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| December 2008
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LEH e-Newsletter
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LEH and Smithsonian "Museum on Main Street" visit Oil City, La.
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 A major traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition on the roots of American music is open to the public Dec. 11-Jan. 15 at the Louisiana State Oil & Gas Museum in Oil City. "New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music" explores the American story through the diverse musical genres that evolved from our nation's unique blending of cultures and experiences. Through panel displays and interactive kiosks, the exhibition includes material on sacred songs, blues, country, rock'n'roll and more. Each of the six Louisiana communities hosting the exhibition through 2009 mounts a local exhibition, and presents public humanities programs which showcase our state's rich and diverse musical heritage. This is the final leg of the 2008-2009 tour, which previously brought the exhibition to Abita Springs, Ruston, Jeanerette, Kaplan and Ferriday.
On display in conjunction with "New Harmonies" are two exhibitions which reflect the unique musical heritage of northern Louisiana. The Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College has graciously loaned the Louisiana State Oil & Gas Museum selected photographs from the exhibition, "Elvis: On His Own in Shreveport," a collection which brings to life Elvis Presley's heady early performances at the Louisiana Hayride. To further complement "New Harmonies," the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation has generously loaned the museum "The Life and Legacy of Leadbelly," an exhibition that showcases the enormous contributions of former Oil City resident Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter to American blues and folk music. Both loaned exhibitions were developed through the support of LEH grant funds. For more information, contact the Louisiana State Oil & Gas Museum at 318-995-6845.
This month, organizers will offer the following public programs in conjunction with the exhibition:
- Dec. 11 - Dr. Earnest Lampkins, Caddo Parish School Board director of music, presents an informance about the origins and impact of Appalachian holiday music. 7 p.m.
- Dec. 13 - Oil City native and Elvis Presley tribute artist Richard Cook presents an informance about the rock 'n' roll legend's early career in northern Louisiana and the roots music genres that influenced him throughout his life. 7 p.m.
- Dec. 19 - Dr. David Anderson, assistant professor of history at Louisiana Tech University, will deliver a lecture with question-and-answer session entitled "Hank Williams and His Times in Shreveport." 7 p.m.
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LEH offers grants to historians, writers and documentary photographers
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 Writers and documentary photographers exploring Louisiana-related cultural topics may be eligible to receive special grants up to $4,000 through the LEH's annual Louisiana Publishing Initiative grants program. Grants are available for authors writing on non-fiction topics such as literature, history, languages, music, cultural anthropology, folk life or other humanities disciplines. Grants of $4,000 also are available for documentary photographers to document various aspects of Louisiana's diverse culture. All awards must culminate in a completed non-fiction, book-length manuscript. Novels, poetry and other forms of fiction are not eligible. The application deadline is Feb. 15.
Past recipients include John Scott's Natalie Scott: A Magnificent Life, Bliss Broyard's One Drop, Philip Gould's Louisiana's Capitol, Gwendolyn Midlo Hall's Africans in Colonial Louisiana, Elizabeth Mullener's Eyewitness: Tales of New Orleanians in World War II, and Jay Edwards's Plantations by the River.
For additional information about the publishing grant, click here, or contact John Kemp at the LEH, 504-620-2481 or at kemp@leh.org.
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Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine winter issue
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 The winter 2008-2009 edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas debuted on Dec.1, featuring a cover story about Prospect.1 New Orleans, America's largest arts biennial being hosted at more than two dozen sites across the city through Jan.18. The cover artwork of a second-line parade, titled "Birthday" (2006), is by New Orleans artist Willie Birch. Other features that readers can look forward to include:
- A tribute to the late Michael P. Smith, a pioneering New Orleans photographer renowned for his images of the city's African-American community.
- A display of exquisitely carved bird decoys from the recent exhibit, "Birds of a Feather: Wildfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana," at The Historic New Orleans Collection.
- A photo essay of works by O. Winston Link, a photographer best known for his images of steam locomotives, who began his career in the 1930s photographing Louisiana scenes.
- Excerpts from LeeAnna Keith's book about the Colfax Massacre, a tragic incident in Reconstruction-era North Louisiana that led to the murder of more than 150 members of an all-black militia.
- An examination of Greek Key doorways, a distinctive architectural element of Atebellum New Orleans.
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RELIC: Readings in Literature and Culture
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 Those who recall the highly popular and successful children's PBS show "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" know that its humorous, game-show atmosphere fronted for a more serious goal of redressing the geographical knowledge of the American people. RELIC hopes it will be successful in broadening knowledge of Louisiana with its new readings program "Where is north Louisiana?" Unlike the children's program, "Where is north Louisiana?" takes a more serious and adult oriented look at this distinct, interesting part of Louisiana.
Despite problems with defining it, there is a vast collection of people who say they live in north Louisiana, and they have been part of the state's history for over two centuries, whether it is expressed in religious practices, literary and musical creativity, the environment, economic, social and cultural traits and others. Our readings will look into some of these areas and attempt to raise fundamental questions about this region, even if answers may be more challenging to come by. The readings should appeal to people throughout Louisiana:
- "Gift of the Wild Things": The Life of Caroline Dormon by Fran Holman. Dormon was singularly responsible for securing the Kisatchie National Forest, Louisiana's only wilderness pine hill forest system.
- Louisiana Power and Light by John Dufresne, whose stories about people and personalities in the Monroe area will be illuminating and entertaining for all Louisiana readers who enjoy modern fiction.
- Swaggart: The Unauthorized Biography of an American Evangelist by Ann Rowe Seaman. This is an interesting look at a larger-than-life televangelist from north Louisiana and at Louisiana Pentecostalism.
- Shreveport Sounds in Black and White by Kip Lornell and Tracey Laird. Alongside the music of New Orleans and that of Acadiana, the other distinct music of the state is analyzed through writers who studied, listened to, or played it.
Two pilot programs of "Where is north Louisiana?" will be held in early 2009, in Monroe and Natchitoches. Please check with the libraries for more information. The Monroe library's phone number is 318-327-1490; the library in Natchitoches is 318-357-3280.
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PRIME TIME training workshop in New Orleans
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 PRIME TIME is scheduled to host its first Training Workshop for 2009 on Jan.17 - 18 at the LEH's Louisiana Humanities Center at Turner's Hall in New Orleans. Attending will be team members from approximately 20 sites, representing Louisiana, Georgia, Florida and Nebraska. PRIME TIME Training Workshops offer intense instruction and practice in program philosophy, methodology and implementation for new scholars, storytellers and program coordinators. As always, this is certain to be an exciting and enlightening event. For more information regarding the workshop, contact Shantrell Adams at adams@leh.org.
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PRIME TIME announces spring 2009 Louisiana Award Recipients!
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 Across Louisiana libraries, schools, museums and community centers are gearing up for PRIME TIME in the spring! Of the many applications and inquiries received, 19 sites will receive PRIME TIME grants. For a complete listing of the spring 2009 sites in Louisiana, click here. Applications are now being accepted for fall 2009 and beyond. For more information about PRIME TIME or to learn how to apply for a PRIME TIME grant, contact Miranda Restovic at 504-620-2486 or restovic@leh.org.
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LEH PRIME TIME heads panel at national humanities meeting
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 In November, the LEH organized a panel that kicked off the national Federation of Humanities Council's annual meeting in the Washington, D.C. area. Dr. Olivia Pass, associate director of PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME® moderated a panel that included Dr. Greg Kimura, president and chief executive officer of the Alaska Humanities Forum; Mary Davis Fournier, program director for the American Library Association; and Erika Hamilton, senior program officer of the Nebraska Humanities Council. LEH President and Executive Director Michael Sartisky participated in discussions about the panel's topic, "Have Humanities, Will Travel: Reimagining Family Literacy." Dr. Kimura related how "Best Beginnings" got its start in 2003, when the Alaska Humanities Forum, United Way of Anchorage, the Rasmuson Foundation, the CIRI Foundation, and the Alaska State Library began coordinating support of early childhood literacy in Alaska. According to audience member Dr. Sharon Gagnon, chair of the Alaska Humanities Forum from 2002-03, the idea began even earlier when she heard Dr. Sartisky speak about PRIME TIME at an earlier Federation conference. Kimura updated the audience on the steps the Alaska Humanities Forum has taken since 2003 to reach its goals. Mary Davis Fournier told the group about "The Great Stories CLUB," organized by the American Library Association Public Programs Office in cooperation with the Young Adult Library Services Association. With major funding from Oprah's Angel Network, The Great Stories CLUB is a reading-and-discussion program that targets underserved, troubled teens. Its goal is to inspire young adults to take control of their lives by embracing the power of reading. Fournier described the program's achievements and challenges, and encouraged the audience to participate in this program. In another presentation, Nebraska Humanities Council's Erika Hamilton spoke on the importance of bilingual family literacy programs. She described the challenges and rewards that Nebraska has encountered with the PRIME TIME program, a program she enthusiastically endorses. Concluding the program, LEH's Olivia Pass noted several examples in which PRIME TIME has manifested itself in Louisiana and across the nation: a Lincoln Parish (La.) district attorney partnered with PRIME TIME to help truant kindergarten through 5th grade students; PRIME TIME initiated a post-Hurricane Katrina program for evacuee families residing in a FEMA trailer park in Baker, La.; PRIME TIME is piloting a reading program for underachieving middle schools in Louisiana; the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and PRIME TIME have turned to art to reach at-risk students; and PRIME TIME's bilingual programs in Spanish and English have gained momentum across the nation. Drs. Pass and Sartisky noted that PRIME TIME is particularly adaptable to address the many challenges that Humanities Councils need to meet across the nation.
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KnowLA On-line Encyclopedia of Louisiana
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 Update! KnowLA staff has completed a demo video that highlights upcoming developments for the encyclopedia. The video, designed by KnowLA Digital Media Editor Andrea Ferguson, will shortly be available on the LEH website. It serves as an introduction to the entry format, the interactive features (maps, timelines, etc.), and the educational resources.
Kyle Raese, KnowLA's intern from Tulane University's Center for Public Service, is completing his semester project: a Google Maps-based tour of historic landmarks in New Orleans. KnowLA staff will be attending the Center's Fall 2008 Showcase on Dec. 2, where we will offer Kyle's tour and the KnowLA video for visitors to check out and also conduct outreach for future interns.
Joyce Miller, KnowLA associate editor, has contracted for more than 150 entries to date, and many entries will comprise new scholarship in the field. KnowLA Editor Cathy Corder is working with Miranda Restovic, assistant director of LEH's PRIME TIME program and organizer of the Connect2Educate Collaborative, to identify individuals and organizations active in New Orleans-area educational reform, who would be interested in working with KnowLA in the development of digital resources and web-based learning activities.
For more information about KnowLA, contact Cathy Corder at corder@leh.org or at 504-620-2637.
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LEH holds grants workshops in Alexandria, Shreveport, Monroe
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 Looking for a grant to do a museum exhibition, public lecture series, summer teacher institute, write a history of your community or some historical figure or create a documentary film?
The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, or LEH, will hold free, public workshops for individuals and organizations interested in applying for grants. The LEH offers grants for community outreach humanities programs, museum exhibitions, documentary film and radio productions, public lectures, summer teacher institutes, and for those interested in writing non-fiction books about some aspect of Louisiana history or culture. Workshops will be held in:
- Alexandria - 2:30-3:30 p.m. Dec. 9, Arna Wendell Bontemps Museum, 1327 3rd St., 318-473-4692, seating limited, contact norman@leh.org
- Shreveport - 10-11 a.m. Dec. 10, Spring Street Historical Museum, 525 Spring St., 318-424-0964, seating limited, contact norman@leh.org
- Monroe - 11 a.m.-12 p.m. Dec. 11, Masur Museum of Art, 1400 S Grand St., 318-329-2237. Reservations not needed.
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LEH Outreach Grants
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 Monroe: The Masur Museum of Art presents an exhibition entitled "John Scott Retrospective" with an interpretive LEH-supported exhibition catalogue and premieres the "Blues Poems for the Urban Landscape" series of woodblocks. The reception for the exhibition is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. December 5. Also that weekend the museum will offer extended viewing hours on Friday and Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.; tours of the exhibition on Saurday, each hour, noon to 4 p.m.; and a drop-in activity for children ages 5 to 12 from noon to 5 p.m. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the museum at 318-329-2237.
New Orleans: The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Foundation presents the Tremé Creole Gumbo Festival, including interpretive scholar-led presentations on the socio-ethnic origins of this iconic Louisiana dish featuring New Orleans chefs Alfred Singleton and Leah Chase. Presentations will be offered at 11:45 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. Dec. 13. Activities take place at the Jazz & Heritage Center at 1225 N. Rampart St. For more information, contact 504-558-6100.
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LEH-supported programs |
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Arnaudville - Steeple Vue Gallery's Moncton Rock, Acadiana Cri, Oct. 1-Jan. 16
A public exhibition that deepens Acadiana's knowledge of the interconnectivity between art forms in Cajun Louisiana and the Acadian-Canadian Maritimes Provinces, circa 1968-2008. The exhibition will feature visual art, music, film, video, ephemera and literature, demonstrating the close cultural relationship between these two historically linked cultures. Events associated with this exhibit include:
- Dec. 13 - Fire and Water Festival Feu et l'Eau, a curator talk by Stephan St-Laurent (Galerie Saw Gallery). 4 p.m.
- Dec. 18 - Movie Night with films from Louisiana and Acadie.
- Dec. 27 - Table Française at Steeple Vue Gallery. 7 p.m.
For more information, contact project director Lucius Fontenot at lucius.fontenot@gmail.com, or at 337-280-3798. 9 a.m.-noon.
 Baton Rouge - Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 South River Road, Standing Among Giants: Ida Kohlmeyer -A Louisiana Modernist, Oct. 4-Jan. 4.
Ida Kohlmeyer (1912-1997) was one of New Orleans' few modern art pioneers and arguably the region's best known female artist at the time of her death at age 84. This exhibition, along with accompanying interpretive materials and educational programming, seeks to place Kohlmeyer into the context of other American masters, while demonstrating the influence their work (and others, including Latin American folk art) had upon the development of her own aesthetic. This will be Kohlmeyer's first solo museum exhibition in Louisiana, outside of New Orleans. Related programs include:
- Dec. 7 - Randy Asprodites, Kohlmeyer's former studio assistant, will discuss Kohlmeyer's enduring legacy among contemporary Louisiana artists as he guides visitors through the exhibition Standing Among Giants: Ida Kohlmeyer. Asprodites is an accomplished artist and teacher who lives and works in New Orleans. Free and open to the public. 2:15 p.m.
For more information, visit www.lasm.org, or contact project director Elizabeth Chubbuck Weinstein at eweinstein@lasm.org, or at 225-344-5272, ext. 114.
Shreveport - Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College, 2911 Centenary Blvd., Open the Vault: Paintings and Photographs from the Permanent Collection, Recent Gifts, and Current Loans, Nov. 16-Feb. 1
Meadows Museum's Open the Vault features a newly acquired work by the internationally acclaimed artist Nancy Graves titled Riphaeus Mountains Region of the Moon
and Andy Warhol's photograph collection, recently donated to the museum
by the Andy Warhol Foundation. Artists whose works are on loan for this
exhibition include American Impressionist painter Ernest Lawson and
Louisiana artists Robert Gordy and Ida Kolhmeyer. The museum will hold
a public lecture on the life on Nancy Graves by Dr. Erika Doss,
professor of art history at the University of Notre Dame, from 2 to 3
p.m. Dec. 7. For more information, visit centenary.edu/meadows, or contact project director Diane Dufilho at ddufilho@centenary.edu or at 318-869-5014.
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Give the gift of Louisiana this Holiday Season!
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 Need a Christmas and Holiday gift? Here is your chance to send loved ones, your friends from college, a neighbor or maybe a few business associates one full year of the best Louisiana has to offer through a gift subscription of Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine!
Four times over the next year they will be able to paddle the bayou, walk the French Quarter, and explore the Cane River. They will learn Louisiana's history from Hot Sauce to Hot Jazz and travel our towns from Abbeville to Zwolle. And finally, they will enjoy the work of our finest writers, photo-essayists, and artists all bringing forth the magic that comes from Louisiana's people and places, history and culture. With this special offer, your first gift subscription is the regular price of $16, after that they are only $12 each - a full 25% discount! To purchase your gift subscriptions to Louisiana Cultural Vistas online, please click on www.leh.org for the order form or contact Jan Clifford at clifford@leh.org or call 504-620-2630.
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LEH grants deadlines |
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Louisiana Publishing Initiative - Feb. 15, 2009. Contact John Kemp, kemp@leh.org or 504-620-2481.
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