ARTWALK: Celebrating Louisiana’s Visual Artists

Written by: Simonette Berry

Louisiana has a festival to celebrate everything from crustaceans to cracklins, snakes to strawberries, petroleum to Earth Day, Civil War history to the world’s biggest omelet (cooked each year in Abbeville). From weekend étouffée cook-offs to big events like Jazz Fest and Mardi Gras, we know how to put on a show. Louisiana is full of creative minds that make these festivals some of the best in the world. Our cooks, musicians, writers, craftsmen, and artists make these events possible. This October offers residents and visitors the opportunity to attend a collection of extraordinary festivals that celebrate the arts in a variety of spectrums. The Prospect.2 biennial brings together a stunning collection of international and local artists; Festivals Acadiens’ Louisiana Crafts Guild Fair is keeping Cajun art and culture alive; Voodoo Fest’s modern, eco-friendly themed art installations light up Halloween weekend; and the Red River Revel draws over 180,000 people to Shreveport as the biggest arts festival in Louisiana.

Prospect.2

The long-anticipated second edition of Prospect.2 opens with a bang this month in Louisiana and runs until the end of January. One of the leading biennials of international contemporary art in the United States, it was founded in 2008 by Dan Cameron. Prospect New Orleans was founded on the principle that art engenders social progress and was conceived to follow the tradition of other great biennials like the Venice Biennale and the Bienal de São Paulo. “We are excited to once again welcome visitors and locals to one of the world’s most dynamic contemporary art biennials,” says Cameron. “Those selected to participate in Prospect.2 include some of the most influential and recognized artists working today, a group of rising younger artists on the cusp of international careers, and artists making significant contributions to the New Orleans arts community.” Prospect.2 lists 26 artists from nine countries, including the United States, France, Italy, Sweden, Poland, Japan, Chile, Iceland, and Vietnam. In keeping with Prospect’s commitment to the promotion of the visual arts community in New Orleans, this year’s biennial will feature work by several artists who live and work in the city, as well as a variety of site-specific projects inspired by the city’s distinctive history and culture and conceived specifically for the city of New Orleans. The exhibits are all over the New Orleans metro area, throughout several neighborhoods in universities, museums, galleries, and cultural centers. There is also, for the first time, an exhibit in Lafayette, a video installation by Grazia Toderi presented at the Acadiana Center for the Arts.
October 22, 2011 - January 29, 2012

 prospectneworleans.org

The Louisiana Crafts Guild Fair at 
Festivals Acadiens et Créoles


The Louisiana Crafts Guild Fair is the latest addition to Festivals Acadiens, conceived in 1972 as a festive vehicle for keeping Cajun culture alive. The LCG Fair presents fine arts and traditional craftspeople from across Louisiana and beyond. Held in Girard Park from October 14-16, the LGC Fair features over one hundred arts and crafts booths; admission is free. Throngs of artists and craftsmen hawk their wares: musical instruments, wood furniture, pottery, pen and ink drawings, photography, stained glass, kaleidoscopes, jewelry, soaps, gourds, silk, and more. If you have little ones, be sure to stop by the Kids Make and Take tent. Young people are invited to create handmade treasures, and experienced artists guide each participant. There are also traditional craft demonstrations in which visitors can observe and learn about the unique creative processes of various arts and crafts forms and engage directly with the artists. Another worthy event to attend, held in conjunction with the LCG Fair, is a silent auction held to benefit CERF+, the Craft Emergency Relief Fund. This organization assists craftsmen who have emergency situations, like fires or hurricanes, and has helped many of the LCG artists over the years. To kick off the weekend, Downtown Live moves to Girard Park this year for the Festivals Acadiens opening night. In years past, the opening music events were held in downtown Lafayette, but this year, Girard Park hosts the Friday evening festivities, creating an even bigger event with music, food, art, and fun for the whole family. October 14-16 festivalsacadiens.com 
LouisianaCrafts.org

The Red River Revel

The Red River Revel Arts Festival is the largest outdoor arts festival in North Louisiana, attracting over 180,000 people to the Shreveport riverfront area from October 1-8. Over 140 visual artists fill Festival Plaza to display their ceramics, watercolors, oil and acrylic paintings, sculptures, and metalwork. The Revel has attracted a host of national recognition and awards, ranked as one of the top events in the country by several magazines and organizations. The Revel was even featured on ABC’s Good Morning, America. This year, Louisiana artists like Keith Andry of Baton Rouge, Paula Hallman of Shreveport, Chester Allen of New Orleans, Jane Demarcay of Abita Springs, Henry Neubig, and Trent Tally will exhibit alongside other artists from across the U.S. The children’s area will delight young and old with art projects and face painting, while a host of the hottest performing artists rock out the three outdoor stages dotting downtown Shreveport. Mouthwatering home cooking and restaurant fare is available at 17 food booths, 12 of them run by nonprofit organizations. Morning and afternoon arts education programs, exhibits, and lectures are also among the wealth of activities Red River Revel has to offer. The Red River Revel was founded in 1976 by the Junior League of Shreveport, their bicentennial gift to the citizens of the region and a way to provide a celebration of the finest visual and performing arts in the country. Now the festival has become a weeklong affair, coloring Shreveport’s riverfront area with art, food, music, education, and revelry that will have you coming back for more. October 1-8 redriverrevel.com
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Photo Credits: Andrew Goetz