New Orleans Streetcar Brings 175 Years of History

Ever taken a beautiful ride on the St. Charles Streetcar in the spring? Feeling the cool breeze as you pass the beautiful mansions and monuments of the historic St. Charles area can be a life changing experience. This wouldn’t be possible if 175 years ago, the oldest operating street railway system didn’t become an integral part of New Orleans transportation. The St. Charles Streetcar originally named Carrollton travels over 13 miles and serves as a self guided tour of the famous St. Charles district.

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Culture Collision Success

Last night was truly an amazing experience! I had the opportunity to visit Culture Collision at the New Orleans Museum of Arts. Culture Collision provided an opportunity for locals to check out what New Orleans' cultural organizations have to offer. From New Orleans Ballet Association to Newcomb Art Gallery and beyond there was a little something for everyone. This event offered opportunities to learn about all the upcoming exhibits and performances around the city and purchase tickets at discount. Check out some of the cool info I learned:

• In Orleans Parish youth 6-18 years old can take free dance classes! Check out www.nobadance.com
• There is a Entertainment Law Legal Assistance Project (ELLA), they provide legal assistance to low-income artists, musicians and grass roots non profits in Louisiana. Call 504-523-1465
• Check out Fashioning Kimono in October at the Newcomb Art Gallery, newcombartgallery.tulane.edu
• Corella Ballet Castilla y Leon will be presented at the Mahalia Jackson Theater, nobadance.com
• On November 14th, Amistad Research Center will have a discussion with Ruby Bridges and Barbara Henry at Le Petit Theatre, www.amistadresearchcenter.org
• If you haven't already checked out Ogden After Hours for some live music! Henry Gray is performing on September 23rd. ogdenmuseum.org
• You definitely don't want to miss Porgy and Bess Opera, neworleansopera.org.
• On September 18th, The New Orleans Film Society will present Member of the Club, which tells of the history of black and white social clubs of the American South. neworleansfilmsociety.org
• On November 14th, Louisiana Philharmonic will offer a family concert called Harry Potter's Wondrous Word at NOCCA. LPOmusic.com/Education

Don’t Miss LA Fête Cultural: a Celebration of Louisiana’s Culture Tonight

An upcoming event of huge interest to me has to be LA Fête Cultural 2010 on Wednesday, August 25th, at the Contemporary Arts Center.  LA Fête Cultural is a celebration of culture to honor five years of  The Louisiana Cultural Economy Foundation. LCEF is an initiative started in spring 2005 by Former Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu (current New Orleans Mayor) to support development and enhancement of the unique industries of Louisiana. LCEF was an instrumental non-profit organization in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina helping the cultural workers of Louisiana. Their newest battle has been assisting cultural workers affected by the oil spill.  La Fete Cultural consists of two events with a little flavor for all tastes and a look into different parts of our culture in Louisiana!

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New Orleans is best by bike

I’m currently in Durham, NC.  Anybody live in Durham?  I’m leaving tomorrow morning so it’s not like we could hang out anyway.  I’ve been and will continue traveling the continental US until the beginning of June for work and such, so my apologies for being largely silent.  The Mad Hatter’s Cafe and Bake Shop is providing me internet on this lovely afternoon, as well as tons of coffee and food.

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In New Orleans, the Taste of a Comeback

IT is the siren call of a magnificent, broken city: “This, here, is the realNew Orleans.”

Spend any time sweating through a shirt and walking slow and purposeful along Magazine Street toward a Sazerac before dinner, and you’ll hear the cry, in this bar or that one. You’ll hear it on the radio, driving the high-rise bridge over the Industrial Canal, someone spinning funk on WWOZ and talking about New Orleans soul. You’ll see it in the defiant eyes of a man lurching out of a second line in Pigeon Town.

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Throw Me Some Culture!

At its simplest, Carnival is folks standing on a curb catching beads. At its most sociologically introspective, Carnival is a season with deep cultural roots. Examine Carnival in Louisiana, and you will see a celebration with three different strains of evolution.


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41 Hours In New Orleans

New Orleans is going to be okay, and so am I. Forgive the conflation of my affirmations, but I wrote this in a notebook on the plane home last night after a whistle-stop visit, suffering from the most incredible earache, and at the time, I really needed to believe it. No, my eardrums weren’t going to burst and fill the aisle with blood—what is it with Delta and the way they pressurize their cabins, anyway?!—and no, New Orleans is not going to be abandoned and have its culture disappear for good. Last night, I would have believed you on the New Orleans part. But man, was I freaking out about the ears thing. If you happen to see me today, talk loud. I can’t hear you.

mattdavisopenshismouth.com

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Wine and Dine: Highlights of Downtown New Orleans

New Orleans is known for their great food, great drinks, and great culture. Below are a few highlights of the French Quarter and Warehouse District.

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The changing face --and faces --of New Orleans

Growing up in Broadmoor, Timolynn Sams traversed the neighborhoods of her hometown by instinct. On bike rides to visit her cousins miles away on Tchoupitoulas Street, or on solitary walks to Hollygrove, she knew exactly which streets were safe and which houses she could stop at to use the bathroom or chat with friends.

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Local Arts Organizations Join Forces to Host CULTURE COLLISIO

NEW ORLEANS – For one night only and under one roof, local arts lovers are invited to attend a celebration to kick off the 2009-2010 cultural season. Culture Collision will be held on Wednesday, September 2, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

This unique event brings together New Orleans’ cultural organizations for a one of a kind happy hour designed to encourage participation and involvement in the New Orleans art scene.

Admission to the event is free to Louisiana residents, and attendees will have the opportunity to scope out upcoming events, take advantage of exclusive ticket promotions, and meet like-minded arts lovers. There will be performances by vocal trio Bon Operatit!, interspersed with the musical stylings of DJ Matty.  Light appetizers will be provided, and guests will also enjoy a cash bar.  Giveaways courtesy of participating organizations will be ongoing throughout the evening.

Participants

· Contemporary Arts Center

· Friends of the Cabildo

· Louisiana ArtWorks

· Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra

· Louisiana State Museum

· New Orleans Ballet Association

· New Orleans Film Society

· New Orleans Museum of Art

· New Orleans Opera Association

· Ogden Museum of Southern Art

· Southern Food and Beverage Museum

· Southern Rep

The event is sponsored by WWNO and organized by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, New Orleans Ballet Association, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans Opera Association and Southern Rep.

About the Organizations



Contemporary Arts Center

Since 1976 the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) has been home to artists’ bold experiments in painting, theatre, music, performance art, video, dance, photography, sculpture, and more – all celebrating the art of now. More at: www.cacno.org.



Friends of the Cabildo

Since its incorporation in 1956, Friends of the Cabildo has grown into a large statewide membership organization that serves as a dynamic and motivating force in broadening and supporting the aims of the Louisiana State Museum.  We provide daily, year-round walking tours of the French Quarter with well-trained, qualified volunteer guides for tourists and special groups.  We host educational and cultural events such as the Spring Home Tour, Ghostly Galavant and Creole Christmas, which raise monies for the Museum and various projects of the Friends.  We have also published a series of distinguished award-winning architectural books on the historic districts of the city of New Orleans.



Louisiana ArtWorks

The mission of Louisiana Artworks is to inspire artistic growth, enhance technical skills, and provide marketing and economic development for Louisiana artists in a unique arts environment, while offering the public opportunities to see, enjoy, and explore the processes involved in the creation of the visual and applied arts. Louisiana ArtWorks creates an infrastructure for the growth of the creative industry by providing needed workspace and equipment for artists while attracting the public as a premier cultural destination.



Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra

The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1991 by musicians from the former New Orleans Symphony, is the only musician-owned and collaboratively managed professional symphony in the United States. The members of the LPO are dedicated to creating live symphonic music and maintaining a resident full-time orchestra that serves as an integral part of the cultural and educational life of New Orleans and the Gulf South region. The LPO, led by Music Director, Carlos Miguel Prieto, performs a full 36 week concert season featuring an array of Classics, Casual Classics, Spotlight, Family, Education, and Outreach concerts. The members of the LPO are honored to be home-based in New Orleans and serving the Gulf South region.

Louisiana State Museum

Founded in 1906, The Louisiana State Museum collects, preserves and interprets Louisiana’s rich cultural heritage from pre-historic times to the present through more than 450,000 objects and works of art. The Museum is part of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, which is overseen by Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu. For more information, please call 800.568.6968 or visithttp://lsm.crt.state.la.us.



New Orleans Ballet Association

NOBA is the Central Gulf region’s premiere presenting and service organization dedicated solely to the art of dance.  NOBA’s dynamic Main Stage season annually features a diverse array of world-class companies and artists.  Each year NOBA provides concerts, classes, workshops and lectures to more than 25,000 area dance enthusiasts of all ages.  In addition, NOBA’s nationally recognized award-winning education programs provide the youth of our community access to quality arts programs with 2,500 free dance classes and workshops annually at ten sites throughout the Greater New Orleans area.  Season subscriptions are currently on sale, and single tickets for NOBA events go on sale September 8. For more information on the upcoming season or to subscribe, call NOBA at 504-522-0996, Ext. 201 or visit www.nobadance.com.



New Orleans Film Society

The New Orleans Film Society (NOFS) is dedicated to providing all audiences access to a diversity of local, national, and international film and video. The mission of the New Orleans Film Society is to engage, educate and inspire through the art of film.  A non-profit 501(c)3 organization founded in 1989, the NOFS presents year-round film programming including the annual New Orleans Film Festival, French Film Festival, New Orleans International Children’s Film Festival and screenings and special events designed to benefit local film and video audiences, artists and professionals.

New Orleans Museum of Art

The New Orleans Museum of Art, founded in 1910 by Isaac Delgado, houses more than 30,000 art objects encompassing 4,000 years of world art. Works from the permanent collection, along with continuously changing temporary exhibitions, are on view in the Museum’s 46 galleries Wednesdays from noon to 8 p.m. and Thursdays to Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the adjacent Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, featuring work by 58 artists, including several of the 20th century’s great master sculptors, is always free during public hours.



New Orleans Opera Association

The City of New Orleans is America’s First City of Opera. The first documented production on the North American continent is André Ernest Grétry’s Sylvain which was performed on May 22, 1796.  The “modern” New Orleans Opera Association (NOOA) was founded in 1943.  This, NOOA’s 67^thseason, is the first full season with performances in the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  The season is as follows: Puccini's Tosca - October 9 & 11, 2009; Gounod's Romeo and Juliet – November 20 & 22, 2009; The Verdi Requiem – January 22 & 24, 2010; Wagner's The Flying Dutchman – March 19 & 21, 2010. Tickets can be purchased online atwww.neworleansopera.org or by calling the box office at (504) 529-3000 and range in price from $43 - $136.



Ogden Museum of Southern Art

The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is home to the largest and most comprehensive collection of Southern art in the world, and includes the Center for Southern Craft and Design. Artists in the collection include Benny Andrews, William Eggleston, Hunt Slonem, Ida Kohmeyer, George Ohr, Linda Benglis, among others. Every Thursday night, the Ogden hosts “Ogden After Hours,” which presents Southern music in a variety of genres. The museum also has special art, literary, film and educational programs throughout the year.



Southern Food and Beverage Museum

The Southern Food and Beverage Museum is a living history museum dedicated to the discovery, understanding and celebration of the food, drink and culture of the American South. Programs and educational events pay tribute to all the cultures that have come together through the centuries to create a unique culinary heritage. A collaboration of many, the museum allows food lovers of all stripes – Southerners and non-Southerners, locals and tourists, academics and food industry insiders – to explore the food and drink history of the South.



Southern Rep

As New Orleans' premiere professional theatre, Southern Rep features world-premiere productions and the best of Broadway and off-Broadway. With Academy SRT, the Annual Backstage Bash, PlayLab, the Crosstown Reading Series, the New Play Bacchanal and Schmiggle Parties, Southern Rep is your ticket to dramatic fun. Now entering its 23rd season, Southern Rep's intimate 144-seat theatre is located on the third floor of The Shops at Canal Place.

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Culture and Race in New Orleans

Cheryl asks for comments on rebuilding the culture of the city. My experience here, knowing a lot of musicians, some writers, an artist or two, and some filmmakers, is that the culture of this place is rebuilding itself even better than the economy, and far better than, say, the political culture. Any city with the remotest claim to a culture will have responded to an event like Katrina with a flood of work, and New Orleans has complied. Aside from Cheryl's book, there have been literally dozens of novels and non-fiction accounts, poetry, and an impassioned polemic ("Why New Orleans Matters") arguing for the city's continued existence. There have also been songs, paintings, photographic exhibitions, and screenplays galore.

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New Orleans' International markets bring many cultures home

Globe-trotting is not required for embarking on culinary adventures in the New Orleans area, where ethnic markets and big-box grocery stores alike stock worldly flavors just waiting to be discovered.
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