Prospect.1 is over. Thankfully I managed to see a few exhibits, but not nearly as many as I would have liked. I had a friend visiting from LA and a friend of hers had sent her passes and a map. Kinda of strange since it's free but I think things like that may have made the numbers seem low. I never bothered to go "check in" and get counted. We had a map but it was hard to follow, I think they were really pushing for people to take the shuttle.


The big ark was all it was touted to be. There was something pleasing about it's simplicity. It's on the corner of Caffin and N. Miro in the Lower 9th Ward. I wonder how long it will stay?



This was a neat building, an old hardware store that still had a bunch of old stuff around. The artists kept the items and arranged them. These two pictures are the lower floor. The building space was neat - the "art" was slices from a concrete slab, flipped around so you could see the underside where the cement flowed to fill the voids. It was interesting but didn't hold my attention all that long.

The upstairs was really cool. An artist painted swamp mural in all the rooms.





Here you can see some of the items from the hardware store I mentioned. Here the artist arranged some on the mantle.

The date on this calendar is February 1924! 85 years old.

The spot for an exhibit is marked on the map but it isn't labeled as to what exhibit it is. The above I'm not sure where this was, maybe the Tekrema Center for the arts. One other site we visited, but didn't take photos, is the 19 center for the arts, a lovely little gallery in a shotgun double. One side was photographs, the other had a collage on the walls, like stuff being blown around in the wind. Both exhibits were worth the stop.

Prospect What?

Maybe I’m out of touch with the New Orleans art scene but I haven’t heard anything about Prospect.1, except from a couple of clients who are gearing up for it.

Prospect.1 New Orleans will be the largest international exhibition of contemporary art ever presented in the United States, showcasing the work of 80 artists from around the globe while establishing New Orleans as a major center for contemporary visual art exhibitions.

It seems to me this will be a very big deal for New Orleans. It puts it in the same league as New York, Paris, Venice and other “art” cities. Is it because it’s still 3 months away? Or because Saints/LSU/Tulane football season is around the corner?

With Prospect.1 New Orleans' policy of free admission, extended hours and daily guided tours, and through significant outreach efforts, it is projected that more than half the people visiting the exhibition will come from within the state of Louisiana. Within New Orleans, a full-time education coordinator will organize free bus transportation and age-appropriate docent guides to the exhibition for all public school children K-12. It is also anticipated that thousands of art lovers will visit New Orleans for the opening of Prospect.1 New Orleans, and thousands more to see the exhibition during its eleven-week run (Saturday, November 1st, 2008 until January 18, 2009).

So mark your calendars art lovers.