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The New Orleans Community Art Center Announces Summer/Fall 2021 Season

15:00 July 16, 2021
By: Olivia Longoria

During the thick of the pandemic, there seemed to have been a renaissance of art. Through art was one of the only ways people were able to communicate with each other, and one of the only ways people were able to cope with the situation around them. During a time of such intensity, mass amounts of people turned to different art forms to express those emotions. So much new music, paintings, jewelry, photography, films, and cross sections of each of those came out of the summer of 2020. Through that creativity, a renaissance of individuality followed. Many people were discovering a new meaning to gender and sexuality and began expressing it in an artistic way that created a community of acceptance across social media. From this experience, it became newly clear how important creative collaboration is to society. It makes it possible for an artist idea to turn into concrete change that impacts the world around us. The implication of creative collaboration fostering important conversations across mass amounts of people is a message that the New Orleans Community Art Center understands well. The mission of the CAC is to be a nationally recognized leader in the support of contemporary arts, encouraging collaborations between artists and communities, which hopefully results in important discourse.

This fall, the city of New Orleans can once again see that mission in action. The New Orleans CAC is thrilled to announce that they are welcoming audiences this season for in person performances, exhibitions, and artist residencies. Exhibition activities extend from July to September. Attend the opening night celebration on July 31, featuring music by Felice Gee. Until September 6, The Gris Gris Lab, an Afrofuturist Apothecary healing incubator, will feature performances inside the CAC's Oval Gallery. Other exhibition activities include a virtual studio tour with artist Veronica Ibargüengoitia. The season will end with a panel discussion on Behind Healing and Wholeness: Art and Health, featuring artists and health policy makers.

This season will feature cross collaborations that place art and social issues into context, such as incarceration, health, and the environment. Artists, civic leaders, and impacted communities collationed together to create a space that fosters awareness and empathy, as well as a greater discourse through art. The program will open with the annual Open Call exhibition for Gulf South artists entitled "Behind Every Beautiful Thing: Encountering Bodies, Wrestling with the Human Condition." This exhibition will discuss very personal health and illness experiences of artists, echoing the impacts on life, body, and psyche of the individual in their community.

This is only a snippet of the fruitfulness of the CAC summer/fall session. For more information about the schedule, visit the website at cacno.org.

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