(August 2007)
Contact: Diane G. Dufilho, Director, Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College, 318-869-5040 or email
See photos below
See also Shreveport Times feature "Meadows Museum to Open Two Shows with New Orleans Flavor"
Two exhibits—City of Hope: Photographs of the Crescent City from 2005 and 2007 and Works by John Scott from the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Arthur Roger Gallery—Open Aug. 19 at the Meadows Museum of Art
Shreveport, LA—— City of Hope: Photographs of the Crescent City from 2005 and 2007 and Works by John Scott from the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Arthur Roger Gallery open the season at the Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College on Sunday, Aug. 19 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the downstairs gallery.
The exhibition will be on view for the general public through Oct. 28. It juxtaposes photographs taken by the staff of The Historic New Orleans Collection just following Hurricane Katrina with approximately one dozen photographs taken during the spring of 2007. Also on view is a selection of large-scale black-and-white relief prints and domestic-scale bronze sculptures by New Orleans artist John Scott along with Scott's maquette for the New Orleans Spirit House. An intensive program calendar for the Northwest Louisiana region has been developed to complement these two exhibitions.
City of Hope: Photographs of the Crescent City 2005 and 2007 from The Historic New Orleans Collection features photographs, maps and documentary materials related to the flooding of the Crescent City for the past century. Following the devastation caused by the most recent hurricane in August 2005, members of the staff of The Historic New Orleans Collection (HNOC) took their cameras and began documenting the neighborhoods of the Crescent City. The images taken by HNOC staff serve grim reminders of a horrific time in the city's history that has now come and gone.
What has happened in the two years since hurricane Katrina hit Southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi? City of Hope also presents documentary photographs of New Orleans neighborhoods taken by HNOC staff in the spring of 2007, just before the Meadows Museum of Art staff transported the City of Hope exhibition. While still very much in the recovery process, many New Orleans neighborhoods are nevertheless coming back, as the new photographs clearly demonstrate.
As a complement to the City of Hope exhibition, Works by John Scott from the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Arthur Roger Gallery features recent works by one of Louisiana's most well-known and beloved artists. Included in this exhibition are eight monumental, black-and-white woodblock prints depicting the neighborhoods of New Orleans, two domestic scale bronze sculptures, and a maquette of Scott's public work, New Orleans Spirit House, that withstood the floods and still stands in the De Saix community. The scale model of the New Orleans Spirit House will provide the basis for the Centenary College course Introduction to Community-Based Arts that will be taught in fall 2007. It will also be used in a variety of public programs for the community-at-large.
All public programs are presented free of charge to the general public. Educators who wish to schedule student tours of these exhibitions can contact the Museum Education Department at 318-841-7271. For more information or to receive an exhibition and program guide, call the Meadows Museum of Art at 318-869-5169.
The Program Calendar is as follows:
Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007: City of Hope: Photographs of the Crescent City 2005 and 2007 from the Historic New Orleans Collection and Works by John Scott from the New Orleans Museum of Art and Arthur Roger Gallery and Focus Gallery: Portraits by Reem Bassous and Meg Harders open for viewing by the general public.
Sunday, Sept. 23, 2007: 2 — 3 p.m., Lecture on "Public Art Works and John Scott's New Orleans Spirit House" by Mary Len Costa of the Arts Council of New Orleans; in the museum galleries with light refreshments
Monday, Sept. 25, 2007: 9:30 a.m. — noon, Docent training with Mary Len Costa on the New Orleans Spirit House Project in the museum galleries with breakfast refreshments
SPIRIT OF HIGHLAND WEEKEND
Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 13 and 14, 2007: 1 — 4 p.m. Spirit of Highland Weekend; in the museum galleries and on the grounds with Louisiana refreshments
Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007: 2 — 3 p.m., Lecture on "The Life and Art of John Scott" by Mora Beauchamp-Byrd; in the museum galleries with light refreshments
Monday, Oct. 15, 2007: 9:30 a.m.— noon, Docent training with Mora Beauchamp-Byrd on The Life and Work of John Scott: Personal Experiences, in the museum galleries with breakfast refreshments
Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007: City of Hope: Photographs of the Crescent City 2005 and 2007 from the Historic New Orleans Collection and Works by John Scott from the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Arthur Roger Gallery close to the general public.
— —
The Meadows Museum of Art is located on the campus of Centenary College of Louisiana at 2911 Centenary Boulevard in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Museum is open to the general public from noon to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; from noon to 5 p.m. on Thursday; and from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The Museum is closed on Monday. The Museum is free of charge to the general public. For further information or to receive a 2007-08 Exhibition and Program Guide, call the Museum Business Office at 318-869-5040.
— —
City of Hope: Photographs of the Crescent City 2005 and 2007 has been organized by the staff of The Historic New Orleans Collection. Works by John Scott from the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Arthur Roger Gallery has been organized by the staff of the Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College of Louisiana in cooperation with the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Arthur Roger Gallery of New Orleans. The staff of the Meadows Museum of Art would like to express their thanks to Mary Len Costa of the Arts Council of New Orleans for sharing her expertise regarding the New Orleans Spirit House Project. The printing of educational and promotional materials for these exhibitions has been supported by a generous grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Friends of the Algur Meadows Museum. The Meadows Museum of Art receives general operating support from the Shreveport Regional Arts Council with funds from the City of Shreveport. The Meadows Museum of Art seeks funding from both public and private sources on a project-by-project basis.
House with "We survived..." sign
Photo by Jan White Brantley, copyright The Historic New Orleans Collection
Cherub in rubble
Photo by Tere Kirkland, copyright The Historic New Orleans Collection
Storm's Coming
Photo by John Scott, Storm's Coming, black-and-white woodcut , 40 by 60 inches, New Orleans Museum of Art, gift of Ashley and Timothy B. F
Boat atop houses
Photo by Keely Merritt, copyright The Historic New Orleans Collection