What is this?
This is a sign that I hand painted with my father in 2005. I pulled it from the dumpster during the Noafa renovation in 2020. We made this the year Katrina happened. We put it up on the sidewalk in front of my father’s school to let people know that we would be open, that the faculty exhibit always scheduled for September (all artwork was still installed safely in the galleries) had been postponed due to the August 29 storm and evacuation of the city. Some people had returned home. Those that were here came to the opening reception and we all cried together. Everyone wanted to do something other than wade through the mud of broken neighborhoods, memories, families, and former comforts.
We created a class schedule to begin in the new year, and this was the only way to advertise at the time. Come January 2006, all classes offered were full and filled to capacity. Many teachers could not return. I still remember so many of the artists in my classes…we all healed together, with art.
