Wednesday -Friday 11-4pm, Saturday 11-2pm
Minutes from Feb. 12, 2012 meeting. Click Here
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PATRONS
"GET IT"
Geographical areas are many times defined by the certain group activities and talents that are pervasive within the area. Take for instance New Orleans, a city certainly with many niche cultures: Jazz, world class food, a bit of Europe here in the States. And then there is Acadians: the unique history of the Acadians, Zydeco and Cajun music and more world class food (just in a different mode). Shreveport has a niche as a crossroads for Delta Blues, Texas Rock-a-Billy and the REAL birthplace of Rock and Roll, the Louisiana Hayride. But it’s not just food and music that creates a local attitude and pride in being, sometimes it’s our hobbies and the hobbies that become a way of life. Central Louisiana down through Marksville has become a haven for golfing and maybe that sort of outdoor recreation has become their niche. Big Lake south of Lake Charles, well that’s a great fishing and hunting area and just riding through the landscape you can feel it. But you know, being the Sportsman’s Paradise statewide, it takes more than hunting and fishing to create a niche around here.
So we sat and discussed our niche, here in the old “No Man’s Land” of Vernon Parish and the area between and including Sabine and Beauregard Parishes. No Man’s Land was settled by those that really were the last of the individualists…no conformists here. They wanted to live their lives with little or no interference, and yet had a strong sense of community, hence the Socialist Community of New Llano and its impressive history, and the artist community that evolved around the building of Hodges Gardens. So maybe that’s our niche? Art? In Vernon Parish? I think so. History and current events prove it so.
Peruse the original photographs from the early 1900’s of the building of the grotto, lakes and landscape of Hodges Gardens just outside Hornbeck and you see groups of artists involved in “plein air” landscape painting. It was a real artist commune. The gardens themselves are a unique example of landscape architecture in its most wonderfully aesthetic forms.
The Old Post Office in DeRidder (currently under preservation and renovation) houses the first public mural by Conrad Albrizio, a WPA artist who was called by Huey P. Long to do murals at the State Capitol and on the LSU Campus. He went on to become a professor of art at LSU. H.E. Werner, a pioneer in the early development of Vernon Parish was an accomplished primitive painter, jeweler, woodworker and businessman. And there are many, many more examples of artists and artistic work here throughout the last century. So by and large there has been a subculture of creative and artistic individuals in this area that in the past have filtered themselves into the local community. And now?
Well now it’s more visible, more dynamic and more accessible. Three years ago GALLERY ONE EIIIEVEN was formed in the Main Street District of Leesville. Also at that time, with the sponsorship of the City of Leesville and The Vernon Parish Police Jury, the first public ARTWALK was conceived and held. The quality of work, the quantity of participants, and the support by the business community and individuals has been overwhelming. Both the gallery and the ARTWALKS (now two a year – one in spring and one in fall) have been recognized statewide as one of the best. Recently DeRidder has opened a similar space (Real Art DeRidder), The Town of Many is working on theirs and the current president of the Natchitoches Art Guild is an artist from Hornbeck!
Here’s the kicker…local smart business owners “Get It” and recognize the value in supporting the arts and the artists, and are becoming important players in what is fast becoming our niche!
Examples? Threads Boutique, an upscale women’s shop on East Texas Street in Leesville recognized the clientele and the traffic that having local original art in their shop would bring, so they have converted their second floor display space into a gallery that changes work 4 times a year, complete with receptions for the artists and community at large. John Beck’s Pub, the new addition to the Booker-Lewis Bed and Breakfast complex has become sort of a satellite gallery of GALLERY ONE EIIIEVEN, with work changed out in the public spaces of the business every two months or so. Several shops in the Main Street District of Leesville (My Favorite Things and Russell’s Gift Shop among others) offer original artwork by local artists as part of their wares, a welcome change from the traditional touristy kitsch. Dr. Christina Lord, in her new medical and aesthetics complex on lower Third Street (Oak Pointe Wellness Center) has gone one step further by commissioning local artists for “site specific” works to be created and displayed in her new facility, including sculpture in the landscape. Fox’s Pizza Den in Leesville displays the work of local photographers showing local scenes. Clearly Natural Health Spa also features the work of local artists in their shop...and there are many others in the Main Street District. These businesses, and there are others, are acutely aware of how supporting the local arts and artists is just basically good economics. And what were the items that brought the most money at last year’s auction event for the Museum of West Louisiana? Art by local artists.
BY TONY McDONALD
A Thank you to Ricky Ross
From a wall hanging the Gallery
Ricky Ross is to be commended for his part in
making Gallery One Ellleven a reality.
Ricky's total provision and beautiful
renovation of this space provides a distinctive
outlet for all to gather in appreciation of the
visual arts.
His generous gift has only one stipulation,
that this remain an artist run, community gallery.
So long as the community and local artists support the
Gallery, the only cost we bear is insurance and utilities.
For visual artists in the area, who for years
struggled to have their creative works
exhibited and appreciated, the Gallery is a
true gift-both to the artist and the surrounding community.
When you see Ricky, thank him for his vision
and generosity.
The Artist Community cannot thank him
enough.
The Board of Directors, the Artist Board and the
Members of Gallery One Ellleven.