September meeting - multi media evening

      

The Vicksburg Art
Association
proudly presents an evening of
Art & Music
Reflections of Katrina
one year later

through the creative spirit of

Melody Golding - photography
Charlie Miller - music
H.C. Porter - paintings
Reona Vitter & children of Coast
Episcopal School - original art from
their book, Story of a Storm

Firehouse Gallery
Corner Main & Openwood
Tuesday, September 12
7:30 PM

Melody Golding has documented complex architectural wonders and the natural environment, as well as preserving moments in the incredible lives of others on four continents. Most recently, she documented the aftermath of the devastating Hurricane Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, some of which photographs are featured in The Royal Photographic Society Awards Journal, London October 2005. Melody’s work has shown and is owned both nationally and internationally.

An exhibit of Melody’s work, “Stark Exposures: Images of Katrina”, opened at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art on June 1 and was held over through August 13. This unique photographic journal, with its stunning sepia photographs of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and its effects on all sectors of society on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, forms the basis of a book soon to be published by the University Press of Mississippi. The book will join Melody’s photographs of the storm’s aftermath with the stories and reflections of those who lived through it. A compelling component of this well-received exhibit is the interspersed text of poignant phrases drawn from the book.

*Melody has donated all of her work for this project. 100% of the proceeds generated for this project and the Mississippi State Committee will go to the Artist Relief Fund set up to help artists get back on their feet. This Fund has already been implemented and has helped many artists on the coast who were affected by Hurricane Katrina.

* All Melody's film and negatives have been "promised" to The Mississippi Department of Archives and History. She has taken thousands and thousands of images, and hours of film documentation which they will store for future generations.

* The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. is planning an exhibit of Melody's work in the Spring of 2007.

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Nationally-known Mississippi Artist, H.C. Porter, is currently working on an extensive documentary project called “BACKYARDS AND BEYOND: Mississippians and Their Stories”. A social realist, she has focused her life’s work for the past 15 years on documenting Mississippians through her distinctive mixed media “environmental portrait” paintings.

Now, in response to Hurricane Katrina, she is spending much of her time on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Encouraged by her collectors nationwide and a personal desire to use her life’s work to narrate the historical rebuilding, her focus has shifted to documenting the amazing strength, resiliency, and hope of Mississippians as they rebuild their lives after this incalculable disaster. Although her work has previously focused on Mississippi’s black communities, this project includes images of all Mississippians, both Black and White, Vietnamese and Hispanic.

The mission of this project is to create a powerful Exhibition of 80 privately owned paintings, which will, in turn, form a special Exhibition that will travel to Museums, Galleries, & Universities throughout the South and the Nation for years to come. This Exhibition will be a long-term reminder of how the people of our state have experienced and endured this country’s greatest natural disaster. (A portion of the proceeds from various components of the Exhibition (book & print sales, exhibition fees, etc) will be earmarked for a special fund set up to help rebuild lives and communities in Mississippi.)

H.C. Porter’s powerful images of the Human Spirit, paired with audio recordings of those represented in the paintings, will keep the awareness and needs of our state alive for as many years as this Exhibit is presented. The opportunity to show the rest of this country and the world who we are as Mississippians is monumental. The unity, diversity, resiliency, and love for this state recorded throughout her documentary, both visually and audibly, is certain to transform the often held, outdated stereotype of this great state forever.

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Displaced New Orleanian trumpeter Charlie Miller brings the sound of his horn to the Firehouse to soothe the soul of the listeners. This will be a treat for all.

Bio for Charlie Miller, Trumpeter By Jean Blue

Charlie Miller, famed trumpet player, fled his native New Orleans with the threat of Katrina. He went to McGehee, Arkansas and from there finally made his way to Vicksburg where he now resides.

Charlie began his path toward playing trumpet by blowing into his mother’s garden hose. He also plays keyboard and flute and he sings. He has produced 2 CDs – ‘Peace Horn’ and ‘Fonk Horn.’

Following a tour of duty in the Navy, he spent 28 years performing gigs in New York with Lou Rawls, Peggy Lee, BB King, Tony Bennett and Gladys Knight & the Pips. He played Carnegie Hall with blues legend Thelonius Monk. He has been the leader of Dr. John’s band, a member of the Saturday Night Live band and performed on Broadway in Annie and South Pacific.

Charlie was a recent guest of the Minister of Culture as an artist-in-residence for the French government. While in France, he participated in a jazz festival, taught master classes, and performed concerts at the Abbey where he resided in Normandy.

Since he has been in Vicksburg, Charlie has presented concerts at local churches and has played gigs in Clinton and Jackson.

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See original art from a terrific book - Story of a Storm:

When the rains started in Mississippi, Visser, a fifth-grade teacher in the town of Long Beach, was in bumper-to-bumper traffic trying to evacuate. After returning to the shattered town, she decided to have her children draw pictures to help them deal with the experience. Other children joined in the process, and eventually the project involved 30 children, ranging in age from 5 to 13. The result, a combination of staccato text and simple yet heart-wrenching collage art, brings the devastation to a level kids can understand. The book begins with stark statements: "Katrina's winds were terrible, and blew things to pieces." Later, the text becomes more thoughtful: "Our new home was not the same, but it was a home." The accompanying picture shows a trailer, but there are hamburgers cooking outside on a grill. The children all added pieces to the various collages, but there's a strong cohesive look to the appealing art. This will be of great value to children who lived through Katrina as well as those who have had questions after watching the horrific storm on TV. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

This extraordinary book, the pages of which I first saw only weeks after the hurricane, stands as a testament to the gifts of a remarkable teacher, and to the insights, courage and hope of her students. Each time I work my way through this book, I am touched by the wisdom of these children, who, to paraphrase William Faulkner, have not merely endured - but have prevailed. Their witness to both the stark truth of their tragedy and their abiding hope is a gift to a much wider world who dares to believe that resurrection and life have broken the power of death.
--The Rt. Rev. Duncan M. Gray, III, IX Episcopal Bishop of Mississippi