The Future is Present in New Orleans
On October 31—November 23, 2024, we traveled to New Orleans to celebrate the opening of Prospect.6, The Future is Present, The Harbinger is Home, co-curated by Ebony G. Patterson and Miranda Lash.
Every three years, P.6 invites artists from around the world to present exhibitions and projects in venues across New Orleans. This iteration showcased 51 artists in 21 spaces.
In The Future is Present, The Harbinger is Home, curators “highlight New Orleans as a city situated in the future, where questions around survival, continuance, and joy are being asked in advance of other places.” It’s a place in conversation with regions of the world — cities like Miami — that have long experienced the effects of climate change, labor migration, and histories of colonialism.
In New Orleans, the harbinger was home.
From Sweet Lorraine’s Jazz Club and the Ford Motor Plant to Alone Time Gallery and The Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, follow Commissioner’s adventure over three days. In addition to participating in P.6’s program, we grounded our experience with local artists and organizers.
Use our recap as a guide.
Big love to our curator and compass Lana Meyon with The Black School, and Ana Clara Silva, editor of the P.6 catalog and long-time friend and collaborator.
P.6’s closing program is January 30—February 2, 2025. Learn more.
Halloween in NOLA, Love Burst by Raúl de Nieves, an artist talk ft. Mel Chin, and a private tour of CAC’s P.6 exhibit with curator Ebony G. Patterson.
During an artist talk at The Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans (CAC) Warehouse, Mel Chin explained, “We don’t have to be what we thought we had to be.” It was an opportune moment to ground us in imagination and freedom dreaming: Nothing has to be what it is.
Collector and award-winning actor CCH Pounder welcomes us to her private art collection in an architecturally rich neighborhood of New Orleans.
Experience a curated selection from Pounder’s private collection in Shared Vision: Portraits from The CCH Pounder-Koné Collection, now on view at the African American Museum in Philadelphia through March 2, 2025. Shared Vision is composed of 40 works by world-renowned artists, including Bisa Butler, Elizabeth Colomba, and Lezley Saar, and emerging luminaries such as Luke Agada and Alex Peter Idoko. The artists in the exhibition share the breadth and depth of the African Diaspora through notions of beauty, identity, autonomy, and power.
Malik Bartholomew of KNOW NOLA Tours introduces the French Quarter and Tremé from the view of African people.
By chance, we bumped into the grandson of the legendary New Orleans chef Leah Chase — the inspiration for the character of Princess Tiana from Disney's The Princess and the Frog. Fellow traveler Corey Davis explained, “Leah Chase was a legend who was deeply beloved. Her double-dipped fried chicken and pecan pies with pecans in the crust are two of my favorite recipes. And she forced the culinary world to recognize the contributions of our food and techniques to global cuisine.”
From New Orleans African American Museum with artists Abigail DeVille, Joiri Minaya and Amanda Williams, to Arturo Kameya’s eerie and immersive installation at Alone Time Gallery.
The Black School Process Deck: a hands-on workshop with founders Shani Peters and Joseph Cuillier III.
The Black School is an experimental art school teaching Black, PoC students and allies to become agents of change in their communities. Together, we hosted a workshop and open-house at TBS’s design space at Xavier University of Louisiana Art Village, supporting the organization in their efforts to fundraise and welcome broader national communities into their vision.
Special guests included P.6 gala honoree Ron Bechet and legendary photographer Eric Waters. Gun Bun Wine generously provided lunch and libations.
Ford Motor Plant
At peak production, as many as 1,000 workers turned out 300 cars per day until 1933. The Ford Motor Plant has also been used as a warehouse by the U.S. army, a local Ford dealership, and a freight storage facility. Through P.6, the space once used to extract labor is adapted, reused, and reimagined. Participating artists include Zalika Azim, Teresa Baker, Mel Chin, rafa esparza, Blas Isasi, Eisa Jocson, Maia Ruth Lee, Kelley-Ann Lindo, Karyn Olivier, Venuri Perera, Dewey Tafoya, and Jeannette Ehlers.
L. Kasimu Harris, Come Tuesday (Sportsman’s Corner), 2018. Image courtesy of the artist.
Commissioner dinner at Addis NOLA Ethiopian x Tito’s Handmade Vodka on Historic Bayou Road. Then, a pop out to P.6 artist L. Kasimu Harris’ celebration and exhibition, “King & Blue,” at Sweet Lorraine’s Jazz Club.
A meeting with artist L. Kasimu Harris at his exhibit in New Orleans—facilitated by remarkable local curator and partner Lana Meyon, and solidified in a chance encounter with Kilolo Luckett—was made all the more meaningful when given an opportunity to welcome the artist to Miami Art Week in December 2024. This is how we find each other, this is how we travel.
From Tambourine Cypher with P.6 artist Ashley Teamer and the Tambourine Lady, to the Second Line with Da Truth Brass Band.
“At Lemann Park [in New Orleans], Tambourine Cypress honors the natural landscape, music, and people tied to Claiborne Avenue over millennia. The sculpture’s shimmering tambourine branches channel the sounds of Black Masking Indians, gospel, jazz, and other traditions, inviting both contemplation and celebration. The work imagines a future where the Claiborne Avenue Bridge is removed, and descendants of the displaced return to the community,” explained artist Ashley Teamer.
On playing the tambourine, the Tambourine Lady added, “Get ugly with it.”
