Our Executive Director will be a featured artist this Saturday for Placeholder. BODYART Connects, coproducers of the exhibition, has released their statement about the event. We look forward to seeing you all there! Read below for more details.
PLACEHOLDER
A COMMUNITY ART GATHERING BY THE CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE ENGAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT AND BODYART DANCE.
Placeholder is an iterative, site-specific project designed for community activation through interactive art events for the local residents of New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward. These biannual events will honor the historical and cultural significance of the community’s lost spaces, and amplify the ability to collectively speak on a sustainable future.
When: Saturday January 14, 2023; 12-4pm
Where: CSED Outdoor Learning Center
2640 Lamanche St. New Orleans LA
Come and go as you like to this outdoor art installation and community gathering featuring free food and music, with original artwork by Lower Ninth Ward artists Alina Allen, Jason Meserole, Lissie Stewart and SWINE.
Read more about the artists involved here:
https://www.bodyartconnects.com/placeholder-artists
ABOUT BODYART CONNECTS:
Is a women-led organization that is dedicated to serving the global community and increasing accessibility in the physical arts.
Creates highly collaborative visual stories where community and space act as co-authors.
Believes multi-platform collaboration across geography, culture, and medium creates space for us to deconstruct hierarchical artmaking practices that have led to divisive narratives and limited accessibility in the arts.
Is committed to creating work that fosters inclusion and accessibility. Projects are place-based, community-led, and site-specific.
From their website; our Executive Director’s Artist Statement:
LISSIE STEWART
ARTIST
I am a painter, illustrator, sculptor, installation, and mixed media artist who lives and works in New Orleans. I am a wife, and I am a mother. I enjoy experimenting with the unpredictability of non-traditional media and the use of found and recycled materials in my work. Inspired by issues related to the environment and natural surroundings; specifically, I’m moved by efforts of individuals to intentionally cultivate land and restore Louisiana’s wetlands and diminishing coastline. My love of gardening and growing is embraced in my more recent works.
My art-making process consists of a series of iterations, writing, sketching, and experimenting with materials; I am process oriented when creating work. This is important in understanding my work because I enjoy the unexpected results of experimenting with non-traditional materials and allowing intentional use of specific materials to freely inform the direction of the piece. It is my aim to create art that speaks for itself and welcomes viewers into conversations about the work.
NOLA Artist Incubator 