Every Wednesday, for the last two weeks the NENA center has been getting an extra helping hand. Professor and painter Ron Bechet of Xavier University’s Art Department, along with students from Xavier and Tulane, have been working with NENA (Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association), a resource center located in the lower 9th ward, to help better the community and its neighborhood’s citizens. The group is working on grant writing for the center and on helping local citizens with job placement, resume building skills, computer use, financial planning and housing.
The NENA’s relief center is located on 1120 Lamache Street and is open Wednesday and Friday. Its church, Church of the Annunciation, is located on 4505 South Claiborne. The telephone number is 504-895-8697.
Author Archive for scottcorrigan
NENA Center Memorial Project in the 9th Ward
Published by March 16th, 2007 in City Based Projects. 0 CommentsJan Gilbert of The VESTIGES Project, Kathy Randels of ArtSpot Productions, and Andrew Laramie of Project NOLA are leading a group of Xavier and Tulane students in this project. They will partner with the pastor of a local church as well as teachers and students of local high schools and the Beacons of Hope post-Katrina Lakeview rebuilding centers. Using oral histories and informal surveys of life in Lakeview, this group seeks to help the community maintain its library and raise awareness of its needs and assets.
To further this goal, the Lakeview team is planning a school bus tour through the neighborhood. The cemeteries of Old Lakeview will be the starting point. The route down Canal Boulevard stops at old and new local landmarks which will feature site specific installations and performances in a variety of disciplines. The concluding point will be the lakefront.
7th Ward: The Porch Youth Theatre Workshop
Published by March 16th, 2007 in City Based Projects. 0 CommentsJan Cohen-Cruz, professor of Drama at New York University and local dancer Stephanie Makee, along with students from NYU, Xavier, and Tulane Universities have started a theatre program for neighborhood youth in the 7th Ward. With help from The Porch, twelve to sixteen 7th Ward children, ranging in age from six to fourteen, are learning the art and discipline of performance. For more information, please contact Ed at The Porch: 504-401-1836.
The theatre workshop’s first performance, Local Heroes, took place at The Porch on February 24th. Honoring ten New Orleanians of African descent, the performance arose from work by New Orleans artists Willie Birch and Ron Bechet. These artists, assisted by students from Xavier University, produced prints of ten local heroes, and posted them throughout The Porch’s neighborhood. The project honored such individuals as Creole chef Leah Chase, former mayor Ernest “Dutch” Morial, and the artist John T. Scott. More than 40 neighbors joined Porch members to watch the children perform, many staying to share the barbeque that followed.
Jan and the rest of the youth theatre workshop invite you to come out on April 14th, 2007 at 1pm to The Porch Outdoor Theatre on Urquhart Street (off Pauger, across from the AP Tureaud School) for the group’s second free performance and BBQ. The event will also feature story circles with the audience.
Re-Building Community through the Arts
Using our creative power to strengthen, revitalize, and rebuild community.
Welcome to HOME, New Orleans?, a community-based, arts-focused network of organizations, universities, artists, and neighbors that brings communities together to create positive change in New Orleans. This website allows you to browse current events, read up on what others are working on, become involved in a project, or contribute your own perspective and ideas.
HOME, New Orleans? responds to community priorities through neighborhood and community arts projects, memorials, youth theatre workshops, performance and installation art—anything that enhances life and creates new opportunities to rebuild community for New Orleans and its residents.
We think community is about sharing and that creative expression is a tool for shaping and strengthening all of our communities together. We believe merging art-making, education, and community involvement will produce more powerful opportunities for individuals, neighborhoods, and the city as a whole.