Getty Grants for New Orleans institutions

From the website:
The new round of grants, totaling more than $1 million, have been awarded to the Cathedral of St. Louis, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, the Prospect.1 U.S. Biennial, and following the successful completion of earlier Getty-funded projects, to the Contemporary Arts Center, Longue Vue House and Garden, the Louisiana State Museums, and the New Orleans Cultural Coalition. An additional grant also has been given to a consortium of eight institutions to continue surveying the city’s arts audiences....

LA Artworks opening Sat night

Louisiana ArtWorks presents Salvage, a collaborative mixed-media installation by artist Linda Sormin. Opening Reception will theoretically be held Saturday, August 30th at 6:00-9:00 PM. The exhibition will be open by appointment Tuesday through Friday 1:00 - 5:00 PM, from August 31st through October 10th. Please call (504) 571-7373 to schedule a viewing.

LA Artworks Artists Registry deadline

Due this Saturday Aug 30th, part of their "Emerging Artists Exhibition Program." Exhibitions will be curated from the registry. Don't forget this, amidst toilet paper, gallon jug water and battery buying.

Prospect.1 on facebook

the biennial has a facebook group. It looks like periodical updates are posted. From it I learned that you can see a piece that's in progress by one of the artists, Ghada Amer, in the Lower 9th.

Banksy's come to town

Check out Jonno's photostream on Flickr to see the graffiti artist Banksy's local contributions. Whoa, when'd he do dat? Ouch!

wetlands yes, shell no

Remember Mr. Bill from Saturday night live? He's now an activist, but you probably knew this already. Here's a video of his latest action, presenting a bill for the damage to the wetlands to Shell Oil, but I'm still confused by the lovely ladies in evening wear flanking him!

Zeitgeist Theater

It's real name is Zeitgeist Multidisciplinary Arts Center, that's a mouthful. Rene Broussard has been the proprietor of Zeitgeist in its many incarnations since the late 80's, I think. The 20th anniversary of Zeitgeist was a few years back... back before dvds, before the internet was everywhere, Zeitgeist was the thing that made me think I could live in New Orleans. Now that it's so much easier to sit at home and be entertained, Zeitgeist has fewer regulars, but it's worth a trip to see their excellent new digs on Oretha Castle Haley in the same building as Saturn Screenprinting. I just saw Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg there while imbibing in the drink of my choice, sitting a couch, so it was practically like home. My Winnipeg was a funny film, more accessible than most Maddin fare, that made me feel cold and nostalgic for a city of sleepwalkers that I've never seen. Maddin imaginatively riffs on Winnipeg's past and future and his place in it, and his odd attachment to his mother. For people who wonder why they stay in a certain place (ahem), it's a empathetic view. Zeitgiest has a Patti Smith film coming up, after Rene returns from his yearly Toronto film fest trip. He doesn't advertise, so you have to check the website!

Open Air Project

One of the Joan Mitchell sculpture projects proposes to fill up all the empty signage frames in New Orleans with artist-created content. You have until August 31st to propose an idea to Catherine Burke. Peruse images of available sign locations at the website or find your own. great idea, thanks Catherine and Joan Mitchell!

tonight at LA Artworks

Tonight at 7:00 PM visiting artist Linda Sormin will present a slide lecture of her rich and varied work, followed by a Q&A Session in which audience members may address their questions to her directly. Linda Sormin is a Canadian sculptor based in Providence, Rhode Island. Through objects and site-specific installations, Sormin's work explores issues of fragility and aggression, mobility and survival. Lecture is free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $3.00, and will take place at the Louisiana ArtWorks building, at 725 Howard Avenue. We hope to see you there!

Artist Housing (Treme)

Greater New Orleans Artist Mansion (GNOAM):
Similar to Musicians Village, but for artists.

The building is divided into private rooms that double as workspaces,
providing each artist with a bedroom/studio. Some rooms are equipped
with lofts.

GNOAM is seeking artists to fill available openings. Interested
parties should contact Jonathan at (504) 723-1724 to make an
appointment. We offer a space for artists to be creative, especially as Prospect.1
approaches. See Doug MacCash's blog on the house here.

Third Thursdays @ BECA gallery

From BECA-Bridge for Emerging Contemporary Art:
For those of you here in town, please join us this Thursday, August 21st from 6:30pm-8:30pm for Third Thursday @ BECA gallery. With music and light refreshments, our monthly contemporary art mixer invites the public to gather and meet with artists, discuss works on view in our current exhibition 'FOUR' and those currently in progress. Ask questions regarding techniques, mediums, artistic styles and viewpoints. Bring a friend and join us for a fun evening!

For those of you unable to join us, you may view the entire exhibition online.

from today's T-P - meeting tonight

Contemporary Arts Center curator Dan Cameron
Prospect 1 New Orleans, a city-wide international art exhibition -- the first of its kind in the United States -- takes place from Nov. 1 to Jan. 18.
What does that mean to you?

Dan Cameron, the creator of Prospect 1, will give a presentation titled "What to Expect from Prospect 1" and answer questions Wednesday, Aug. 20, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Canary Gallery, 329 Julia St.
The presentation invitation promises that "Dan will give background on the exhibition's objective, structure, schedule and artists who will be displaying work. It will be a unique opportunity to meet Dan and his staff and get a better idea as to how the local art community can ride this wave of excitement."

Attendance is limited to 50, with seating for 40. Reserve a space by sending an e-mail to rsvp@thecanarycollective.com.
Prospect 1 is modeled after events such as The Venice Biennale, which is the oldest of the international art exhibitions.

Art Saves the City

Video on something called Plum TV of Dan Cameron discussing the biennial. Can art save the city? Comparisons with Venice flatter and terrify simultaneously!

LA Artworks: Linda Sormin session

Louisiana ArtWorks still has space available in Linda Sormin's last workshop, "Unruly Narratives". Through storytelling, personal writings and readings by workshop participants, in tandem with hands-on work in clay and mixed media sculpture, we will explore the intersection of words and form, material and meaning. Artist demonstrations, slide talks and group discussions will support this interdisciplinary process. Workshop will be held August 25th, 27th, and 28th from 5:00-9:00 PM. Students of all levels welcome. Registration $175; please call (504) 571-7373 to enroll.
For more information on events being held during the month of August, please visit our website at www.louisianaartworks.org.

visiting video artist at KK Projects Tuesday

This from Simon Dorfman:
Via the wonders of the interweb, I've come into contact with Gian Pablo Villamil who is working on an immersive video project with an artist named Pawel Wojtasik. The project is a commission from Mass MoCA to be shown in April 2009.

They're back in town for a few days and Gian has agreed to show us some of the work this Tuesday August 19th at 8:30pm at KKprojects Gallery, at 2448 n villere st.

Being somewhat of a technology geek myself, I'm quite interested in the Ladybug 2 video camera he's using....