Professor Ron Bechet’s Piece…
Spring Forward…
Daylight Savings time begins March 8th
Inside this Issue:
Mid-Semester Evaluations Due March 10th
Department of Art Newsletter
The
Gestalt
ISSUE
01
March
2015
Women’s History Month
Congratulations! Leland Johnson, XUArt
Student Artist , Publishes 1st Comic Strip
in “The Xavier Herald” March 2015
1
Kudos Leland Johnson!
Entered The Gallery Collection 8th Annual
Create-A-Greeting-Card
$10,000 Scholarship Contest
1
XUArt Celebrates Women’s History Month
“A Conversation with Mildred Howard”
Installation and Mixed Media Artist shares
inspiration for “Clear Story New Orleans”
2
The Art of Creating St. Joseph Altar
Cuccidati/Symbolic Pastry Workshop
March 14th, 9A-12P, UC –205
Xavier University’s St. Joseph Altar
March 19th, Music Building
2
Congratulations!
Student Artist of the Month:
Leah Labat
3
Art Appreciation (Art 1090)
MaPo Kinnord, Associate Professor of Art
and Students Exploring Compositions Design
Possibilities
3
The New Orleans
Jazz & Heritage Foundation
Celebrates the Music and Culture
of the African Diaspora
Congo Square Rhythms Fest 2015
4
Congratulations! Leland Johnson, XUArt Student Artist
Publishes “The Xavier Herald” 1st Comic Strip...
*March 2015!
Xavier Faculty and Staff Costume as
4
‘New Orleans Baby Dolls” Mardi Gras ‘15
Dr. Kim Vaz-Deville, Dr. Sarah A. Clunis,
Daniele Gair, and Albert Polite Jr., ‘spy boy’ of
the FiYiYi Indians
Ron Bechet, Professor of Art
& Xavier University of Louisiana hosts
P.3 City-wide Exhibition Closing Event
The Art Village
3520 Pine Street
(across from Main Campus)
Business Mailing Address
Xavier University of Louisiana
1 Drexel Drive
New Orleans, LA 70125
Phone: 504-520-7556
Fax: 504-520-7949
www.xula.edu/art
4
Art , Illustration, and Photo by Leland Johnson
Kudos Leland Johnson!
Entered The Gallery Collection 8th Annual Create-A-Greeting-Card
$10,000 Scholarship Contest.
The entrant with the best design will have his/her design made into an actual card to be
sold in our line.
The winner will be announced on Friday, April 24, 2015
In addition to Leland receiving a scholarship, XUArt will receive a $1,000 award...
T h e G es t a lt
Page 2
M a r c h 20 1 5
In Celebration
of
Women’s History Month...
XUArt
& Xavier University
Presents
“A Conversation
with Mildred Howard”
The Art of Creating Saint Joseph Altar...
Message from Dean Vaz-Deville, College of Arts & Sciences
“It’s that time of year again! This year we will hold the St. Joseph altar
on March 19th on the first floor of the Music Building. Xavier University
Chaplain Fr. Etido Jerome, S.S.J, will bless the Altar at 12:45 p.m., followed
by a short talk on "Sacred Spaces" by Fr. Byron Miller, C.Ss.R., Director,
National Shrine of Blessed Francis X. Seelos. We hope you will contribute what
you did last year and also help to get the word out for others to bring things
to place on the altar so we can create abundunza/abundance. It is a prime
opportunity to have objects blessed by placing them on the altar.
Xavier University of Louisiana’s St. Joseph Altar Committee is sponsoring a cuccidati/symbolic pastry workshop on Saturday
March 14th at 9am-12pm in University Center 205. The workshop facilitator is Sandra Juneau. We invite all to attend this fun and
informative workshop about an annual tradition that is beloved by New Orleanians. All who attend this workshop learn a unique
skill of making cuccidati, fig-filled cookies that are carved into symbolic shapes. Their work will be displayed on the annual
St. Joseph altar on March 19th on the first floor of the Music Building.
Workshop RSVP’s to Dr. Vaz-Deville kvaz@xula.edu or 504-520-5752
Charitable Aim: We raise money to build a XULA Student Emergency Fund.
We need lots of everything except cooked food – the exception is bread, cakes, cookies, and candy. (Pretty) wine bottles,
candles, St. Joseph prayer cards, statues of saints are also needed. Please submit items to display on the memorial table.
Please let me know what you are contributing no later than March 10, 2014.
Please share with family, colleagues, and friends.”
Xavier University of Louisiana Department of Art
www.xula.edu/art
T h e G es t a lt
Page 3
M a r c h 20 1 5
Congratulations! XUArt ‘Student Artist’ of the Month...Leah Labat
Art, Graphics, and Photography by Leah Labat
Art Appreciation (Art 1090)
MaPo Kinnord, Associate Professor of Art
and Students Exploring Compositions Design Possibilities...
Photos by MaPo Kinnord
Xavier University of Louisiana Department of Art
www.xula.edu/art
T h e G es t a lt
Page 4
M a r c h 20 1 5
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation Celebrates the Music
and Culture of the African Diaspora...
Congo Square Rhythms Fest 2015
“Mardi Gras Indians will be front and center at the eighth annual
Congo Square New World Rhythms Festival, coming up March 21-22 in
Armstrong Park. We'll also feature the Rebirth and Hot 8 brass bands, our
fourth annual Class Got Brass competition and musicians representing Africa,
Cuba and good ol' New Orleans soul with Tank and the Bangas. Join us on
Facebook! More details below. Another free festival brought to you by the
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation celebrates the music
and culture of the African diaspora at the eighth annual Congo Square New
World Rhythms Festival, March 21-22, in Armstrong Park.
This free event celebrates the cultural diversity of New Orleans and the melting
pot of traditions that gave rise to our unique music. We feature the music and
dance of Africa, the Caribbean, the American Gulf South in this two-day,
family-friendly festival.”
Congo Square Festival Information courtesy of Treschere Washington
Xavier Faculty and Staff Costume as ‘New Orleans Baby Dolls”
Dr. Kim Vaz-Deville, Associate Dean, College of Arts and Science
Dr. Sarah A. Clunis, Interim Director of African American Diaspora Studies
And Daniele Gair, XU Art Collections Manager and Registrar
with Albert Polite Jr., ‘spy boy’ of the “FiYiYi Indians”
“Albert Polite Jr., spy boy for the Fi Yi Yi Indians, fashions a suit made in
pink feathers and detailing and featuring elephants, to honor the passing of his
wife a year and a half ago to breast cancer. He intends to donate the suit after
Mardi Gras to support breast cancer research.”
Source: http://videos.nola.com/times-picayune/2015/02/albert_polite_jr_honors_wife_w.html#incart_related_stories
Mardi Gras ‘15 Photo Courtesy of Daniele Gair
Source Information Courtesy of Dean Vaz-Deville
Ron Bechet, Professor of Art
& Xavier University of Louisiana hosts
City-wide Exhibition Closing Event
A Panel Discussion with Artists…Moderated by Gia Hamilton
Photos and Acknowledgements Courtesy of MaPo Kinnord
Left to Right - Gia Hamilton, Moderator; Joan Mitchell Center Director; Brandon Odums, Muralist and Exhibit B Organizer;
Lisa Sigal, P.3 Artist and Imani Brown Blights Out Organizer; Nari Ward, P.3 Artist; Willie Birch, P.3 Artist; Brook Anderson,
P.3 Executive Director; Ron Bechet, Artist, and Xavier University Professor of Art; Franklin Serman, P.3 Artistic Director;
and Ylva Rouse, P.3 Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs.
Xavier University of Louisiana Department of Art
www.xula.edu/art