Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008 - (Page 80)

www.louisianamuseums.org Natchitoches’ Old Courthouse Museum Louisiana State Museum property features two regional artists in temporary exhibits The Old Courthouse Museum in Natchitoches — a branch of the Louisiana State Museum — will host two consecutive exhibitions of artwork inspired by the Cane River region beginning September 6. The works of artists Gilbert D. Fletcher and Michael Graham will be featured. The first exhibit, Cane River Creole Legacy (Sept. 6-Oct. 25) is a collection of colorful oil paintings documenting the historic structures and unique culture and community of the Cane River. The artist, Gilbert D. Fletcher, expressed this sentiment: “I hope my art and this series can help to preserve this special place in Louisiana.” To complement the paintings, the gallery will also have the works of master craftsman, artist and historian John Allen Leblanc. Leblanc is a native of Lafayette where he began building historic replicas in 1996. The visitor will see Leblanc’s replicas of Cane River’s historic structures such as St. Augustine Church, Clementine Hunter’s small home, and the African House. Fletcher is a native of New Orleans, who currently lives in the Bronx, New York. He has exhibited widely across the country in such venues as Delgado Community College in New Orleans, The New Orleans Museum of Art, The SoFA Gallery at Indiana University in Bloomington, the Museum of African American Art in Ohio and the Museum of African American Art in Boston. Following the Legacy exhibition will be Cane River Back Roads African House by Gilbert D. Fletcher St. Augustine Church by Gilbert D. Fletcher (Nov. 7, 2008-May 2, 2009) which presents the visitor with a unique technique of art practiced by LSU-Shreveport professor and artist Michael Graham. By embellishing and magnifying history from small postcards or vintage photographs, Graham creates a grand illustration of the past on canvas. The artist uses colored pencils to enhance black and white portraits and then coats his final illustration with a polymer finish. Graham calls his works “visual memories” and has written the following: “There is a human inclination to transpose oneself to a moment remembered or a story passed down. Not long ago, I executed a drawing of my great-granddaddy from a sepia-toned photograph 80 years old. He is disdainfully pointing his forefinger at the cameraman. His simple interaction preserved in that moment tells a story. The viewer is carried away by the familiarity of that moment, as if they had been there, had seen this before. My generation is the last to remember many of these people.” Graham teaches Fine Arts at LSU-S and is a graduate of the Memphis of College of Art. He has developed visual history presentations at the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum, the DeSoto Historical and Genealogical Society, and Stephen F. Austin University. He has received numerous awards and national acclaim for his unique media technique of incorporating historical photographs into works of art. 80 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\Fall 2008 http://www.louisianamuseums.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008 Contents Friends Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities New Orleans Immortelle The Historic New Orleans Collection Highland-Fairfield: The Historic Heart of Shreveport The Ogden Museum of Southern Art Perils of the Mississippi River Louisiana Foodways Harvest of Life King Oliver: The Forgotten King of Jazz Louisiana Architecture Jazz Notes Louisiana State Museum Eye of the Storm Louisiana Association of Museums Soul Resin Bookstand Sound Advice Forum

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008

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