Dancing Edge by Betty Press

African Wisdom in Image and Proverb: Betty Press
Becoming Home: Mariana Sheppard & Nakeya Brown

December 10, 2011 -January 21, 2012
Opening: Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011, 6-9pm
Curator Tour / Lecture by Beryl Hunter: Saturday, Jan. 14, 2-4pm
Closing Reception and Artist Talk: January 21, 6-9pm

McKenna Museum of African American Art
2003 Carondelet St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-586-7432
Hours:Tue & Wed by appt, Thur-Sat 11am-4pm

I Am Because We Are: African Wisdom in Image and Proverb highlights 125 black and white photographs of African daily life combined with related proverbs, which were used, and are still being used, to instruct members of the African society how to think, how to behave and how to have a better life. The title of the book comes from a well-known proverb I am because we are: we are because I am attributed to South Africa. It speaks to the interconnectedness and responsibility that we have for each other. It embodies the concept of Ubuntu, the African idea of living harmoniously in community. The black and white photographs of unique moments in African daily life taken by Betty Press, combined with related proverbs collected by Anneta Miller, illustrate traditional African wisdom.

The exhibition at the museum will consist of 20-40 black and white images selected from the above mentioned book. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the opening reception.

Betty Press
Betty Press is currently an Adjunct Professor of Photography at University of Southern Mississippi, in Hattiesburg. Previous to that she taught at Stetson University in Deland, Florida. She is best known for her photographs taken in Africa when she lived and worked in Kenya as a freelance photojournalist from 1987 to 1995. Now living in Hattiesburg, Mississippi she photographs in the South as well as continues to travel to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Cuba and Africa. In 2008-09 she photographed in Sierra Leone while accompanying her husband Dr. Bob Press who was a Fulbright Scholar and Lecturer at Fourah Bay College. Her photographs have been published in many major magazines and newspapers.

Book info:
184 pp, Hardcover, Size 10” X 8” | 125 Duotone images by Betty Press
First edition, $39.95 | ISBN: 978-0-9835454-4-6
In partnership with Books For Africa whose mission is to end the book famine in Africa. www.booksforafrica.org | BFA receives $5 donation with purchase of book from website

Becoming Home: Mariana Sheppard and Nakeya Brown will be exhibiting a new collection of photographs entitled, “Becoming Home,” inspired by past and present life along Louisiana’s River Road. Situating history in a contemporary context, “Becoming Home” explores the connections and disconnect between the region’s African-American residents and its surrounding plantations.

Mariana Sheppard
A native of greater New Orleans, Louisiana, Mariana Sheppard has a strong passion for raising awareness of social issues through artistic expression. Through her documentary photography, Mariana aims to showcase the intrinsic beauty and resilience of the seemingly ordinary and often overlooked African-American community. Mariana has traveled extensively throughout the United States and abroad exploring notions of truth and authenticity in relation to the African Diaspora.

Mariana is a graduate of Louisiana State University and is currently pursuing her Masters at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University.

Nakeya Brown
Nakeya Brown’s photography ranges from spontaneous street photographs, to fashion influenced portraits. Nakeya has a special interest in documenting contemporary African-American experiences usually concentrated to inner-city environments. She believes through her photography she preserves all that will eventually be lost and forgotten; her images serve as time capsules and storytellers.

Nakeya studied Photography and Journalism at Rutgers University. She currently lives and works in New York City.

The Angola Project

November 22 – December 31, 2010
Symposium: Saturday, Dec 4, 3–5pm

Mahalia Jackson Center
2405 Jackson Avenue
New Orleans, LA
504-359-6802
Hours: Mon – Fri 10am-5pm

The Angola Project consists of a series of programs exploring the social issues surrounding crime and the penal system through art, featuring work by Bruce Davenport, Jackie Sumell, Willie Birch and Lori Waselchuk and a free two-day public event with a performance by members of Resurrection After Exoneration.

The exhibition, installed in the Early Childhood & Family Learning Foundation premises on the second floor of Building C of the Mahalia Jackson Center, features Prospect New Orleans artists who have developed work in and about Angola State Penitentiary, presented alongside a selection of art by Angola prisoners.

Saturday, December 4, 2010 – Symposium
3pm – 5pm
Mahalia Jackson Center, Auditorium

Moderated by David Johnson of the Louisiana Endowment for Humanities, the panel will include artists Bruce Davenport, Jackie Sumell, Willie Birch and Lori Waselchuk; representatives from Innocence Project and RAE, and other community members who will address the difficult ethical, social and legal questions surrounding imprisonment, as well as how we treat the past, how we address the future, and what role art plays in dealing with these issues.

Produced by the Early Childhood & Family Learning Foundation and Prospect New Orleans

Blood Sport 6 by Stacy Kranitz

Stacy Kranitz: Blood Sport
Erica Stavis: Action/Reaction

December 1 – 31, 2010
Opening: Friday Dec 3, 6-11pm

THE BIG TOP – 3 Ring Circus Arts Education Center
1638 Clio Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-569-2700
Hours: Thu+Fri 2-6, Sat 12-5

Stacy Kranitz: Blood Sport
Presented with the violent spectacle, the camera is as versatile as it is potent. It can expose the aggressors of the world or aggrandize them; it can redeem victims or humiliate them further; it can create empathy in the viewer, render them complicit, or simply desensitize them. I have attempted to explore how these effects co-exist within images of violent subcultures.
My formal concern lies with the disconnect between the still image and the experience of being there along with the decisions I make to construct a significant moment. How does one represent human beings in all their moral nuances, rather than straightforward heroes and villains? With this question in mind I began to take photographs of Louisiana cockfighters. The fighters have allowed me the opportunity to examine the violent spectacle.
My photographs are based on a desire to circumvent the detached and ironic view of the subject currently common in portrait photography. They are not meant to be a straightforward celebration of a misunderstood subculture. Rather, I am trying to place both perceptions into context with one another so as to complicate the viewer’s judgment. To subvert these modes of viewing, I present portraits of the cockfighters that highlight the emotional bond they share with their bird. – Stacy Kranitz

Erica Stavis, Untitled

TOYING with HOLGAS
with Michelle Bates

December 5 & 6, 2010

Join Holga camera guru Michelle Bates to learn the ins and outs of shooting with Holgas and other plastic cameras. See images by world-class toy camera shooters and learn about their techniques. Get your Holga ready to roll and learn everything you need to know about shooting in all conditions, including using flash, long exposures, macro and more. Bring your Holga or buy one at the class; film and processing is included. We’ll go out shooting and review the processed film on Monday.

The first ten students to register will receive a free Holga camera, courtesy of Holga Inspire. Students also receive a discount on signed copies of the brand-new second edition of Michelle’s book, “Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity.”

Tuition: $175

Schedule:
Sunday, Dec 5 – 10am-4pm
Monday, Dec 6 – 4-6pm

Location:
The Big Top
3 Ring Circus Arts & Education Center
1638 Clio St.
New Orleans, LA
70130

Instructor:
Michelle Bates first discovered the Holga at the Maine Photographic Workshops in 1991. She has exhibited her photography in solo exhibitions in the Pacific Northwest, Los Angeles and Israel, and group shows worldwide. She has photographed for weekly newspapers, album covers, performers, artists and many others. Michelle loves teaching and frequently lectures on toy cameras to groups including the Society for Photographic Education, SF Camerawork, Powell’s Books and the Creative Center for Photography. She teaches at the Photographic Center Northwest, Newspace (PDX), Maine Media Workshops, the Julia Dean Workshops (LA) and International Center of Photography in New York, among others. Her book,”Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity” was published in 2006 by Focal Press and an updated and expanded second edition was released in October 2010.

Michelle is a member of Freestyle Photographic Supply’s Advisory Board of Photographic Professionals. She lives in Seattle, and also frequents Vashon Island, Portland (OR), San Francisco and New York. She loves to road trip and fly away with her Holgas whenever possible.

Something Old, Something New by Letitia Huckaby

Letitia Huckaby: Something Old, Something New

December 4, 2010 – January 15, 2011
Opening: Saturday, Dec 4, 6-9pm
Artist Talk: Sunday, Dec 5 at 3pm

George and Leah McKenna Museum of African American Art
2003 Carondelet Street
New Orleans LA 70130
504-586-7432
Hours: Tues. & Weds. By Appt | Thur-Sat 11am-4pm

Letitia Huckaby: Something Old, Something New
Huckaby combines the documentary aspects of photography with quilt making techniques to explore her personal history. Work from the series LA 19 incorporates photos of Huckaby’s extended family, who lived on or off of Louisiana’s state highway number nineteen. The 2-dimensional works are photographs that have been transferred onto scrap fabric which is then pieced together as a fabric collage or quilted photograph and framed. MaDear (2010) shows a woman sitting in a living room as seen through the window; the image is printed on circular pieces of silk and decorative fabric which have been sewn together.

The exhibition will also include three-dimensional works, specifically photographs of family quilts and family pictures that have been printed onto fabric and sewn into dresses. Something Old, Something New (2010) incorporates photos transferred onto fabric, as well as antique fabrics that the artist collected from other family members. These scraps were sewn into round “yo-yos,” a traditional style of quilting, that were then made into a wedding dress. The work layers the wedding tradition of old and new, as well as two- versus three dimensions (flat images sewn presented in sculptural form). Exhibit Info Source: Galveston Arts Center

Ma Dear by Letitia Huckaby

In creating this body of work I began to think about the African American women in our family who helped to create a new aesthetic of quilts, the patchwork quilts, out of sure craftiness and necessity. These quilts seemed to parallel the more male dominated world of jazz music with their random compositions and vibrant colors. Many of the women in my family made these quilts, so as a visual artist I felt inspired to take hold of this rich visual legacy and allow it to be a part of my work.

I began by photographing family quilts as a precious object. Quilts have become a symbol for the African-American experience and of those things that get passed down from generation to generation, be it good or bad. I printed the images on fabric, instead of using paper. The printed images are stitched together with various other patches to create the final pieces. These works – Letitia Huckaby

Location:

The Big Top
1638 Clio St
New Orleans, LA 70130
Thu+Fri 2-6, Sat 12-5 and by appt
504-569-2700

Exhibition Dates:

Dec 5 -31, 2009

Opening:

Saturday Dec 5, 6-9pm

“Tales of the Midway”
The title of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s book of poems, “A Coney Island of the Mind”, takes on new meaning as that famous amusement park in Brooklyn is demolished. Three photographers, Bryce Lankard, Shannon Brinkman, and Jonathan Traviesa, exhibit images of that park and other boardwalks and midways that capture the feeling of the lost days of summer and the disappearing slice of americana that fades along with it.

Please join us for the PhotoNOLA Kickoff Party featuring D.J. Brice Nice immediately following the opening. Saturday, Dec 5, 9-12pm at The Big Top.

There will also be a panel discussion with the three featured photographers on Sunday, Dec 6, 5:30-7pm.