Fresh Perspectives: An artist and innovator creates new cultural venues

George Marks’ art is a harmonious blend of imagination, form, and function. His luminous, abstract paintings are inspired by rural Acadiana. A native of Arnaudville, Marks has had numerous solo exhibitions, including shows at galleries during Art for Arts Sake and White Linen Night in New Orleans, and at Ann Connelly Fine Art in Baton Rouge, where the artist’s works are represented. He has also been in dozens of group shows for the past 20 years, and his work is collected throughout the U.S.

An exhibition of Marks’ work is on display in September at Ann Connelly Fine Art. He also has an exhibition at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in Lafayette through September 10. The exhibition includes selected pieces of an ongoing series featuring Marks as the main artist within environments representative of the landscape and culture of south Louisiana. All of the pieces are orchestrated to fit into a continuous installation, while allowing each to be an improvisation.

Marks implements unusual techniques while utilizing a variety of media including oil, acrylic, resin, and tar. Usually working on hand-cut wood, he begins by applying gesso to the wood, and then he paints on the layers, sometimes using a garden hose. After adding further texture and depth, he finishes the painting with tar and a matt sealant. Each material renders various tactile associations.

More than an artist, Marks is a self-made urban planner who strives to enhance the small cultural community of Arnaudville and its neighboring towns such as Breaux Bridge, Sunset, Opelousas, and Grand Coteau. He promotes other artists and their works through various art organizations and exhibitions in Acadiana; he has also recently expanded to open a new artists’ co-op in New Orleans. His enthusiasm for new projects is infectious.

“I moved back to Arnaudville seven years ago,” says Marks. “I had been painting for 20 years and was always on the go. It seemed like the next step would be a bigger city, but before I did that, I decided to go back to my hometown to be with my family. The town wasn’t like I had remembered it. So I got together with the Norman Rockwells of the bayou and various people in the area.” Thus began the NUNU-Arnaudville Experiment four years ago. Its catalyst was the 2005 opening of the Town Market Rural Arts Centre. Several venues would follow as part of Marks’ master plan of developing a cultural umbrella organization overseeing various projects.

Developing new art commerce was the goal. This included the formation of the William Lewis Studio, Tom’s Fiddle and Bow, and Bayou Blues Guest House with the help of friends and fellow artists. Culinary events were also created, including cooking demonstrations. Serving as the anchor was the formation of the Frederick l’Ecole des Arts, which builds on local culture and traditions.

Regular exhibitions and events are held each month at the different venues, such as the musicians’ open jam session on the first Sunday of the month, which includes a potluck dinner. “Everybody has a great time,” Marks says.

“People got together and bought buildings in Arnaudville and renovated them for the project, including the old meat market, an old auto supply store that had been closed, and a crack house that was turned into a gallery and a B&B,” Marks explains. “We formed a nonprofit and named it after my dad, NUNU. It started out as a café and everything was built from the ground up.”

The NUNU-Arnaudville Experiment provides “connected cultural hubs of activity” by using artists and venues in Arnaudville and neighboring towns. Marks hopes to expand the cultural umbrella organization to include other communities in the future. The NUNU-Arnaudville Experiment is one of 14 community projects included in the NEA-funded Mayor’s Institute on City Design’s (MICD) most recent publication, Creative Place-making that was presented at a round table discussion co-sponsored by the Arts and Community Change Initiative, Arts and Democracy Project, and Center for Rural Strategies. It was hosted by the Bush Foundation.

The round table brought together a cross-sector group of creative policymakers, fundraisers, and scholars to explore the integral role of culture in revitalizing rural communities. The round table added rural perspectives to a series of conversations that have been taking place since 2009, which have previously focused on New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, New Orleans, and Seattle.

Marks always dreams big, and is constantly thinking up new projects. He is also founder of the six-month-old Atelier-Magasin in New Orleans, an artists’ co-op that features a diversity of talent, from well-known sculptors to painters and designers in a charming shotgun on Magazine Street.

On September 24, Marks will be celebrating the grand opening of NUNU Arts and Culture Collective in the old Singleton Lumber building on Highway 93 East in Arnaudville, starting at 5 pm. Featured organizations include the Deux Bayou Gallery Collective featuring work by Marks; Frederick l’Ecole des Art providing art classes, workshops, and demonstrations; the Music of Acadiana Stage featuring great Cajun musicians; and the Jacques Arnaud French Studies Collective featuring La Table Francaise d’Arnaudville.

Following a fire in July 2009 that destroyed the NUNU’s main facility, a period of rebuilding began which has resulted in the grand opening of the NUNU Arts and Culture Collective this month. It will also be home to the Louisiana Culinary Collective (Café NUNU) where visitors will be able to dine on delicious food prepared by talented home cooks and chefs from around Louisiana.

“Some of the things we’ve been doing include a French component,” Marks notes. “There are bourré games and a French jokes forum. On the last Saturday of the month, we offer free breakfast and people have been showing up from around the world to speak French with us. The mayor signed a resolution last year that everyone in town is encouraged to speak French on that day. We partner with different tourism organizations that come to Arnaudville. It has grown into a town-wide French initiative.”

Forever enthusiastic and innovative, Marks continues to make a favorable impact on the lives of artists, musicians, chefs, and those who enjoy the cultural aspects of south Louisiana. He is the recipient of the 2008 Governor’s Leadership in the Arts Award and he sits on several boards that promote the arts in Louisiana. ✦