NOLA RISING: Day 5 - NoLA Rising Festival

07 December 2008

Day 5 - NoLA Rising Festival - Murals and Performance

Dramatic Double Feature. Part one is the four top short plays written by New Orleans high school students in the Recovery Public School District commissioned by the Ogden Museum of Southern Folkart and performed by NYC theater companies The Talking Band, NY-Neo Classical Ensemble, The Movement Theater Company, and IRT. The students will view the staged readings via live webcam down in New Orleans.

The second performance of the day was artist Jennifer Pagan's Shoebox Lounge an admired performance artist and activist in New Orleans, Pagan is bringing her catchy and meaningful show which last appeared in NYC at UCB to IRT. I cannot tell you how touching this piece was to me. Jennifer's piece was so uniquely New Orleans that those of us from down here found ourselves at some point shedding a tear. If you want to talk about someone who knows the soul and spirit of New Orleans, see Jennifer's Shoebox Lounge any and every opportunity you get. Pagan is also a teacher and administrator with Young Audiences.

Earlier in the day, Rex and crew (Avi, Lady Robin, Max-O and super reporter Liz) went out to Brooklyn to bring the mural art of ReX to that neighborhood. It was damned cold, but we were able to accomplish two pieces:

Madonna and Fetal Jesus

I know What He's Saying

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What People Say...

CHRIS ROSE (nola): "It's all got a very Don Quixote feel to it, a lone wolf braying into the wilderness... It's art for art's sake. And for sanity's sake as well." & "NoLA Rising, a ragtag band of insurgent art missionaries who post artwork in public places as far and wide across the region as possible."

ANGELA PATE (nola): "New Orleans still needs so much help, but the people of NOLA are bringing back the bohemian, artistic atmosphere that makes me love it so much. Rex has become almost a cult leader, bringing NOLA back beyond just the infrastructure, but, more importantly, maybe, to it’s heart and soul."

Idiot the Wise a.k.a. INSPIRE (Tel Aviv): "If NOLA rises again, then its from the organized efforts of this guy...a true public art hero..."

A.J. (nola): "One day while traversing the muck of damage, alone in my car, I looked over and suddenly glimpsed a ray of color. A perfectly small square of color that simply stated Joy and then a short block away, another that read simply Hope. My car grinded to a slow halt in the street and I wept those post Katrina tears we've all shed following this time by a smile. Not a tiny grin but, a large and powerful giant size smile. "

Killian Doherty (Ireland): "Much to the disbelief of the destitute citizens of New Orleans, it became wholly apparent that the loss of the public realm was not due to the flooding, but to the governments' re-appropriation of it, when backs were turned.

Within this specter of a military dictatorship imposed to 'control' people' , ReX a local artist read the chasm between people’s physical disenfranchisement from their city and the unbridled appropriation of it by state as intolerable. ReX attempted to stitch this chasm closed with a humanist and practical intervention back into public space. 3,000 street signs were arduously hand- drawn, painted and affixed, to intersections throughout the city. ReX tried to weaved a sense of order back into the neglected fabric of New Orleans; his humanistic treatment gave people hope, allowing them to re orientate themselves again, empowering them to reclaim New Orleans, their home, amidst the neglect and oppression. It became a cultural movement for social justice."

KELLEY (detroit-ish): "This is great work!!!"

SINA (tucson): "Sunshine and art and happiness, the city, the soul will win...look how much more contagious NoLA Rising's efforts have become..."

MAGS (nola native): "Projects like NOLA Rising are only trying to spread a little love and joy via art to a depressed, beat-down population..."

VIRTUAL SHOCK (nola): "...it’s always heartwarming to see one of these signs."

DR. D. LEE (mobile): "...a rare and unique commodity."