"Artists of the Great Depression," at the Masur Museum, Sept 9.

MONROE, La. | 9/15/09

Initially, I was stumped by the Masur Museum’s current exhibit title, “Artists of the Great Depression.”

"Woodville Road," by Clarence Millet

I have known some artists with great depressions, yes, but I just never put “artist” and “great depression” together in a historical sense. Who had time to paint when you had to scrabble through the dust searching for grubs to feed your family for dinner? How could you develop film when there was no water and the air was  thick with soot?

Nevertheless, I resigned myself to my fate as self-appointed volunteer art blogger for our God-fearin’ northeastern country, and parked in the Masur’s lot with my head hung respectfully low, presuming that I was about to enter into an exhibit of … what, I don’t know, maybe photos of gravestones and still lifes of dried, rotting fruit that’s been crushed by broken wagon wheels.

That’s my picture of the Great Depression, thank you, John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck, c. 1962, looking greatly depressed.

Actually, I’m about to start reading The Grapes of Wrath for the first time. My dad–an English teacher–told me a long time ago that the book was absolutely required reading for any English major worth his salt. So, better late than never. He also told me that my whole-wheat-with-grits-and-oatmeal pancake recipe reminded him of something that one of Stienbeck’s characters must have eaten as they made their arduous way across the plains.

"Refinery at Night," by John McCrady

At the museum, I was greeted by the lovely receptionist and made my way into the first room, where I was happily surprised to find that in fact there really were artists of the Great Depression, and they weren’t all that depressing.

The very first piece I was drawn to was a lithograph by John McCrady from 1940, “Refinery at Night.” There was so much active detail in this piece that I stayed put for about five minutes right where I was. Next was some surprisingly colorful work by Caroline Spellman Woogan Durieux — say that four times fast — and Clarence Millet that spanned about a decade.

I enjoyed “Huey Long and President Smith,” too, a photo by Fonville Winans that showed as clear an image of the two men as I’ve ever seen, and probably the most flattering.

Each piece throughout the exhibit was coupled with a brief synopsis of the history behind the work. This was a brilliant way to learn history and appreciate the artwork of the period at the same time. Maybe it’s what we try to do with school textbooks … but being in the museum and seeing these actual works that had been created by the artists, along with the story of why the piece was important, really made things interesting. For a high school history class, an educational trip to this show, maybe along with a guest speaker, would be a great way to spend an afternoon.

"Oyster Man," by Fonville Winans, next to the musem kitchen, where you can whip up some Great Depression oatmeal in honor of the show.

Moving on, there were some more striking photo portraits from Winans and nice selections from Eudora Welty, particularly “Self Portrait, 1934,” by Winans, and “Sunday School, Holiness Church, Jackson Miss.,” from 1939, by Welty. Moody, black-and-white images like these make me remember why there is still such an allure to film photography. The girls in Welty’s photo look simultaneously angelic and ghost-like.

Another room held a small, unappealing series of photos from the Farm Security Administration. I skipped over this and moved upstairs to a room with images from the Monroe Flood of 1932, where a TV was set up with a related video to make things more interesting. In another room were some abstract lithographs from the period.

"Child on Porch, Hinds County, Miss.," 1939, by Eudora Welty

The work in this show is well worth seeing. I have a better visual grasp of the reality of the Great Depression to go along with the written version from Steinbeck, which is currently at my bedside and will probably keep me reading at night for the next two weeks … unless I get too depressed.

Meanwhile, ULM held a more modern show for their Annual Faculty Art Show at Bry Hall … this is a small but very welcoming little gallery that has some simply lovely air conditioning. On a hot day, this element alone makes the experience of going into this gallery enjoyable. There are a lot of galleries out there that always seem to be too humid or warm for comfort, and I find myself uncomfortably walking around looking at work while trying to act like I’m not about to have a heat stroke. But this place has that handled nicely, along with carpeted floors and walls so the room is quiet. The first impression in this case went a long way towards my attitude regarding the art. I was more inclined to give everything a long look no matter what it was, simply because I was really comfortable and enjoying the carpet-induced silence.

Bry Art Gallery, ULM

With that, I admired photos by Richard Hayes, such as his mysterious self-portrait, “With A Clear Mind You Can See Forever,” and also the “Canister Set” pottery by Gary Ratcliff. Dara Engler’s amusingly-named, “The Pirate Doesn’t Go Out For Sushi,” kept me rooted in place admiring the 5′ x 4′ (approx.) oil and charcoal work and it’s six smaller sisters beneath. Brian Fassett’s posters were tightly done with nice photos, but I was unmoved, to say the least, by the redundant inclusion of the event flyers. Cliff Tresnor’s coffee table and lamp sculpture was not only fascinating to look at but apparently quite useful as well. I’d like to see a video of the process of actually creating such a piece.

Work by Gary Ratcliff at the Annual Art Faculty Exhibition, at the Bry Art Gallery, ULM

I was glad I made it to see this show. This was my first visit to the gallery. I found it enjoyable, and appreciate that all the work and the artists were given a place to show off what they could do.

Work by Dara Engler at the Annual Art Faculty Exhibition, at the Bry Art Gallery, ULM

Upcoming is a solo exhibition of photographs by Bess Bieluczyk, titled, “Subtle Hysteria and New Work,” Sept. 14 - Oct 8. A gallery talk will be held Oct. 8, 2 pm, with a closing reception from 5-7 pm.

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The Ouachita River Art Gallery, West Monroe, La. An open space where you won't get lost in a white-walled maze, and can get a nice, artistic gift for someone without having to sell your car first.

WEST MONROE, La. 8/19/09

Some quick notes: there are Twitter and Facebook pages with a modest updated listing of events for downtown Monroe. They aren’t focused on art, but the Facebook group has over 600 members, so you might make a friend, if nothing else.

Now, onward. Since I missed a stop at the Ouachita River Art Gallery during the last Artcrawl, I headed out there last week to see what they had to offer.

The gallery is located on Trenton Street in the Cottonport Historic District of West Monroe, along with the shops of Antique Alley. The street got its start as an art and antiques hub in the 1970’s and is currently operated through the Antique Alley Association which has five board members.

"The Hungry Heron" by Cindy Blanchard - quadtone print, 14" x18". I really like this print. At $35 bucks, one can hardly go wrong. I'm going to go back there and get it, just as soon as my next photo assignment rolls in ... anyone?

There’s an untitled, metal, 10-foot, floral sculpture at the foot of the street, and just across from Corner Cottage Antiques, which when I arrived had a large selection of old doors propped up against its wall. I had to grab a shot of that. A walk towards the gallery brought me past Mojo’s clothing store, The Costume Shop and Something Special II antiques.

At the gallery, I met artist and guild member Don Hudnall. His specialty is “earth guided pottery,” and his mantra is “Making Dirt Look Good.” He’s been working in ceramics for the last seven years, though he originally started in metals.

Don Hudnall of Dirt Dauber Pottery shows some of his work on display at the gallery.

“I switched over after an accident at one of the studios I shared with some other artists,” he said. “I was working on a piece and spraying sparks everywhere, and unfortunately the sparks shot across some unfinished pottery sitting on a nearby table. The other artists weren’t too happy with that at first, but as it turned out, after the pottery came out of the kiln, there were these beautiful spattered designs. So they relented, but I still ended up switching over to clay.”

“There are about 30 members in the guild right now,” Hudnall said. “We participated in the last three Artcrawls.  The nice thing about this gallery is that it offers every medium — sculpture, photography, painting, jewelry, you name it. We aren’t limited to having work from two or three artists, so instead we have 20 or 30 artists displayed. We switch up the work every two months or so, totally clear everything off the walls and start fresh.”

Guild members share duties at the gallery, with a minimum one eight-hour shift per month.

A close-up of some of Don Hudnall's work.

“We typically have one to four works displayed per artist,” Hudnall added.

I spent some time wandering around the gallery and checking out the work. Hudnall is right about the variety. It’s typical of art guilds and artist co-ops like this to have a lot more diversity, and this place is no exception. I enjoyed moving from a painting to a photo to a selection of jewelry. Anywhere you turn, you’re confronted with a different form of art.

Logistically, too, I like being able to see the whole gallery without having to wander around in a maze of white walls, wondering if actually I’ve seen everything or not. I accidentally entered a bathroom during a modern art show recently and found myself seriously thinking for a moment that it was part of the exhibit. Thank God no one was in there, or I might have gone up close to look at the details.

"Foggy Morning" by Brenda McDaniel. $1,000. Okay, I take it back about not selling the car. I bought a Honda Civic once for $300. It ran for three months. This artwork is a lot prettier and will last longer.

Anyway, nothing like that happened here. This is the perfect place to pick up a work of art as a gift. The items are priced to sell, ranging from a few dollars to a few hundred, generally.

"Foggy" by Marlene Gremillion - pastel, 22" x 18"

“Also,” he grinned, “we been told that we have the best food on the Artcrawl.”

For starving artists like myself, that’s a good enough incentive to make my way to the gallery at the next month’s event.

For info, call the gallery at 318.322.2380. They are located at 308 Trenton Street in West Monroe, and are open Tues. - Sat., 10 AM - 5 PM.

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The first stop brings me to the Mystic Art Gallery.

MONROE, La. 08/06/09

Soon after I moved from N’awlins last year, one of the first artistic events I heard about here was the monthly Artcrawl in Monroe/West-Monroe. New Orleans, of course, has its share of art walks and white-linen nights and everything else. I’ve attended a few of those, either on my own time or as an intrepid reporter-on-the-street. Those events are always well-attended, through pouring rain or blazing heat, or sometimes both.

We were lucky to have some great weather for the August 6th Artwalk here, though. I was looking forward to this as a first taste of what Monroe/West-Monroe has to offer in the way of art. Now, I had snuck down to 2nd Street earlier that week just to see what might lay ahead, and I wasn’t too enthused with what I saw. It didn’t seem like there was much going on that afternoon. All the studios were closed. I peeked in a few windows, and it looked like they were in the process of moving.

Well, I mused, maybe that’s just the way it is. You can’t expect some sort of booming art scene like what you see in a cultural melting pot like New Orleans.

So, I attended the Artwalk a few days later with my hopes somewhat toned down … and I was pretty quickly handed my hoity-toityness on a platter.

The main parking areas had been filled up. I found a spot down the street from the Coda bar, which as it turns out is a pretty popular hangout during the Artwalk. I headed straight for the farthest gallery on the map: the Mystic Art Gallery, owned by Andrea May. The place was fairly packed with over 40 people in the main room, and more spilling into the adjoining galleries. Her centerpiece for the evening was a large sun-like image that already had a red sticker on the bottom corner. I didn’t get the name of the piece but the photo of it speaks pretty well, I think. She made a good choice, and so did whoever purchased it. To the left of this work and centered in the gallery was cellist and West Monroe College graduate Hannah Underwood, intently playing various classical selections from a music book. Hannah, by the way, says she’s going to LSU in the Fall, where I assume she’ll continue playing the cello.

Summer Bennett, Kate McClelland, artisit Leah Reitzell and her husband Mac, at the Artcrawl in Monroe, April 6.

I was taken by Andrea May’s work, which covered one wall of the studio. I don’t know if this is just a phase of painting or if the work I saw was representative of everything she’s doing currently, but it was the kind of textured, stark work that I would probably put in my own home, if I had one, right there in that big room … right. Anyway, I’m not a painter, so rather than make feeble attempts at describing the work, I’ll just post the photos and let you decide.

Other sections of the gallery had paintings by Lou Kavanaugh, Leah Reitzell, a group of young artists, and sculpture by Renee Parnell.

I wanted to take sculpture when I was in college and still regret not being able to do it. The class only accepted nine students a year, and only in my last year did I luck into a schedule that allowed me to take it, and that year, the instructor broke up with the other art instructor he had been dating at the college, and moved to California to shack up with some svelte actress who played a Romulan on the Star Trek Enterprise TV series.

"Hi-Boy" by Lou Kavanaugh, at the Mystic Art Gallery.

Needless to say, I never took sculpture, which was possibly why I stopped longingly around the piece by Parnell a little longer than I might have otherwise. I stood out with a fat camera around my neck, and so visitor Beverly Comeaux introduced herself to me along with her 92-year-old mother, Ruby Albritton, and Albritton’s niece and the artist Lou Kavanaugh. They made a nice triplet, and gained a photo.

I went from there to talk with artist Leah Reitzell, who was with her two friends, Summer Bennett and Kate McClelland, and her husband, Mac.

This piece by Renee Parnell reminded me of my sculpture instructor from college who ran off with a sexy Romulan ... that was my connection, anyway.

“I’ve had some shows in Ruston, but this is my first time for the Artcrawl,” she told me. “I’m very excited.” She did seem happy about it, so I took advantage of her contagious smile and grabbed a shot of her with the assembly. She introduced me to photographer Christi Jones, who mentioned the “Heart Gallery” of photos of orphaned children set up at the Banquet Room in the Ouachita National Bank Building. I put it on my do-to list and moved on to the Arender Gallery next door, where I met photographers Brad Arender and Kate Hilburn.

Hilburn was the focus of Brad’s gallery, with her exhibit, “Pentimento: The Champs Elysees-Clemenceau.” Her photographs of graffiti-covered walls in a Paris underground tunnel looked to me at first as though they were paintings or color pencil drawings. The big clue was Hilburn casually meandering around with a pro camera in her hand, talking to visitors. That’s usually a dead giveaway that someone’s a photographer, ya know.

"Pentimento: The Champs Elysees-Clemenceau, metro wall #3" by Kate Hilburn. It's not a painting, okay? It's a photo of a Paris underground tunnel. I knew that.

Hilburn, who frequents Paris each year, said she made a point of printing the work on a unique, textured paper that mimicked the texture of the environment where she shot the photos, and to that purpose, she also framed a few images on brushed iron. She has been working as an artist full-time since the 90’s, with much of her time dedicated to the “Beating Hearts” exhibit with friend Terrie Autrey. That exhibit highlights the plight of victims of domestic violence and has received worldwide recognition.

Photographers Brad Arender and Kate Hilburn.

Visitors ponder works by Emory Nolan at the Becton Gallery, during the Artcrawl in Monroe, Aug. 6.

At the Becton Gallery across the street, musicians Vince Chow, James Simpson and Allison Huff played folk tunes, while visitors enjoyed paintings by Emory Nolan and gallery owner Margaret Becton. This gallery, like the others, was comfortably full with about 40 or more people, and had a few snack trays and drinks available.

Coming from New Orleans, I found Nolan’s subdued work familiar, with southern negro and music themes. Becton’s work, displayed near the wall of windows near the street, was a nice balance with its bright colors. I didn’t realize until I went in for a closer look that Becton’s texture was literally the texture from extra material, since it appears that she creates collages and then paints over that.

Visitors enjoy wine and art at the Becton Gallery during the Artcrawl in Monroe, Aug. 6.

The Heart Gallery around the corner consisted of sixteen portraits of children awaiting adoption. This is a volunteer project including local photographers such as Christi Jones and Joli Livaudais, among others, sponsored by the Center for Children and Families, Inc.

I headed over to Joli Livaudais Studio a block away. I had wanted to meet Joli for some time—she seems to be very successful at what she does, and being in the business myself, sort of, I’m always curious to meet photographers who actually make a living at it. Her studio is possibly the nicest photo studio I’ve ever been in, not that I’ve been in that many of them, but I enjoyed the wood floors and ceiling fans, and overall bronze-colored light that seemed to mimic that “golden hour” we photographers talk about.

Livaudais Studio might be the nicest photo studio I've ever been in. *sigh* Maybe someday I'll have one like this.

The right-side wall here featured a set of panoramic, spliced photographs by Jenny Burnham, while on the other side of the studio was a somewhat interactive set of photos titled “Introspective Mystery,” by Lauren Ward.

"Introspective Mystery," an set of photographs by Lauren Ward, at Livaudais Studio, had curious visitors enthralled with turning pages. It looks like a good way to read a book, anyway. No more of that sitting-up-in-bed stuff, just nail it to the wall.

Livaudais mentioned that she and some friends are discussing starting a monthly coffeeshop meet-and-greet for photographers around the area. I think this would be spectacular; in fact, I think something like this for media reps, artists, and musicians would be in order.

Now, if I just had that big house …

The next Artcrawl is scheduled for Oct. 1. For more info, check out the website, or shoot them an email: info@dowtowngallerycrawl.com.

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Monroe La., City Hall

WEST MONROE, La. 07/17/09 | Published in Delta Style Aug. 2009

Here’s something you don’t usually expect to see when walking the hallways of government buildings: original local art. It seems we have just that here in Monroe, however.

I remembered going into City Hall a few months ago to hand over my $10 entry fee to the Northeast La. Arts Council for the Downtown Artfest, and lo and behold on the walls were these lovely works by local artist Don Cincone. I’m a sucker for deep reds and vivid colors, so I’m sort of partial to Cincone’s style. Apparently, I’m not alone, since he’s in some major collections including Leonard Bernstein and Walt Disney, not to mention our own District Attorney, Jerry Jones. Very colorful stuff and a style that is reminiscent of … um, Picasso? … someone help me out here. All I can say is that it makes me feel like I’m in Spain, momentarily. There’s a part of me that expects to see a matador hiding in the scenes behind one of the women.

"A Very Tender Age" by Don Cincone

I spoke with Tommy Usrey, the president and CEO of the Northeast La. Arts Council, about how they ended up with Cincone’s work. The pieces belonged to a collection owned by Anita and Kurt Schon, of Kurt E. Schon’s Limited in New Orleans. Kurt Schon is originally from this part of the state and he and his wife were inspired to give something back to the area after they read a letter about Cincone to the New Orleans Center for Contemporary Art from the Arts Council. The Schons decided to donate the 18 paintings to the city in 2002, on the condition that the collection stay together and always be exhibited.

"So Many So Few" by Don Cincone

“We didn’t want it to be hidden, and neither did the Schon family,” Usrey said. After a talk with West Monroe Mayor Dave Norris, they chose to turn the hallway on the second floor in a permanent Cincone gallery.

Sue Prudhomme, previous curator of the Masur Museum, said in an Spring 2004 article from Art in Action that the works are relevant because they were created during the 1960’s and Cincone’s studies in Paris, when there was a large movement for African-Americans artists there.

“It was a very significant time in art history, and the works donated to the Arts Council reflect this period,” she said. “You can see the Cubist influence.”

Arts Council CEO Tommy Usrey points out the patterns on a Cincone work. "In this one, I remember Mr. Schon telling me, 'you see, these are the strokes of a young man.' I hadn't seen Cincone's earlier work until now, and was thrilled when we received these."

Ah, I was right about the Picasso thing.

“We feel very fortunate to have this caliber of work here,” added Usrey. “A lot of people hear about it and make stops here just to see this. My favorite piece, Gossip on a Sunday Evening, is hanging right outside my office door where I can see it every day.”

He’s lucky in that regard … part of the benefit of being the CEO of the Arts Council, I suppose. There are at least three pieces there that I’d like to have hanging in my little home office. I’ll have to make do with the photos I took and be glad the originals are safe and viewable at City Hall, behind locked doors, since the collection is valued in the six digits.

Cincone earned a BA in Art from Southern University, spent some time in the Army, studied in Europe and returned to San Francisco to prepare for a career in–you’ll never guess–fashion design. I really need to find out more about how he diverted into his current career, so I’m going to see about getting an interview this week, and if he’s open to it, maybe I’ll venture over to his house and get a few shots of him at work.

"Sleep Late Pa Pa" by Don Cincone

The artist’s exhibits have appeared in the Masur Museum, the ULM Library gallery in Monroe, the Schepis Museum in Columbia, the Snyder Museum in Bastrop, plus New York, Los Angeles and Paris. He lives with his wife, Katherine, in Eros, La.

And now for something totally different … well, not really, but just as unexpected as the Cincone exhibit are the hallways facing in other directions that also have original local art hung up. I would have been perfectly happy with just the one hallway–you really just don’t expect this sort of thing to begin with–but the folks at City Hall have gone a step further and covered the walls of the second floor with prints, paintings, antiques, drawings and even a stained glass piece hanging in the lobby window.

After I had spent some time with Cincone’s work, Usrey suggested I talk with the administrative assistant to the mayor, Jayne Norton, about the rest of the art. It turns out that Norton is the current de facto curator for City Hall and has been the person who chose a good deal of the work now hanging elsewhere in the building. I asked her if there were any stories behind any of the works. She processed that for a moment and then said, “Every piece in here has a story. Which one would you like to hear?”

"Bobcat" by Sally Grisell

I asked her about the Bobcat, because I like wildlife. That piece, she explained was one she had seen on an easel in a hotel lobby some time ago. She tracked down the artist an asked her about obtaining it, but because the city was only taking donations, the artist declined. Then a while later–I didn’t get a timeline, but I think Norton was implying a span of years–the artist said she wanted to donate a different piece. Norton accepted. Time passed, then the artist donated another one, and finally one day Norton received a phone call from the artist saying, “Do you remember that Bobcat you wanted? Well, I’d like to give it to you, in honor of a deceased relative.”

“So we went from looking like we would have none of her work, to having three originals,” Norton said. “We’re very happy to have them.”

Norton showed me a few more and then pointed out a sunburst-themed stained glass hanging in the window.

“This was interesting … it’s called the Caution Flower. It was created by Jerry ‘Buddy’ Haines, Jr., who is the son of another artist we have works from, Jerry N. Haynes.  A truck was going past the family’s studio one day and knocked down a streetlight. The Haynes’ went and picked up all the glass just to clear the street, and then Buddy decided to do something with it. So he created this, and named it based on the centerpiece, which is actually the complete piece of yellow glass from the streetlight.”

"Caution Flower" by Jerry Haines Jr.

I actually didn’t even notice the circle as a streetlight until Norton said something about it. I guess that’s the sign of a nice piece of art. It disguises its parts in favor of the whole.

The art collection began in 1978, explained Norris, when the current City Hall building was being constructed. West Monroe Mayor Dave Norris wanted to decorate the interior with work from local artist, depicting local scenes. They found out that many artists had tendencies to paint scenes that were specifically non-local, she said, so the building ended up with a combination of scenes. Most of the work, though, is local and original.

Norton seems especially proud of the work on the walls, and takes note of the originals by Jerry Haines, which are displayed on the second as well as the first floor of the building, in the city council chambers.

“Most of the work we have here was donated,” Norton said. “We didn’t have the budget to buy work, so I had to ask artists if they were willing to just give pieces to us, which they weren’t always able to do. But with Haines, we were lucky because local businesses all chipped in to buy the work, then donate it under their names. So, if you notice,” she adds, pointing to the nameplates on the paintings, “the originals in this room all have the names of the business that purchased the work.”

The watercolors are a lovely touch to the chamber, and lead into the walls on each side which feature historical photo montages showing the city in past decades.

“We really just wanted to warm up the place,” Norton said. “That’s why we did this, and we put some antiques upstairs, too, to give people the feeling of a home.”

The artwork is at the City Hall building, 2305 N 7th St. in West Monroe. For more information, call the Arts Council at (318) 396-6837.

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