The Big Easy

I had the pleasure of attending the Alliance of Artists Communities’ (one of our Open Arts Network partners) annual conference a few weeks ago in New Orleans.   I attend quite a few conferences each year, but so few live up to expectations (sorry, I won’t reveal what those are).  This conference far exceeded my expectations.  With a focus on sustainability, attendees heard from speakers such as Lolis Eric Elie, who spoke about how food has an impact on community, and Penelope Burk, who gave one of the best talks on fundraising (specifically about donor-centric fundraising) that I’ve ever heard.

Kicking off the conference was a 7:30AM Second Line parade down St. Charles Avenue to the conference’s homebase at Louisiana ArtWorks, where we met several terrific artists-in-residence, such as Lee Deigaard.  During the conference, I had the pleasure of serving on a panel about emerging artists with colleagues from the Rhode Island School of Design and the residency programs Hub-Bub and Skowhegan.  We spoke about how it’s very important that all arts organizations, whether they focus on the art itself or on providing artists with services, need to do a better job of equipping their constituent artists with information on the many different services and service organizations that they can (and will probably need to) access during their careers.

Ending the conference was a session on emergency preparedness for artists at the Ogden Museum.  One would think that after Katrina, a lot of artists would want to know about how to be ready in cases of natural (or other) disasters.  What was disheartening was that so few artists attended.  Understandably, this isn’t the most enjoyable topic to discuss.  However, it gave me the chance to meet representatives from both the Arts Council of New Orleans and the Craft Emergency Relief Fund, who are doing a lot of work towards getting the word out about how to prepare oneself should another disaster occur.  CERF specifically has published a Studio Protector guide for craft artists and artisans that gives a what-you-need-to-know overview on the subject.  It covers topics such as backing up data, planning ahead to transport art and equipment, and obtaining liability insurance.  We look forward to working further with CERF in the next few months to get the word out about their services.  It’s vital that artists realize that even if they’re in areas where hurricanes and tornadoes are rarities, things like blackouts, computer viruses, and other problematic situations are still possibilities.  Knocking on wood can only help so much… So, be sure to plan ahead and protect both yourself and your art!

During my visit to New Orleans, I was able to catch up with a few other area organizations and artists.  The aforementioned Arts Council of New Orleans gave me an overview of the artists they serve — many of which make a living on their art on a day-to-day basis, gigging at clubs on Frenchmen Street or selling their art on Jackson Square.  I met with Sean LaRocca from Fractured Atlas-member organization ArtSpot Productions, which just completed a run of a site-specific work called “Loup Garou” with another theater company, Mondo Bizarro, at New Orleans City Park.  The production was a part of the New Orleans Fringe Festival, an up-and-comer in the world of fringe fests.  Seated in the cafe at the Contemporary Arts Center, I had an interesting discussion with my colleagues at the National Performance Network, another Open Arts Network partner that is holding their annual conference in a few weeks in Knoxville (unfortunately, we’re not able to send anyone from Fractured Atlas this time around, so if you attend, please report back!).  Finally, I met with colleagues from Sweet Home New Orleans, an organization that has done extensive research within the community and has helped many local musicians get back on their feet after Katrina, and the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation, which helps preserve and present local American roots music.

I always love bringing home art from the places I visit, and there is an abundance of visual art in New Orleans — especially in the French Quarter.  Some of the galleries in the area also double as the artists’ studios, which I think is terrific since you can meet the artists and see them at work — it’s a huge selling point!  As a result, I made some purchases from artists Barbara Yochum, Jamie Hayes (who creates incredibly colorful work, though he is colorblind), and fiber artist Lauren Thomas.  The latter works with a local artist collective called RHINO Contemporary Crafts Co. (”Right Here in New Orleans”), whose home is a store in The Shops at Canal Place.  I urge you to visit if you’re down in that neck of the woods.

And yes, of course I had the pleasure of hearing a lot of music and eating a lot of great food (I place the culinary arts alongside the other artistic disciplines).  Kudos to The Bonoffs, a zydeco band that I could have listened to for hours, and to Elizabeth’s Restaurant, a gem of a local eatery in the Bywater neighborhood.

We hope to work more extensively with the groups I’ve mentioned in the very near future.  One of the strongest needs in the community seems to be access to and availability of space.  And, with our NYCPASpaces program quickly expanding to both Philadelphia and the San Francisco Bay Area in the next few years, I think and hope we can work to get this started in the New Orleans area as well.  We also hope to connect with the many grassroots organizations that populate the region.  I look forward to another visit in the near future!