Warehouse District is New Orleans' New Claim to Fame

Art Business News, Sept, 2001 by Keith Pandolfi

Just beyond Lee Circle--where a statue of the fabled Civil War General Robert E. Lee stands on a six-story column--a once forgotten New Orleans neighborhood is slowly reemerging as one of the city's most artistic hot spots.

Situated along the banks of the Mississippi River, between the French Quarter and the Garden District, the Warehouse Arts District is an urban center for the creative talents New Orleans continues to inspire. Aside from dozens of contemporary galleries and some of the city's finest restaurants--including the world-famous Emeril's--the neighborhood also boasts upscale lofts and apartments, the newly opened National D-Day Museum, the Contemporary Arts Center, the Louisiana Children's Museum and the soon-to-be-opened Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

According to Jim Blanchard, a local artist who lives and works in the Arts District, the neighborhood was once among New Orleans' wealthiest areas, studded with magnificent mansions, townhouses and high-end office buildings. From the 1920s to the 1970s, however, the area declined until it became one of the worst in the city. "This was called Skid Row," Blanchard said. "You didn't even stop at stop signs."

All that changed in 1984 when New Orleans hosted the Louisiana World's Fair. The fair served as the catalyst for giving the neglected neighborhood a face-lift. In the years that followed, developers began to entice young artists and professionals with condominiums and apartments fashioned from commercial buildings.

Now, warehouse-style lofts and apartments continue to attract more people. And while the rents may be out of reach for most starving artists, several established painters, sculptors and photographers now call the neighborhood home. The latest census figures indicate that the Warehouse Arts District and the adjacent Central Business District experienced a 61-percent population growth rate during the `90s. Plans are underway for a new luxury hotel, several new restaurants and more galleries. "What has not been developed will be pretty soon," Blanchard said.

Just off the streetcar line, Julia Street is where most of the neighborhood's galleries are located. Inside the George Schmidt Gallery, you may find Schmidt himself taking a break from his historic or narrative paintings--in this case, an enormous rendering of the Battle of New Orleans--to share some historical tales of the city. "This is a part of our history" Schmidt said referring to his painting--"part of our myth."

LeMieux Gallery showcases some spectacular works by Louisiana artists. A recent exhibit, titled "Riverrun," featured paintings by local artist Alan Gerson, who hung his depictions of life along the river in a continuous line throughout the gallery. "This enhances the idea of the line and the length of the river as it courses through our lives and world," Gerson said.

The Sylvia Schmidt Gallery is a handsome space that featured luscious new works by New Orleans artist Dona Simons in June. Simons' oil paintings, sketches and digitally animated images take viewers on an underwater journey to a fantastical world of music and dance.

IberMundo Gallery, which opened in February, features works by artists from places such as Mexico, Central America, Spain and Portugal. Gallery Director Maurice Brungardt is more than happy to educate visitors on the artists and the artwork he presents.

Galerie Simonne Stern features some of the more avant-garde art being created in the Bayou State. In June, Stern featured a multi-media exhibit by Louisiana artist Blake Boyd titled "My Pinocchio Syndrome for Abigail," a group of works inspired by an encounter Boyd once had with Bijou Phillips, daughter of the late frontman John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas. The works--which use the character of Pinocchio to explore the human struggle for innocence and ideal beauty--were inspired by Bijou's own enchanting beauty.

Around the corner from Julia Street, on Carlondelet, is the Jonathan Ferrara gallery. This ultra-hip, artist-run contemporary gallery is one of the area's most popular spaces and features innovative work by regional and national artists.

The anchor of the Warehouse Arts District is the Contemporary Arts Center, one of the nation's largest multi-disciplinary arts centers. The CAC, which opened in 1976, is housed in an old factory building with 10,000 square feet of gallery space dedicated to as many as two dozen exhibitions each year. The center also boasts some of the city's most popular events. White Linen Night takes place in August, when hoards of New Orleanians don their lightest apparel to browse the galleries and drink in the spirit of the city. Other Arts District events include Art for Art's Sake in October and Jamin' on Julia, in May.

Two new museums located next door to the CAC may soon be among the city's most popular attractions. The National D-Day Museum recently opened to nationwide fanfare. With its mesmerizing audio and visual displays--along with more than 3,500 World War II artifacts--an entire day could easily be spent perusing its educational exhibits.