to 20 images of previous work (jpegs are preferred,
but slides may also be sent). Proposals may be submitted by email to
hotironpress@hotmail.com
or by regular mail to
Hot Iron Press
1422 Kentucky St.
New Orleans, LA 70117.
Any questions can be directed to Kyle at 504-920-3980.

alt art happenings this weekend

2007-07-07T16:01:00.001-06:00

palma gallery one night only
Collective: Ideas from Six Different Someones
UNO Undergraduate Show
Featuring works by
Isaac Kirshbom Megan Nolan Yen Lang Jenny KoelbelMark Waguespack Valerie Corradetti
Opening Reception Saturday July 7th, 6 to 9 pm
828 Howard Ave • New Orleans, LA • www.palmagallery.com

KKProjects, sat only
CLOUDLINE mike mckay + elizabeth swanson mckay
FLYSPACE sally heller with projection by thomas little
WHITEHOUSE an inhouse project
we are open every saturday through sept from 10 - 4 or by appointment
please join us for contemplation, relaxation, and refreshments!
IN FAUBOURG ST ROCH
2448 n villere st, new orleans la 70117, info@kkprojects.org, 218 8701

tea party for helen hill
vegan potluck and showing of helen's newly re-mastered films
Sunday, July 8 @ 3:30 p.m.
Zeitgeist Multi-disciplinary Arts Center
at Tulane University – Richardson Memorial Building – Rooms 204 or 201
(504) 827-5858

color blind

2007-07-06T14:40:00.003-06:00

if anybody in the united states of north america had lulled themselves into the belief that racism was an issue laid to rest by MLK in the sixties, this convenient illusion was harshly broken by the footage and stories that came out of New orleans after the flood. Just as the rest of our country would like to turn its back on the gulf coast in the belief that everything has been taken care of (mission accomplished!), most people would like to close their eyes once again to the many tangled issues that surround race in this country, and in our little part of it particularly. Luckily a small group of artists are attempting to keep us on track. Ron Bechet, Willie Birch , Jacqueline Bishop, Dawn Dedeaux are putting together a loose group, provisionally called "ColorBlind". they are looking for ideas and practical actions that might help bring awareness and understanding to this important issue.

Although race in the south has historically pitted those of african descent against those of european descent, any discussion of race in our city today must include the vietnamese, central american and south american communities. all other categories we use to divide ourselves (class, gender, etc,) must be brought into the mix.
Somehow we have to bypass the shorthand of stereotypes and assumptions our culture uses to simplify things, so we can see each other as we really are. This is not a simple task, since we have to continuously and critically deconstruct the fiction we write for others, and, even tougher, for ourselves.

There will be a second public meeting sometime in August. For more info and to share ideas, contact
Ron, Willie, Jacqueline, & Dawn.

unusual suspects @ barrister's gallery

2007-07-06T14:40:00.001-06:00

Barrister's new space on st. claude is a cornerstone in the reconfiguration of this street as an art district, a great alternative to julia. The gallery space itself is a nice renovation of Andy's downstairs. I especially like the wall of doors in the back.

Each artist in this group show takes on different guises. Disguises are commonplace in a city where a large portion of the population is used to putting on costumes at least once a year. Of course, when you are showing with the art cops, it might be best to hide your identity.
tim best's suit is vacuous and lost in an existential void. The man in a suit was once perhaps the artists' antithesis, but the 1980's made even the artist a businessman, just with a more relaxed suit. I'm glad to see the introduction of gumballs, which hints at larger and more expressive possibilities. Most clowns I see these days seem to be of the drunk, sad, pathetic, and violent variety. This must be some new archetype that has hit a vein with a certain demographic. I'm not sure how Dan tague sees his photos fitting into this, but his clown is fittingly down and out. HIs pieces ride the edge of dumbness & numbness. Daphne Loney's women are animals, but big, clunky plastic headed animals, best when caught posing in their natural habitat of casual and banal domesticity.

As an artist, i'm afraid to say anything about the art cops for fear of repercussions. I demand an independent, outside investigative committee to look into their activities.

my haiku art review

suits, clowns, and horse girls,

every artwork is a crime.

what are they hiding?

Arts initiatives panel

2007-07-05T17:10:00.001-06:00

In the middle of the summer in new orleans, it is hard to even think about activism, much less actually go out to see some artists talk about it. i was glad to see so many folks there. With so many needs in this city, it is up to artists to demonstrate the importance and relevance of art and artists to the community. This panel was the first of a new program called Art Sessions: A Series of Discussions on Contemporary Visual Art put on by louisiana artworks. Five different artist/organizers talked about the projects they had put together.

Kyle Bravo, ofHot Iron Press spoke about their press and the new orleans book fair. they also have a visiting artist program. Their work looks great, so check them out.

Erik Kieswetter, talked about the print project, Constance. The next issue will be coming soon and they are looking for submissions.

Elizabeth Underwood, started art in action to showcase and encourage artists creating work that engages our current city landscape. She is always willing to discuss ideas for projects.

Owen Murphy, from the new orleans photo alliance discussed the benefits of artists organizing to accomplish what they want. Any photographers interested should contact the alliance.

Dan Tague spoke about his development as a freelance curator in response to the opportunities available to artists in new orleans. His current project is NOVA, a new orleans visual artists registry. Take a look at the site and apply to the registry.

The panel was ably moderated by one of new orleans's premier activists, Jackie Bishop.
Before you sink back into summer slumber, muster what initiative you might have left and talk to some of these folks. If they aren't doing what you think should be done, they might be able to help you organize your own arts initiative. - DS

haiku reviews of cac shows i saw in june, ending soon

2007-07-05T12:11:00.001-06:00

"Making 10 Years – Ammar Eloueini", downstairs and already down, this showed the work of Ammar Eloueini, an associate professor in the Tulane School of Architecture. Now i need a rapid prototyping machine, if anyone wants to share. http://www.digit-all.net/

my haiku art review:

clear, cut plastic

folded in space or stacked up

commerce meets culture

Rachel Jones - "multiples" installation in the circle gallery until July 8
Rachel's show is the first in the CAC's new Emerge Project installations in the circle gallery. The CAC is still in the midst of post-k shakeup, Perhaps the CAC will become a center for contemporary art of new orleans as well as for new orleans.
although Rachel's foray into installation is somewhat timid, it works well inside the oval. Rachel is an accomplished painter. I enjoyed seeing her brushwork slowly escape the service of representation, and strike out on its own itinerary within the cut plastic shapes. All of the paintings are cut from a plastic paper, mostly floating or falling women of various shapes and sizes. Rachel does throw some other ingredients into the mix, from the standard tv to the more intriguing fox and mouse. It would be interesting to see how these pieces would work in a more focused, and intentional, installation.
http://www.cacno.org/visualarts/exhibition/2007/06/rachel+jones/

my haiku art review:

sinuous brushwork,

cut paper on oval walls.

the careful fox steps.

SPEAK (AGAIN) MEMORY: Carlos Estevéz and Mario Petrirena
In the Lupin Foundation Gallery (upstairs) through July 22, 2007
Carlos Estevéz drawings appealed to my fetish for detail and occult symbology. They are like pages from a pan cultural medieval alchemical manual. Although sometimes they veered into a style that seemed a bit dated, they are beautiful drawings. I'm looking forward to finding one of these in a bottle the next time I'm at the beach. I was less interested in the sculptural and photographic installations of Petrirena. They were generally unimaginative. The laces doilies were amazing though.
http://www.cacno.org/visualarts/exhibition/2007/04/estevez+petrirena/

my haiku art review:

drawings in bottles

beautiful and intricate

installations not

As you can tell my haiku skill is nascent and runs out rapidly. -DS

neo-cARTpetbaggers

2007-07-03T20:21:00.001-06:00

What a nifty art idea: go down to a disaster area, photograph somebody's damaged personal photos, blow them up big, and put them in a white box gallery in nyc and sell them for a couple of thousand dollars.

I have to admit, the smeared pictures of my family i peeled off of the muddy floor of our house looked pretty cool, which is why i scanned them in. I just don't have the emotional detachment to turn them into pure lucre (i'm sorry, of course i mean aesthetic art objects).

Will Steacy is the recipient of my first Katrina reverse grant to the amount of $5000. Congratulations WIll. The reverse grant provides the recipient with the honor of giving back to the community. In this case, i think a donation to the arts council of new orleans might be in order.
Of course, I'm giving poor mr. Steacy a lot of shit, and i don't know a lot about him. He may have been volunteering down here at the time. he may have already donated thousands to the relief efforts. He may even be the victim of terrible tragedy in his own life. I think this does bring up some interesting issues though. I'm a bit fuzzy on the ethics of photography. I'm familiar with sherrie levine's re-photos. But in that case, Walker Evan's initial subjects presumably knew they were being photographed (at least implied consent), and i suspect the original photos were gov't property. In this instance, i doubt the subjects of the photos or the original photographer had given any consent, or had any idea that these moments would be for sale to strangers in nyc. Of course, perhaps it is ok for the onlookers at disaster sites to enter the affected private properties and snoop around for aesthetic moments. I guess some of weegee's photos might fall into this category. to go even further, would it be ok for me to go to the peer gallery, take some photos of mr. steacy's work and sell prints outside for a couple "C" notes. Let me add that i really don't have any ethical problem with most of Steacy's photos. They aren't any different from the billion and a half other artified storm photos i've seen. I'd be interested in hearing what other people think, esp. photographers and lawyers.

Of course, as we all know, Will isn't the only one making money off of katrina. In the past two years, we've all seen plenty of cultural carpetbaggers. What long term repercussions their activities will have on our city is yet to be seen - what do y'all think? Most of us didn't have the time or frame of mind, much less the contacts, to make money off of our own misfortunes. I doubt my flood damaged photos would have sold here in new orleans, anyway.

David

Spending time in Santa Fe, NM

2007-06-29T09:48:00.001-06:00

I have been in Santa Fe for the past month by means of the generosity of the Pollock-Krassner Foundation and the Santa Fe Art Institute where I am in the last week of my residency. I came here with no expectations of what my work would be because when I have attended other long-term residential workshops, seminars, etc. in the past, I invariably was moved to dump my plans and to work on some new idea stimulated by my environment. The environment here in New Mexico which eventually motivated me were the prehistoric Ancestral Pueblo Indian ruins.

I have visited many prehistoric sites in Europe and have been intrigued by the mystery of these silent civilizations which are NOT dead: you can feel a presence in these places if you become still and quiet, empty your mind, and enter a state of receptivity. There is an energy that pervades these sites which I felt certain could be experienced among the physical vestiges of the first people on the American continent. Because I have a need to connect to and to draw from this energy, I began to research and plan to visit Southwestern ruins, after I learned I would be going to New Mexico.

I continued this research after my wife, Mary Jane, and I arrived at SFAI and settled in to our spacious, comfortable room and large, well-lit studio where she commenced work on a series of encaustic paintings. SFAI provided all our creature needs (and much more), so we were free to work as we pleased, whenever we pleased. I bought some clay at a local supplier, thinking I would model some sculptures and have them fired. I had ideas, but none of them really excited me to the point of compelling me to work. I then tried drawing, something I do every day anyway, but, again, I was uninspired and drifted away from this activity after producing a few pieces. I was going through one of my "dry" periods, but the one interest which continued to fire my brain was Ancestral Pueblo culture. While Mary Jane worked on her paintings, I borrowed and read books from the College of Santa Fe Library (at which we had been given complimentary lending privileges) on this subject.

Eventually, we drove our rental car to Los Alamos, rented a room, and spent a couple of days exploring the nearby Bandelier National Monument, where humans have lived and passed through for 10,000 years. We hiked the Loop Trail where the ruins stand … and lay. This trail can be traversed in an hour or two. It passes two rows of canyon cliff dwellings and the largely leveled ancient Tyuonyi pueblo,which once stood two stories high and housed about 100 people. The dry heat and blazing sun were oppressive on the cliffsides, but the floor of the canyon, where the cool creek flows and the trees shade, was pleasant. The temperature in this area is very similar to that in New Orleans at this time of year, but the lack of humidity here makes the heat quite tolerable. I now understand why cowboys in those old Western movies seemed almost never to sweat: perspiration evaporates as soon as it emerges from your pores.

I learned at Bandelier that this was one of hundreds of pueblos and other settlements that had radiated from the vast, sophisticated, and influential Chaco Canyon culture in the north, after the abandonment of that settlement in the 13th century. I decided to go there. I drove up there with Tim Best, who was also in residence at SFAI. Tim proved to be an excellent traveling companion: he is a man of action and thought, and therefore does not talk too much. He was also serious about Chaco and made interesting observations.

The Chaco park also has a loop trail, but you drive this one and park at the main sites, of which there were about half a dozen in the canyon area. Interestingly, most of these ruins were built roughly between 850 and 1200, which is also roughly the period of the early and Romanesque Middle Ages in Europe, also a time of furious building projects. Considering that this period in time was prehistoric (before written language) for the Ancestral Pueblos, their monumental and sophisticated architecture is all the more amazing. In particular, their masonry systems --- supporting buildings sometimes four stories high and containing as many as 600 rooms --- rivaled those of then contemporary Europe.

Chaco was not primarily a residential community, but was the administrative, economic, and ceremonial center of a loosely connected culture that extended for hundreds of miles in all directions. It was largely supported by outlying clans and tribes who made pilgrimages to Chaco to make offerings, pay tribute, and participate in religious ceremonies. Chaco was, and is, a sacred place. Essential to Chacoan religion was the kiva, a circular, semi-subterranean structure which, according to its size and significance, could accommodate from a dozen to several dozen people. It was the equivalent of a
mosque, church, or synagogue. Largely below-ground, there is an opening in the roof, access to the cosmos. In a kiva, one is connected to both the earth and to the outer universe, consistent with Native American spiritual beliefs, and it is here that one strengthens this connection with prayer, music, ritual, and offering. Kivas are scattered throughout Chaco Canyon, indoors, outdoors, of all sizes. Partly because they were so ubiquitously in our view, Tim and I half-seriously began talking about constructing a 21st century version of a kiva, one that would address current needs and employ contemporary building materials.

My perceptions as I moved about Chaco Canyon were mainly of the sublime and ineffable sort, but I could not lose the tangible idea of the kiva. I began designing in my sketchbook. We'll see.

By the way, the Santa Fe Art Institute is still accepting applications from New Orleans artists. Their website, sfai.org, describes the place very adequately, so I won't go into the matter here. I will only briefly say that the place is luxuriously comfortable, aesthetically exquisite, thoroughly conducive to artistic endeavors, and sensitive to the particular needs of the artist. The staff is amiable, personable, knowledgeable, and helpful in the extreme. If anyone wants a few tips or an unabashedly subjective "institute review", don't hesitate to email me: garyoaks@bellsouth.net

Gary Oaks

European Residencies and Opportunities

2007-06-26T10:14:00.001-06:00

Here is a link to the Association of Cultural Centers in Europe. It lists the activities at each member location.

http://www.accr-europe.org/activites.aspx

Check it out!

NOVA Projects Call for Submissions

2007-06-25T13:34:00.001-06:00

Call to New Orleans Visual Artists. Juried by Jeanette
Ingberman, Exit Art founding director. Show opens
October at Barrister's Gallery in conjunction with Art
for Art's Sake. Submission deadline August 1st, 2007.
visit www.novaprojects.org for more info and
submission guidelines.

Artists' Intitiatives Panel

2007-06-22T17:39:00.000-06:00

Louisiana ArtWorks Presents
Art Sessions: A Series of Discussions on Visual Contemporary Art

"Artists' Initiatives: artists creating opportunities for artists"
Thursday 7-9 PM June 28, 2007
suggested donation $3.00

Moderated by:
Jacqueline Bishop

Panelists:
Erik Kiesewetter
*Constance
Elizabeth Underwood
* Art in Action
Kyle Bravo
*New Orleans Book Fair
Owen Murphy
*New Orleans Photo Alliance
Dan Tague
*NOVA Projects

Union Passenger Terminal, 1001 Loyola Ave. @ Howard Ave., 2nd Floor
(enter the main entrance, use stairs on the immediate right)

This program is supported by the Joan Mitchell Foundation and Kid Gloves, Inc.

Moderators wanted

2007-06-19T06:48:00.001-06:00

Is there something we are missing in this blog? well, yes there is. It's YOU!
We would like you to be a guest moderator for a week. What's required? That you do one post - about an art event, a review, an interview, something you are interested in. So if ya got something to say, and we know you do, say it here!

Send an email to visualartsneworleans@gmail.com to set up a time.

Alvar Arts

2007-06-19T06:46:00.000-06:00

Pati D'Amico Wednesday night June 20th at the Alvar Library, Alvar Street next to Douglass H.S. in the Bywater.

Fwd: Best Art Practices - International Award for young curator

2007-06-13T18:00:00.001-06:00

06/11/07

Best Art Practices

Best Art Practices
International award for young curators

First edition theme
Projects in non-conventional spaces

Announced by
Italian Cultural Office of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol

Curated by
Denis Isaia

http://www.bestartpractices.it/

The Award
The Italian Cultural Office of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, next host of the European Biennal Manifesta, is announcing the first edition of the international competition Best Art Practices – International award for young curators .

Best Art Practices will assign prizes to the best curator practices of contemporary art of the last five years.

The theme of the first edition will focus on projects in non-conventional spaces.

The Award accepts only projects that have been completed in the last five years and therefore inaugurated after 1 March 2002. Itinerant events or events taking place over a period of time will be accepted as long as all the phases are concluded by 1 March 2007. The Award is open to all curators of all nationalities born on or after 2 March 1967.

Transmission of data

Entries must arrive by 12 midday of Monday 3rd September 2007 by post, courier or hand delivery at the Award secretary's office. The postmark will not be considered as proof for the date of arrival of the entry and data sent by email or other means of transmission different from those indicated above will not be accepted.

Prizes

First prize € 10,000
Second prize € 3,000
Third prize € 2,000

Languages accepted

The data may be sent in Italian, German, English or Spanish.

Composition of the Jury

The international Jury is composed of a Jury President and five commissioners.
President: Carlos Basualdo, curator - Philadelphia Museum of Art
Commissioner: Marion Piffer Damiani, independent curator; Bolzano
Commissioner: Letizia Ragaglia curator – Museion; Bolzano
Commissioner: Montse Romaní, independent curator; Barcelona
Commissioner: Anton Vidokle, artist; New York and Berlin
Commissioner: Andrea Viliani, curator – Mambo; Bologna

Selection and prize giving

The winners will be selected by the assembled Jury.

At the end of the selection the first 8 placed will be classified. It is within the jury's jurisdiction to proclaim, for valid and justified reason, that no project has reached the winning standard.

The list of the first 8 selected will be published with effect form 12th November 2007 on the website of the Award.

It is also possible that a number of the projects, at the jury's discretion, will form part of an exhibition and in due course a catalogue, and that a number of the competitors may be invited to participate in a conference on this subject.

Enrolment forms, prizes-giving criteria and more information are available at http://www.bestartpractices.it.

Press Office
Carlo Simula
+39 0577 22 07 21
press@bestartpractice.it

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295 greenwich street #532, nyc ny 10007

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"local artists still alive"

2007-05-27T16:28:00.000-06:00

Takashi Horisaki, the New York artist who is "latexing" a home in the Lower 9th to bring to the Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island, wrote a little about the New Orleans art community and the lastest Neighborhoods project show at his blog.

If you missed the front page article by Katy Reckdahl about his project, see it at
nola.com link

keep up with what he's doing at
social dress new orleans

St. Claude Gallery Hop time

2007-05-18T00:37:00.000-06:00

Farrington Smith Gallery presents
The Amazing Technicolor Visions of
Lewis and Yseult
Show opening Saturday, May 19 from 5-9 pm
2514 St. Claude Ave.

Collaborative and solo work by Louis St. Lewis and Sean Yseult
with special guest Quintron on the turntables

This is the New Orleans premiere of pieces from the duo's show "12 Inches of Fame"- the last art show displayed at the famed CBGB's- as well as brand-new work. see our website for more information about Lewis and Yseult!
www.farringtonsmith.com

Visit other galleries in the St. Claude Arts District- also open this Saturday night! See www.scadnola.com for more information!

Neighborhoods: 2426 Bradish Place

2007-05-05T12:34:00.000-06:00

SITE-SPECIFIC ART INSTALLTION TITLED: “NEIGHBORHOODS: 2426 BRADISH PLACE,”

TO BE HELD SATURDAY, MAY 19TH, IN THE TULANE/GRAVIER NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW ORLEANS.

On Saturday, May 19th, 2007, 6:00-9:00pm, for one night only, the third installment of the “Neighborhoods” art installation project will be held at 2426 Bradish Place,Tulane/Gravier. “NEIGHBORHOODS: 2426 BRADISH PLACE” is a site-specific, multidisciplinary installation that will take place in the gutted ground floor of the home of Michelle Levine and Clay Thomas.

Michelle is an artist who is currently rebuilding her house and studio in the Tulane/Gravier neighborhood. Through the use of interviews with neighbors, soundscapes, live music, drawing, photography, and sculpture, this event will confront the range of issues the community is experiencing as they revitalize this neighborhood.

Visual artists include: Shannon Crane, Courtney Egan, Scott Saltzman, Maxx Sizeler, David Sullivan, Jonathan Traviesa, Elizabeth Underwood, Robert Vicknair, and Monica Zeringue; sound by Anton Gussoni, and SpartieTucker, and music by The Panorama Jazz Band.

FYI: see images from last Neighborhoods event in Gentilly at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33224774@N00/sets/72157594526756556/

Call for artists projects

2007-04-24T12:51:00.000-06:00

MADRID PROCESOS 07

AVAM (Associated Visual Artists of Madrid) invites proposals for a
competition to select eight artistic projects for inclusion in MADRID
PROCESOS 07. This competition is part of the activities of CRAC
(Coordination of Resources for Contemporary Art), an initiative
sponsored by AVAM in order to improve the working conditions for the
production and creation of works in the plastic and visual arts.

The maximum amount designated for support is 9.000 €.

Artists of any nationality may participate, regardless of age.
Participants must present an original and unpublished project (It may
currently be in some phase of production) to be partially, or totally
completed during the duration of the grant.

The deadline for applications is May 7, 2007.
For more information please visit http://www.avam.net

Vito Acconci in New Orleans

2007-04-11T14:44:00.000-06:00

VITO ACCONCI

Monday, April 23rd
6:30 p.m.
Miller Hall, Room 114
Loyola University
6363 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70118

This lecture has been made possible by the generosity of Barriere
Construction Company, Linda and Richard Friedman, and Lin Emery.

For more information
visart@loyno.edu/(504) 861-5456

Jerry Saltz lecture at Tulane

2007-04-08T17:52:00.000-06:00

If you missed Jerry Saltz speak at Tulane this past Wed. April 4th
well... sorry. The lecture was loaded with insight and optimism. His
take on art and criticism were seemingly off the cuff and not bogged
down with heavy art speak. At times this distracted from the lecture
as I felt as though I was in a Junior High science lecture by the
'cool' teacher who wanted to make science fun. "Right dummies and
prophets, does anyone know who made this piece...", this makes sense
if you were there. The patronizing became annoying at times, but only
in good Saltz fashion do I point out the bad with the good.

Over all the lecture was informative and highly entertaining. I
gathered from talking to several people that were in attendance, they
left the auditorium a better person and perhaps a little more
enlightened about viewing and creating art. I especially enjoyed his
bit about the third thing that exists between the artist and the
viewer being not only the artwork itself but the experience as another
element of communication. This element being linked to notions of the
sublime was quite interesting, and I could not agree more with Mr.
Saltz in that the sublime exists in dialogue and human interaction
rather than silence and solitude in our contemporary setting.

Please check out the art reviews by Jerry Saltz weekly at
villagevoice.com, you may even become a fan.

Dan Tague

Karen Louise Crain at the Big Top

2007-04-05T12:58:00.000-06:00

Karen Louise Crain’s color photographs at the Big Top revolve around a central female character’s amusing and disjunctive interactions with her immediate environment. This character’s relationship to the audience and to her environment seems to change between “episodes,” or costume-changes.

First we see a woman with hair pulled back, reading glasses on, lounging in a retro-geometric mumu in a yard that at first glance seems off-kilter but not necessarily devastated. A big rocket is askew behind her, the plant next to her looks threateningly like a big dead furry spider in a pot, and the place seems to be in some sort of upheaval. But the character doesn’t care – she sits reading a magazine, deep in an escapist reverie induced by glossy pages. She appears unposed, and her mumu provides a certain kind of exuberant structure and contrast within the odd setting. She appears strangely comfortable.

Another photo in the same “episode” shows the same woman in the same yard. This time she is dwarfed by vegetation in upheaval. She wields a pair of clippers, which seem to pick at the upturned roots of a big tree ineffectually. Her cool in the previous photo is made comical by her attempts to control her environment in this image. I can imagine that this character is determined to do what she can to control the world – which is very little - and she’s not going to worry over it. Maintaining the bubble of one’s personal world and interests in the face of disaster and the suffering of others is the subject of these identity explorations. Karen Louise writes about this in her statement, posted in a comment below.

The second set’s character is much more posed, and appears less comfortable in, or less a part of, her environment. She steadfastly ignores the giant piles of tree trunks looming behind her, while she, clothed in a pretty dressing gown and little else, talks on the phone or pours her tea. The contradictions involved in maintaining one’s femininity in the midst of a giant clean-up are under inspection here. These photos seem to be played for contradiction much more than the garden photos.

The third costume change involves a character who comes off as a ploy for a one-line joke – it’s a good joke too. Dressed smartly as the chair of the garden club or some sort of community matron, she stands at the door of a flooded house, complete with giant orange spray-painted X on the door, knocking, with a “welcome-back” gift in her arms. She is aware of her environment and knows just what it needs, a houseplant. This character is full of omni-directional cheer, determined to make the best of the situation no matter how dire. As a viewer, I enjoy this humor but when the joke is over, I am drawn back to the more intense visual pleasure of the mumu lady in the garden, and her ambiguous relationship between what’s in her head and what’s in her surroundings.

The last character appears in only one photo. For her cameo, the woman in a leopard coat leans on a boarded up building, on which is spray painted in bright red “Looters will be shot.” Again she talks on the red phone. Her eyes are obscured by dark glasses, and a piece of matching leopard luggage makes her departure imminent. She’s getting out of Dodge. But Karen Louise, having just bought a house here 6 months before the storm, is here for a while. With some artists, the storm and it’s aftermath brought artwork to a standstill. Karen Louise Crain found the ability to start her art career at this moment.

Courtney Egan

Takashi Horisaki to do project in New Orleans

2007-03-29T18:07:00.000-06:00

Takashi Horisaki is an artist who spent 3 years in New Orleans, graduated from Loyola, and he now lives in NYC. Upon a post -Katrina visit he was inspired to do work about the state of things here. He wrote the following:

"Last June, I revisited New Orleans and shocked the situation. Since then, as an artist, I have been concerned about all level of political social and cultural issues over there. Several good exhibitions about New Orleans happened in NYC, but felt missing such a physical reality that I got there. So, I started thinking about how possibly under my situation, I were able to contribute to these issues that supposed to be nation level.

I completed my proposal late December and that is "Social Dress New Orleans - 730 days after." One of my recent sculpture works is Social Dress series. I use pure liquid latex to apply onto object mainly buildings, let it dry, carefully peel it off with all surface substances and exhibit in a different space. I thought finding entire toppled shotgun house in New Orleans, painting latex, peeling it off, bringing it to NYC and recreate the house here will be good piece to physically present and speaking up about those issues still happening over there.

Fortunately, one of institutions well accepted this project proposal and will be solo exhibition coming Summer. At Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, New York between 7/29 and 10/28, this sculpture will be exhibited coming with documentary film screening and publishing a book of this project."

Please take a look at his blog and his remarkable work. He will keep us here posted about his project.

GRADUALLY

2007-03-19T16:32:00.000-06:00

A Performance by Butch Merigoni
New Orleans, March 8, 2007

A New York artist, originally from New Orleans, Butch Merigoni returned to New Orleans with a relatively rare visual arts performance. Not that art performance has disappeared, but unlike the seeming heyday for this medium in New Orleans when I arrived in the late 1970s and 1980s, it seems too long absent. Many of us remember the CAC and even the New Orleans Museum presenting performances.

Butch’s intent was that this piece serve as a combination of his reaction to the post-Katrina world of New Orleans and an empathetic response to the artists and others still living with that rather surreal reality. One knows that, in fact, the artist’s ability to focus significant light on, or aid in overcoming the insanity of, such a social, economic and political collapse is likely to be minor. However, each of us speaks with the power of the media we are competent in. It seems as well, that an art performance may be pretty much as successful as all the documentaries, political visits, and editorializing that has already taken place. In any event, Butch appeared to realize that, as artist do, he was speaking to the audience in attendance and expressing his need to comment. That is sufficient.

In short, Merigoni, dressed in a rather insubstantial white pair of pants and t-shirt, without shoes, stood in the empty streets of Gentilly at night and pelted himself with 144 (twelve dozen, a gross) raw eggs. After this painfully extended process, he removed his soiled cloths and poured water over himself to cleanse his body, dressed and left. The whole process took approximately 30 minutes.

Two of the essential decisions made in such art acts became the key to the success of this piece – pace and place. A three dozen egg performance was not an option. As with all of us who have endured the barrage of small and large blows for over 18 months by institutions, contractors, and thoughtless talking heads, too much seems never enough. For thirty minutes the central sound in that once bustling Gentilly neighborhood was that of eggs breaking over and over and over on the artists body. The tension built as the blows continued and the performer, shaking in the cold night air, persisted well past our grasping of what he “meant” to say. His slow, deliberate and trance-like countenance was mesmerizing and not a little painful to us all.

Place counted on two other levels. This near empty and almost silent part of New Orleans was a companion performer, but so was the fact that Merigoni stood on a sewer cover where the detritus of the eggs mounted under his bare feet. The performance was lit by twelve participants each holding a flashlight. Each had some power to control what was focused on. It was not incidental that such temporary lighting was for so long part of our mode of survival. (I won’t try to impose my interpretation of the possible rationale for persistence of the number 12 in the piece, but it clearly has symbolic power)

As I mentioned afterwards to the artist, the phrase “You have to break some eggs to make an omelet” kept coming to mind. However, as did he, we all seem to just wash off the muck, start the next day, and have long given up the idea that an omelet will ever be forthcoming.

Gerald L. Cannon

Video: Patricia Sills

St. Claude Gallery Hop

2007-03-18T16:13:00.000-06:00

This Saturday, March 24, Barrister's Gallery , Farrington Smith Gallery and l'art Noir New Orleans have coordinated their openings to offer you a gallery-hopping experience St. Claude Ave.-style.

For Barrister's Gallery, this is also an inaugural show at their new location of 2331 St. Claude Ave. and Spain. I saw the space at about the halfway point in its construction, and it promised to be very nice. The show is new works on paper by Myrtle Von Damitz, III and is entitled, "I'm Running Out of Coffee and It Smells Like Rotten Onions." The artist's reception on Saturday is from 4-9 p.m.

At Farrington Smith Gallery, there will be paintings by Steve Richardson and Katherine Thompson. Our artist's reception will be from 6-9 pm, and you can find us at 2514 St. Claude Ave. at Franklin.

Furthur down the way at 4108 St. Claude Ave., l'art Noir is opening their Comic Art Show, which includes work by Tony "Baloney" Juliano, Henriette Valium, and Caeser Meadows.

We're excited to be building on the art scene over here in the Marigny/Bywater; please stop by any or all of these shows this Saturday, March 24!

-from Amy Farrington

48 Hour Film School Introduced to New Orleans

2007-03-02T15:55:00.000-06:00

yall check out the film and share your thoughts -

February 13, 2007 - New Orleans, LA
As part of its continuing efforts to provide affordable, hands-on
training to aspiring filmmakers, the New Orleans Video Access Center
(NOVAC) and the Digital Filmmaking Institute (DFI) held the first
ever “48 Hour Film School” workshop on January 27-28th. The end
result was a completed short film entitled Breaking Bread which was
produced by workshop participants, edited in one day, and now
available online at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEdHnEU07cs

Within the first 24 hours at the LIFT Production Offices, students
learned the basics of pre-production planning and hands-on techniques
in camera/lighting/sound. On day two, the class moved to an Uptown
park, which served as the location for Breaking Bread . While
producing the short film, students received applied set and technical
experience in camera, sound, lighting, production assistance, and
directing. Many students also served as “extras,” with local actors
Kevin Barraco and Tanner playing the lead roles.

Breaking Bread was shot and edited in one day, confirming the belief
of NOVAC executive director Tim Ryan that “anyone with a story to
tell, a technical understanding of the equipment, and a devoted group
of friends/family can produce their own digital films in a short
period of time.”

Jason Vowell and Wylie Whitesides, two local independent filmmakers,
facilitated the workshop. “It’s really important to actually do
instead of teach…A lot of people think it costs a ton of money and
takes a ton of experience to make a good short film….That’s just not
the case anymore. Better quality and lower prices for equipment, and
the ability to broadcast your creations over the Internet, are really
changing the way the world thinks about their entertainment choices.
Our class gave the students an upper hand in that world,” said Vowell.

In addition to the “48 Hour Film School” workshop, NOVAC’s DFI offers
other affordable digital filmmaking training, including the following
upcoming workshops: Introduction to Final Cut Pro (Feb. 24-25,
$225), DV Camera and Lighting (March 10 - $125), and DVD Studio Pro
(March 24-25 $225). In July, NOVAC will also be offering a one-week
digital film camp for teens. Visit novacvideo.org for more
information on the first-come, first-served workshop registration
process.

NOVAC Digital Filmmaking Institute
Tim Ryan, NOVAC
(504) 339-4350
tim.ryan@novacvideo.org

Neighborhoods: Gentilly photos on http://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifline

2007-02-12T21:09:00.000-06:00

take a look at the photos from the Neighborhoods: Gentilly event at Flickr.

leave some comments!

George Ingmire film selected for National Film Registry

2007-01-18T12:57:00.001-06:00

George Ingmire completed a poignant short, titled "Think of Me First as a Person," out of an unfinished film he found, started by his grandfather in 1960. George discovered the audio track first, on an old VHS tape, and later discovered the film and a legal pad with notes for completing "Think of Me First as a Person," as well as reels and reels that George's grandfather had shot since the 1940's, of his family, of friends playing spy games, and silkworms. George's description of the film: "'Think of Me First as a Person' is a loving portrait about raising a child with Down’s Syndrome. The father’s narration lends a remarkable poignancy to this film, as he details his son’s birth, playful nature and eventual need to receive training in an institute far away from home."

Following is an excerpt from letter from Dwight Swanson of National Home Movie Day, who saw the film when it screened here at Zeitgeist last August:

....Good Morning,
Today is one of the happiest days of my career as an archivist because George Ingmire's "Think of Me First as a Person" has been named to the National Film Registry.... After the screening this summer at the Zeitgeist I was so moved by the film that I asked George if I could show it at the Association of Moving Image Archivists' conference in November. My colleagues were so blown away by it that they suggested that we push it for the Registry this year. I am on the National Film Preservation Board, the board that recommends titles to the Librarian of Congress (though ultimately it's up to him to decide), as is a colleague of mine who
has a daughter with autism (so she was a particularly strong backer of the film). We managed to get it screened at the NFPB meeting in November, and then it was shown to the Librarian earlier this month....

see George's website for more info or for screeners:
http://www.miabuelo.com/dwight/index.htm

a story at Daily Press:
http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-16293sy0dec29,0,1120792.story?track=rss

Search for Meaning on Julia Street

2007-01-18T08:40:00.000-06:00

Dear Julia Street,

I attended your openings earlier this month intending to write a positive piece of criticism on any one show that would knock my socks off. Unfortunately, each one of your galleries was a greater disappointment than the last. You may not like it, you may not want to hear it, but there is a difference between art and High Art, and for years you have been in denial of which one you represent. Worse yet, you’ve convinced yourself that you‘re in a different league (read: better) than the tourist galleries on Royal.

Your shows this month featured works that rely solely on their process of creation. In other words, gallery after gallery you exhibited well-executed art that forgot to be well-thought-out. Julia Street, if High Art were pure aesthetic, looking at pretty pictures, would we not be satisfied to stay home admiring our wallpaper?

Step up and be the epicenter of High Art in New Orleans you claim to be. However, if you are content displaying well-constructed, but empty objects (cause thought don’t sell!), then call yourself what you are: a row of consignment boutiques.

Best,

Ning Bordes

Art and Death in New Orleans

2007-01-16T17:23:00.000-06:00

I received this message from Mary Len Costa of the Arts Council of New Orleans today regarding Jacqueline Bishop's commentary on NPR entitled "Art and Death in New Orleans" about Art in New Orleans amid the violence.

"Hello:

The radio commentary below from New Orleans’ visual artist Jacqueline Bishop came out of California NPR station. It did not originally played on our local NPR station. It is good to hear someone say that the ARTS ARE BACK AND OPEN FOR BUSINESS in New Orleans. This commentary has gotten such good response from around the country, that the California station has asked Jackie to do a monthly commentary on arts in recovery in New Orleans.

Listen to the commentary: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6761681

Mary Len Costa

Director of Public Art"

ALVAR ARTS at the Alvar Branch Library

2007-01-15T22:08:00.000-06:00

I just received this in my inbox from my good friend Zé:

"Tomorrow night, Tuesday, Jan 16, from 7-9pm is our second presentation of ALVAR ARTS at the Alvar Branch Library.

Our featured artist is Deirdre Favreau, who will present a selection of her digital photographs
and discuss issues of beauty, pattern, scale and the playful use of Adobe Photoshop software.

Refreshments will be served.

The Alvar Library is located at 903 Alvar Street in Bywater. For more information contact Anne Gisleson at (504) 813-2818 or alvarart@gmail.com.

Hope to see you there! "

Neighborhoods: 1508 Crescent St. Gentilly

2007-01-08T22:07:00.000-06:00

The second "Neighborhoods" event will be held this Saturday night, January 13, 4-8 pm, at the home of Belinda Tanno, Joe Threat and their daughter Leah in Gentilly. The "Neighborhoods" project, instigated by Robert Vicknair, is a series of one-night-only site-specific art and sound installations in homes of New Orleanians that have returned and hope to rebuild.

The first project was "Neighborhoods: 679 Jordan Ave," at the home of Kathleen Kraus in Holy Cross. "Kathleen's house was a hub of creative activity," Robert said. In order to bring some of that activity back to her now darkened neighborhood, Robert invited a group of artists to create pieces for her gutted house and its position near the levee, and had musicians play or create sound for the space. Robert created a piece as well: since elections were the week before, Robert collected piles of political neutral-ground signs and cut them into house silhouettes. He painted them and installed them along the levee outside Kathleen's front door (see picture.)

The second Neighborhoods project will feature art by Scott Saltzman, David Sullivan, Jonathan Traviesa, Robert Vicknair, and Monica Zeringue; sound by Anton Gussoni, and SpartieTucker, and music by the Panorama Jazz Band. "It's a rescusitation, an effort to bring art back into Belinda's home, whose studio was destroyed as well," Robert says. Robert wants the neighbors included too - a family that's rebuilding on the same block, Trish Chapham, and her mother, Verna (who was a riveter at the Higgins Boatyard during WWII) were interviewed and photographed. Three other families who were displaced from the neighborhood will be remembered in installations as well.

There is no electricity at the site of the installation, but food and drink will be served. Robert received a grant for this project, and another one is planned for Mid City later this spring.

In Memory of Our Beloved Friend

2007-01-07T22:52:00.000-06:00

Helen Hill
1970 - 2007

Driven to give freely to those in her community. Motivated by a kind and loving spirit.

An obituary from "The State" - Columbia, South Carolina's newspaper located here:

http://www.thestate.com/mld/state/news/obituaries/16401958.htm

Details for expressions of support:
"In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to “Doctors Without Borders” or to the Helen Addison Wingard Scholarship Fund at Columbia College, Columbia."

Also, look at
www.helenhill.org
for more info and links.

Digital Filmmaking Workshops at NOVAC

2006-12-30T17:15:00.000-06:00

Digital Filmmaking Workshops through NOVAC's newly formed Digital Filmmaking Institute

Introduction to Final Cut Pro – Intensive
Saturday and Sunday, January 13th and 14th

Digital Filmmaking Production Intensive
Saturday and Sunday, January 27th and 28th

Find all the details at www.novacvideo.org

People of New Orleans

2006-12-24T17:41:00.000-06:00

During my family’s evacuation from Hurricane Katrina I was shocked at how the press handled the catastrophe. Like the government the press was not prepared for such an event. On top of that they did not have an idea of what New Orleans was really like before the storm. It takes people living in New Orleans to talk about New Orleans. Simon Dorfman took on the challenge of documenting the event from the perspective of the people who lived it. His project is appropriately called “People of New Orleans”.

“People of New Orleans” is a collection of video interviews of people from all over the New Orleans area. Simon began his project with these parameters: the interviews would be five minutes in length with very little questions and posted to his website unedited. The interview would be lead by the interviewee with only a few questions at the beginning to get the ball rolling. These parameters evolved as the project went on and the interviews became longer. However, Simon stayed true to the other rules and did not edit or manipulate the interviews. In addition, visitors to the website can make comments about their reactions to the videos and the Katrina event as a whole. The comments add an interesting aspect that reveals the perspective of those outside of New Orleans within the affected areas and from other parts of the country.

I came away from Simon’s website refreshed to hear the thoughts of New Orleanians about their evacuation, their return home, and their rebuilding efforts. Since the storm passed the state and local governments have not been able to bring the resources together to bring the city as a whole into a rebuilding mode. As this process occurs or does not occur, the people of New Orleans are left to rebuilding the city themselves. Like so many things in New Orleans, rebuilding is a grass roots effort. Simon’s work to reveal this to the rest of the world is indeed needed.

You can find Simon’s website at http://www.peopleofneworleans.com, browse the many videos and feel free to leave your comments. You can also subscribe to the RSS feeds available on the site as well.

Don't forget to leave a comment in the "Blog Name Suggestions" entry giving your ideas on a good name for this blog!

-Tim Best


	Prospect.1 New Orleans

	Prospect.1 New Orleans Announces Participating Organizations and Preview Events Schedule Website Launched Preview Events Held on October 30 and 31, 2008 http://www.prospectneworleans.org With just a year before the inaugural launch of Prospect. 1, Dan Cameron has announced an initial list of eleven organizations with which it will partner in hosting the biennial, which will be on view November 1, 2007 through January 18, 2008. The venues are among New Orleans' most prominent and beloved cultural institutions, and will form the hub for exhibitions during Prospect.1. Participating Organizations (in alphabetical order): The Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans The Historic New Orleans Collection L9 Louisiana Artworks The U.S. Mint Louisiana State Museum The National World War II Museum The Louisiana African American Museum New Orleans Center for Creative Arts\|Riverfront The New Orleans Museum of Art The Newcomb Art Gallery at Tulane University The Ogden Museum of Southern Art Additionally, several historic landmarks are being renovated specifically for the biennial, and other venues, including warehouses, factory spaces, and municipal open spaces across the city will also welcome exhibitions. With a total of over 100,000 square feet of exhibition space, the biennial will have a visible presence across the city throughout its eleven-week run. On view will be work by 75 local, national, and international artists most of whom are creating new, original works that respond both to the locations in which they will be installed and to the city of New Orleans as a whole. "It's a sign of the community's support for Prospect.1 that these eleven institutions have already joined us as exhibition venues. It speaks very strongly to our shared belief that the biennial can play a leading role in rejuvenating both the contemporary art scene and the economy of the city of New Orleans," said Dan Cameron, Director of PROSPECT.1 New Orleans. Opening Events The vernissage of Prospect.1 will take place on October 30th and 31s, with private previews to be held at all participating venues. A Gala Opening Ball to help underwrite the costs of presenting Prospect.1 will take place on the evening of the 31st. The biennial will open to the public with a ribbon cutting ceremony on November 1, 2008 and will remain open from 10am to 8pm throughout the weekend. Prospect.1 will be on view until January 18, 2008, Tuesday through Sunday, 12pm to 8pm. Website Prospect.1 has just launched its website http://www.prospectneworleans.org The site will act as a resource for information on the biennial, venues, artists, events, and the city as a destination and will be updated regularly. About Prospect.1 New Orleans: Dan Cameron conceived Prospect.1 New Orleans to reinvigorate the city, a historic regional artistic center, following the human, civic, and economic devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The primary goal of the biennial exhibition is to redevelop the city as a cultural destination where the visual arts are celebrated and can once again thrive. New Orleans was the first U.S. city to host a recurring international art exhibition, beginning in 1887 with the Exhibition of the Art Association of New Orleans. In this tradition, Prospect.1 will provide the public with new work by 75 artists conceived and developed for the city. The largest international art biennial ever held in the United States, Prospect.1 will reach an estimated audience of one quarter million visitors, half of which will likely be Louisiana state residents. Prospect.1 is founded on the principle that art engenders social progress, so the exhibition and all related events will be free to the public. The biennial will be open every day except Monday, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and visitors can see the exhibition in any order they choose and as many times as they like. There will be daily guided tours of the biennial venues. Fore more information on Prospect.1 New Orleans, please visit http://www.prospectneworleans.org or contact U.S. Biennial, Inc. at (212) 686-5305 or info@prospectneworleans.org. ### Media Contacts: For further information, interviews, and images, please refer to the following contact: Kellie Honeycutt Blue Medium, Inc. T: (212) 675-1800 F: (212) 675-1855 E: kellie@bluemedium.com