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July 21, 2010 by Dan Cameron
This will be my first blog entry since the middle of Prospect.1, probably in early 2009. During the intervening 18 months, all of us have been extremely busy with both the organization itself (U.S. Biennial) and the upcoming programs (Prospect.1.5 and Prospect.2). We’ve all been buffeted by the economy, of course, and New Orleans in only six months has gone from its Super Bowl rush of glory to the Gulf Coast fears and anxieties of today. For those of us fighting the good fight to see that New Orleans’ incalculable cultural value to the rest of the country and the world is recognized and allowed to prosper, it seems that the Golden Age had no sooner begun when suddenly another reason to get squeamish about visiting south Louisiana had arisen in people’s minds. That’s not to downplay the devastation itself, but rather to focus instead, just for a moment, on the effect that the environmental damage has on the imaginations of so many people who might have wanted to visit New Orleans for cultural purposes, but are beginning to have some serious doubts.
As I sit this morning in my wonderful house on the friendliest block in Treme, I’m thinking about my overgrown backyard garden, which had not been touched since Katrina when I bought the place back in late 2007. At that time the fallen tree limbs, choking vines, and accumulation of debris was totally intimidating to me. I didn’t know how to hack my way through all the accumulated growth, most of which was pretty foreign-looking to begin with. The first visitors were even a little scared to go back there, because they envisioned snakes, spiders or some other lethal denizen of these subtropical climes. Each time I would spend a few hours clearing stuff out, and despairing over how little visual effect each load of dead foliage had on the larger picture, I would remind myself that no matter how imposing the job seemed, it was finite.
Setting aside the obvious fact that no man should live in fear of his garden, my early motivation was the fabled lemon tree that all my neighbors talked about. Apparently the tree, at the very back of the property adjacent to St. Augustine Church parking lot, is one that produced such plentiful and delicious Meyer lemons that most of the neighbors dropped by at harvest time to get a handful. One, a neighborhood activist, would even bring them to meetings with public officials, handing it to them in a decorative basked and saying, “Enjoy the Treme citrus.” One morning late last fall, after many, many sustained sessions on the yard by myself and/or my neighbor Dwayne, I realized I had a clear path to the lemon tree, and suddenly I was confronted by a vision of dozens of fat yellow fruit weighing down their branches. I snapped one off, brought it into the house, cut into it, and was instantly amazed at the sweetness of its juice. This wasn’t anything like a lemon from a store, and the tree was thriving despite any intervention from me for the last four and a half years. It was a mature tree growing out of soil in my own backyard, and it could easily supply the lemon needs of many households for months into the future.
Mulling over New Orleans’ incomparable fragility and precariousness, and pondering how to explain the unshaken artistic vitality of the place to those who have not experienced the little epiphanies that my friends and I go through on a pretty regular basis, my mind is drawn to my backyard experience and that tough old lemon tree. For example, does it make sense to say that no matter how catastrophic the oil damage a short distance from here, that amount of oil is actually finite. We might all have eaten our last local oysters for years to come this just past spring or early summer, and with very complex emotions, since none of us know when those beds will be restored. But that number of years is also finite, and if there’s a good chance we could be scarfing down plump Louisiana oysters again in another 3 or 4 years, I believe most of us would be willing to tough it out.
Is living life at the further edge of plausibility one of the things that keeps us in New Orleans so immensely appreciative of what we have together? The delicious summer sunsets here, the wafting of a trumpet on a July breeze in the evening, and yes, the unexpected taste of some brand new concoction created moments before by your local chef or bartender — how do you explain to somebody else that it’s the ephemeral nature of these things that makes them so precious? Should we be thinking of our new sales pitch in terms of the message, ‘Come to New Orleans, where life is so very fleeting?’ For me, one of the most enduring paradoxes of my mission with Prospect is that my entire profession has been founded on the premise that even if you & I can’t personally take our art with us when we go, society, in the form of museums, will take care of it on our behalf. With New Orleans, I’m constantly reminded that not being able to take the best moments of our lives with us can be the generative force for a different kind of knowledge and appreciation of what it means to be alive in the first place. And somewhere in that metaphysical gap between the weight of history and the fleeting nature of actuality is where I believe Prospect New Orleans can flourish and become of the instruments by which the world finally realizes that this city, and what it has to offer, is truly one of the pinnacles of our civilization.
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Special offers from Prospect New Orleans this summer!
Dear Friends,
This July and August, Prospect New Orleans is excited to announce special summer membership offers and new ways to support our continued efforts to revitalize the city of New Orleans. In the spirit of summer sales and special offers, we’re preparing for our busy fall program by offering discounts on Prospect.1 merchandise and by giving yet another reason to become a Prospect New Orleans member – the chance to win one of our limited edition prints.
All proceeds from our membership drive and merchandise sales directly benefit our production of the Prospect New Orleans biennial and other programs. With the environmental tragedy of the oil spill now unfolding along the Gulf Coast, it’s once again important to remind ourselves of south Louisiana’s cultural value to the rest of the world, and the important role you can play in supporting Prospect New Orleans’ cultural initiatives.
In the coming weeks we will announce the full program for Prospect.1.5 – a series of exhibitions featuring New Orleans artists, along with lectures and educational initiatives taking place at venues throughout the city this fall and winter – and gearing up to release the names of Prospect.2 artists in November.
THE END-OF-SUMMER MEMBERSHIP DRIVE AND RAFFLE!
Now through Labor Day all those who join as a Friend of Prospect New Orleans at any level (or donate $50 or more) will be entered to win August 31, 2005, Fred Tomaselli’s silkscreened print created as an edition of 80 for the Prospect New Orleans Limited Edition Series. One winner will be selected from the drawing the week of September 13, 2010.
Friends of Prospect New Orleans provide essential support for the biennial and enjoy free admission to the exhibition and public events, as well as other special benefits. During our end of the summer membership drive, members will also receive a Prospect.1 visitor’s map, P.1 sticker and (while supplies last) a special members-only CD featuring a selection of music from Prospect.1. To join or make a 100% tax-deductible donation, please visit our website at www.prospectneworleans.org.
COLLECTORS ITEMS FROM PROSPECT.1 ON SALE NOW!
Alexandre Arrechea’s design is based on his unforgettable ‘Mississippi Bucket,’ which was on view at Harrah’s Casino’s Plaza of Good Fortune as part of Prospect.1 New Orleans. [39”W x 27”H]
$20 + $3.50 Shipping (usually $30)
The design of the Prospect.1 visitor’s map created by New Orleans architects, Atelier Flufhaus, garnered widespread rave reviews. With the full exhibition guide on one side and a bird’s eye view of the city on the other, it’s the ultimate collector’s item. [35”W x 21”H] comes folded [5”W x 7”H]
There are dozens of places to stick souvenir P.1 stickers - on your bumper, refrigerator, or anywhere you want to show your support of Prospect New Orleans! [4” square]
Maps (5 per order): $20 + $3.50 Shipping
Maps and Stickers (3 Maps, 5 Stickers per order): $20 + $3.50 Shipping
Best wishes for a relaxing and inspiring summer from the board and staff of Prospect New Orleans.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
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Review of P.1 Artist Zwelethu Mthetwa's Current Exhibition
Prospect.1 artist Zwelethu Mthetwa currently has an exhibition at Studio Museum in Harlem. It features works from the Common Ground series that he made in New Orleans. Read the New York Times review here!
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Art and the Oil Spill: A letter from Dan Cameron
New Orleans
Art and the Oil Spill: A letter from Dan Cameron 
Prospect New Orleans founder, Dan Cameron, has released a letter addressing the devastating effects of the BP oil spill and the role of the city’s artist community in this dire time. Below is Mr. Cameron’s letter:
“Like you, those of us who work everyday to lift New Orleans up have been alternately frustrated, saddened, and sickened by the oil spill and unfolding environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. As we move further from April 20, when the first hundred thousand barrels of oil surged into the ocean, it seems increasingly likely that the magnitude of devastation will surpass our worst nightmares. Beyond the immediate loss of flora and fauna, and the thousands of jobs that have disappeared overnight, there is long-term damage to consider.
How, you might ask, does contemporary art play a role in this painful scenario?
Artists in New Orleans and beyond have, for years, created works that expose the incongruity between the beauty and fragility of the Louisiana wetlands and the raw power of the oil industry that has put this vital aspect of New Orleans at great risk. Perhaps not surprisingly, many artists in New Orleans – Skylar Fein, Dawn Dedeaux, Anastasia Pelias, Dan Tague, Robert Tannen, Michel Varisco, and many others – have been on the front lines since the very first day of the disaster, volunteering as first responders, supporting organizations that advocate for sustainable Gulf economies, and documenting the crisis as it unfolds. Even more crucially, art and artists are the lifeblood of New Orleans’ cultural identity – invaluable to the character of the Crescent City and essential to its appeal as a tourist destination. Art comprises one of New Orleans’ most important natural resources; the arts community has proven its perseverance and adaptability in the face of great adversity, and its centrality to the revitalization of the city post-Katrina.
It is clear now more than ever, that the economic future of the city is closely tied to its image as a hotbed of creativity. We remain committed to our belief that Prospect New Orleans can play an important role in helping the city recover as quickly and fully as possible from the post-Katrina devastation that spurred the creation of the Biennial, and continuing now with the current challenge on the Gulf Coast.
Thank you for your support,
Dan Cameron”
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In a brand-new Limited Edition benefitting Prospect New Orleans, August 31, 2005, acclaimed New York artist Fred Tomaselli has taken as his starting point one of the most harrowing post-Katrina media images. On the front page of the New York Times for Wednesday, August 31, 2005, readers saw the first printed images of the city engulfed by waters, and Tomaselli has astutely captured the sense of unreality and dislocation still associated with this image in the popular imagination. A full day following the hurricane’s pounding of the region, and when most of the world (including New Orleans itself) believed the city had been spared the worst, the levee system had unexpectedly failed in multiple locations, rapidly submerging eighty percent of the city in toxic waters for nearly three full weeks.
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About
Founded in 2008 by Dan Cameron, Prospect New Orleans is the largest biennial of international contemporary art in the United States. Conceived in the tradition of the great international biennials, such as the Venice Biennale and the Bienal de São Paulo, Prospect New Orleans showcases new artistic practices from around the world and contributes to the revitalization of New Orleans by spurring tourism and bringing international attention to the city’s vibrant visual arts community. Prospect.2, the second iteration of the contemporary art biennial, which is curated by Dan Cameron, will open to the public on November 5, 2011, and will be on view until Sunday, February 3, 2012. Prospect.2 is organized under the auspices of U.S. Biennial, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in New York with offices in New Orleans. U.S. Biennial, Inc., was launched in January 2007, and its first project was Prospect.1. Read more about Dan Cameron, the founder and curator for both Prospect.1 and Prospect.2, below.
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