Jewels for Royalty
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features
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Dr. Christopher Cenac
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Orthopedic surgeon turned award-winning historian and author. How one man’s love of family, tradition and Louisiana became a gift for all to enjoy and learn from.
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The World of Corporate Design More than just matching chairs, carpet and paint colors, designers Todd Zimmerman and Jennifer Kemsuro create spaces that accomplish your goals.
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Washington Mardi Gras A long-standing tradition brings revelry and all things Louisiana to DC, showcasing our culture, music, food, and people.
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Wendy Drolma: Maestra of the Mask From corporate America to mask making, a young woman finds her creative calling bringing mystique through craftsmanship.
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The Grouse Room: Where Sophistication Meets Success The Chiasson family memorializes a loved one by celebrating his life and his work at a new upscale nightclub.
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Jan/Feb 2015
contents 8 OPENING NOTES Jenny Krueger, Executive Director 10 FANFARE Mariusz Smolij, Music Director & Conductor 12 ASO’S CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC DoReMe! 26 ART & HUMOR Stephanie Patton. 28 HEARTSTRINGS Romance and the ASO. 32 ART IMPACT ON EDUCATION John White. 34 BAYOU BAKERY A Taste of Louisiana in Washington, D.C. 36 THE ARTICLE Parents helping kids discover their creativity. 38 ART IMPACTS OUR COMMUNITY Joey Durel. 42 NURTURING YOUNG ARTISTS IN LOUISIANA New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA). 44 A PASSION FOR THE THEATER Savannah DesOrmeaux. 50 FAMILY AND MUSIC The Michot Family. 54 SYMPHONY SEAUXCIAL HIGHLIGHTS Maestro Circle Reception Fireside Christmas 53 UNTRADITIONAL CRAWFISH IN LOUISIANA Marc Krampe 56 APPLAUSE DoReMe! Sponsors 58 COMMUNITY SEAUXCIAL HIGHLIGHTS Alexandre Mouton House Annual Christmas Party 58 COMMUNITY SEAUXCIAL HIGHLIGHTS Richard Young’s Annual Christmas Party at the Victorian
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on the cover Pyramis mask from the “Grand Illusion” collection of surrealist inspired masks by Wendy Drolma. More information can be found on page 39 and at wendydrolma.com. Photo by Georg Hettych.
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Overture Magazine
Jan/Feb 2015 Vol. 2, No. 5
PUBLISHED BY
EDITOR Jenny Krueger jenny@acadianasymphony.org
PROJECT MANAGER Rebecca Doucet rebecca@acadianasymphony.org
WRITERS Emily Brupbacher Catherine Schoeffler Comeaux Johanna Divine Ann Dobie, John Guidry ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Carolyn Brupbacher carolyncb@me.com • 337.277.2823
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Joey Durel, Mark Krampe, Mariusz Smolij Colleen Waquespack, John White MAILING ADDRESS 412 Travis Street Lafayette, LA 70503 EMAIL overture@acadianasymphony.org ON THE WEB acadianasymphony.org
Overture Magazine is published nine times a year and distributed free of charge by Acadiana Symphony Orchestra & Conservatory of Music. No parts of this periodical may be reproduced in any form without the prior written consent of Overture Magazine. The owners, publishers, and editors shall not be responsible for loss or injury of any submitted manuscripts, promotional material and/or art. Unsolicited material may not be returned. Advertising in Overture Magazine does not imply endorsement by Overture Magazine or Acadiana Symphony Orchestra & Conservatory of Music. Overture Magazine reserves the right, without giving specific reason, to refuse advertising if copy does not conform with the editorial policies. Overture Magazine does not necessarily agree with nor condone the opinions, beliefs or expressions of our writers and advertisers. Neither the publishers nor the advertisers will be held responsible for any errors found in the magazine. The publishers accept no liability for the accuracy of statements made by the advertisers. © 2015 Overture Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
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Opening Notes
Louisiana, you’re the kind of experience most people wait lifetimes for! Jenny Krueger, Executive Director
I
I thought that ringing in the New Year was fun until I moved to Louisiana and discovered Mardi Gras. I have never been privileged enough to live in a place where the very essence of your land, people and soul are not only appreciated, they are celebrated……... for days!!
Happy Mardi Gras and welcome to Overture Magazine, Acadiana’s Publication for the Arts. The vision of Overture Magazine is to serve as a launching pad for engaged and open conversation about the arts in Acadiana and Louisiana. We are working hard to continue to provide you with another year full of all the artistic stories you love. Thank you for all of the great feedback. We are happy you love Overture as much as we do!
This particular issue of Overture is special, not only because we get to share it with the people of Acadiana, but because we will also share it with all those attending the Washington D.C. Mardi Gras festivities this year. Congratulations to King Charlie Goodson, Queen Amelia Zepernick, and to Congressman Charles Boustany, Chairman, and Senator David Vitter, Captain, of the Mystick Krewe of Louisiana. As you read this issue of Overture you will fall in love with Louisiana all over again. Curb your culinary curiosity by reading about David Guas, a Louisiana native, and his popular Bayou Bakery in Washington D.C. Marc Krampe, executive chef of Social Southern Table & Bar, will share his spin on a Louisiana favorite crawfish, and the Michot family and their music will have us all tapping our toes. Dr. Chris Cenac will inspire us with his publications on the history of Terrebonne Parish, and you will be excited to hear about the work of NOCCA, and the impact a little program called Do-Re-ME! is having on Acadiana students.
If fashion is what moves your Mardi Gras float, then be enthused by Wendy Drolma and her artistic approach to mask making. You might find some inspiration for your next party! Wherever your interests lie, there is no shortage of talent in Louisiana! Grab your friends and your beads, and laissez les bons temps rouler! 8 January/February 2015
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Fanfare
Symphony 101: Classical Fun Facts and Quotes Mariusz Smolij, Music Director and Conductor
W
Winter holidays and the Mardi Grass season, known in most other places as the carnival season, is the favorite time for happy celebrations. We share happy moments with dance, food and drink as well as storytelling. Many of the famous so called “classical” composers had less than perfect sides into their personalities and occasional behavior. Their stories, fun facts and interesting quotes are abundant. I would like to share my top ten choices and list some compositions that correspond with them. My favorite renditions are in parenthesis.
1.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) wrote the overture to his most famous opera Don Giovanni, on the morning of the opera’s premiere while suffering from a massive hangover. Listen and check if the quality of this composition was in any way impaired by the composer’s indisposition.
6.
Jean Baptiste Lully (1632–1687), well known French composer and the first documented conductor, was the first musician to use a baton. It was a heavy, six-foot-long staff that he pounded on the ground in time to the music. One day, at a concert to celebrate the king’s return to health, he accidently stuck the staff into his foot. He developed gangrene and died.
7.
Antonin Dvorak (1841 – 1904) was a keen train spotter and visited different Prague railroad stations almost every day in his later years.
8.
Leonard Bernstein (1918 – 1990) was heard saying: “To achieve great things two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.” His overture to Candide is one of the fastest movements in the symphonic literature.
(Overture to Don Giovanni, Berlin Philharmonic/Herbert von Karajan) 2.
Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886), Hungarian piano virtuoso and composer, received so many requests for locks of his hair that he bought a dog and snipped off patches of fur to send to mostly women admirers. (Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, Boston Pops/Arthur Fiedler)
3.
4.
Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) visited his favorite pub in Vienna, The Red Hedgehog, almost every day. While staying in Wroclaw (Breslau) he frequented a beer cellar at the main square and composed his famous Academic Overture based on the student drinking songs he heard over there. (Academic Overture, New York Philharmonic/Arturo Toscanini) Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809), one of the most distinguished classical composers, was quite a practical joker and once cut off the pigtails of a fellow choir member. He said: “There was no one to confuse me, so I was forced to become original.” One of his both humorous and original compositions is his Symphony No. 45 “Farewell.” (Symphony No. 45, Philharmonia Hungarica/Antal Dorati)
5.
Edward Elgar (1857 – 1934) wrote the main theme to his beloved cello concerto on a napkin after waking up from a dental surgery.
(Overture to Candide, New York Philharmonic/ Leonard Bernstein) 9.
American composer John Cage (1912 – 1992) composed a work in 1952 entitled “4’ 33”, which consists of four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence. The “music” is the crescendo of the gradually more and more impatient audience waiting for the performance to start. The performer, after taking the bow, sits at a piano for the designated time, takes another bow and leaves the stage.
10. The classical composition with the longest title is a 1964 piece of music written by avant-garde American composer Lamonte Young and it is called “The Tortoise Recalling the Drone of the Holy Numbers as They Were Revealed in the Dreams of the Whirlwind and the Obsidian Gang, Illustrated by the Sawmill, the Green Sawtooth Ocelot, and the High-tension Line Stepdown Transformer.”
(Cello Concerto, Philadelphia Orchestra/Jacquin Du Pre/ Daniel Barenboim) 10 January/February 2015
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ASO’s Conservatory of Music
Catherine Comeaux On a crisp sunny day, little voices are singing high and low, bouncing off the brightly painted buildings of Truman Early Childhood Education Center in Lafayette. Squirming lines of four-year-olds are making their way through campus to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” – the singing is keeping the children focused, engaged and joyful. Once a week, each group will visit the Do-Re-ME! classroom, with a piano and boxes of instruments for all, where two Acadiana Symphony Orchestra Conservatory teachers will reinforce the students’ academic experience with their lessons through the ASO’s Do-Re-Me! program (DRM).
to finding approaches that work for students need to start as early as possible,” Krueger realizes, “One program can create a ripple effect that spreads outward through young learners, creating a later cohort of engaged, creative, and invested students. Do-Re-ME! is that type of program. It works to bridge gaps through the vehicle of music integrated into the core subjects.”
As an arts integrated program, DRM recognizes that music is intertwined with how we naturally learn about the world around us. Though a child might not be formally introduced to music, the rhythms are all around – at the grocery store, emanating from open car windows, or in the Since the 1980s, the ASO Conservatory has been training call of a bird on a wire. Music is powerful and cannot be talented musicians of all ages. For many young people, the excised from life. DRM harnesses this power as an integral Conservatory is a place where they feel at home in the world of music. ASO Executive Director Jenny Krueger realizes, “It is especially important for children to find where they belong; to find ‘their people.’ When we find where we fit, we discover the strength to do amazing things.” In 2011, the ASO was approached by public officials and private individuals searching for a way to use the world of music to enhance the educational experience of children in the community who were struggling with readiness for Kindergarten. Krueger had seen the success of the Conservatory’s Little Music Makers program (LMM) with two-to-five year olds. Along with Jennifer Tassin, ASO Education Director, they created a year-long curriculum based on the LMM program and the benchmarks prioritized by the Louisiana Department of Education. Truman ECEC, Lafayette Parish Public School System’s exclusively Pre-K elementary, was chosen for the 2012-2013 DRM pilot program. “The steps 12 January/February 2015
part of the formal educational system. “More than just providing a music supplement, we bolster what they’re already learning in their academic classrooms and what they need to be able to do in order to attain the benchmarks for their age,” notes DRM teacher Daniel Gale, “To the Overture Magazine
kids, they’re just having fun. They’re bobbing their heads, pantomiming while singing. Little do they know they’re actually learning. From one song we can work on math, English language arts, physical education, health, theater, dance, science and social studies.”
“Addressing the individual needs of students, classes, schools and parishes is top priority; it helps DRM to be on the cutting edge of education,” notes Tassin who explains that the program is always evolving through collaborative efforts between DRM teaching teams, school-based teachers, administration and curriculum coordinators. As a result of these efforts, DRM has expanded to include classes for children with autism and other special needs. A growing population of students learning English as a second language has also benefited from the integration of music into their curriculum. With the successes in Lafayette Parish evident, DRM has expanded to five schools with similar needs in Acadia Parish. DRM is fortunate to have a diverse group of supporters – private donors, grants, governmental funds and individual as well as corporate investors – who have the benefit of seeing the results of their investments, not only in feel-good
test scores. The results exceeded the goal, reflecting an increase of 20-22%. Latest data confirms the hopes of DRM developers who anticipated that the program would have its biggest impact on students falling below the 50th percentile on kindergarten readiness tests. These challenged students participating in the DRM program exceeded their peers at a comparison school without DRM - outperforming them in math, language and print skills by 15-20%. In early 2014, DRM received an INNOV8 Award which honors those who are meeting challenges with innovative solutions.
The charts shown below illustrate the impact the DRM program has on students who rank below the 50th percentile
participating in the DRM program versus the students who are not participating in DRM. The philosophy of the developers of the DRM program was that DRM would impact students that fall below the 50th percentile the most.
70 67 64 61 58 55 52 49 46 43 40
Math
Comparision School
STUDENTS PERFORMING BELOW THE 50TH PERCENTILE
DRM
Math
70 67 64 61 58 55 52 49 46 43 40
Language
Comparision School
DRM
Language
reports but in actual data. “As artists, we have used the, ‘arts are good for us’ philosophy for too long,” notes Krueger, “We have spent a lot of time with investors learning about what type of data they expect to see. We have partnered with professionals in the assessment analysis field to provide us with the data package that we need in order to track our progress, not only for ourselves but for our supporters.”
Page 1 For
the 2012-2013 pilot program at Truman ECEC, the goal was to see a 10% increase in kindergarten preparedness
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70 67 64 61 58 55 52 49 46 43 40
Comparision School
DRM Print
As parents, faculty and staff attend the Pre-K musical performances this winter at Truman ECEC, the numbers and awards won’t take center stage; short, vibrant fouryear-olds will be in the spotlight. They will sing and move, united in purpose and joy with what they’ve accomplished so far at their new school. This sets the stage in a simple yet meaningful way for a life of learning strengthened by the power of art. For interviews with curriculum developers and videos of the program in action, visit www.acadianasymphony.org/ conservatory.
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R E H P O T S I R H C . R D
C A CEN . DIVINE BY JOHANNA B
14 January/February 2015
Overture Magazine
Hard at work finishing his third and fourth books, and two books in a 15-volume series entitled America’s Third Coast, Dr. Christopher Everette Cenac, Sr. chuckles when people refer to him as an author. Still, the Houma, Louisiana native is known far and wide not only as a respected surgeon and community leader, but as the man who, literally, wrote the book on Terrebonne Parish history. Overture Magazine had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Cenac about his unexpected career as a writer in his family’s residence, Winter Quarters, on Bayou Black, just southwest of Houma.
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Overture Magazine (OM): You are a well established and highly respected surgeon in the region and now a sought after speaker, author and historian. What led your transition into writing? What events inspired your first book, Eyes of an Eagle? Dr. Christopher E. Cenac, Sr. (CC): “You see that picture? [Refers to image of six generations of Cenacs] That’s my great-grandfather, my grandfather, my father, me, my son and two of my grandsons. That’s six generations of my family, which is the goal that I was trying to preserve with that first book. I had written before, medical and legal papers relative to my orthopedic surgery profession, but this endeavor, well, I’d never done anything like this and I didn’t know what I was doing, to tell you the truth. But I’m a smart guy – smart enough to know that when you don’t know what you’re doing, you get help from someone who does. So I sought out and had many outstanding guides to help me complete the first book. I had to get everything out of my head and on to paper, and they did that. You see, I grew up down here – small town, big family. When I was young we were always participating in family events close to home – going to the hunting camp, going to the fishing camp, trawling, football, sports. In those days, going from Houma to Thibodaux was a big deal [laughs]! I grew up with a lot of family members my age and we were all outdoors-type people, so I had a lot of intimate knowledge about my family. My father was a general surgeon and he took care of everybody in the family and in the parish. He was born in 1918, one of 75 Acadiana’s Publication for the Arts
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grandchildren of Jean-Pierre Cenac, my great-grandfather and the central figure in my first book. By 1970, I was one of 218 great-grandchildren. So I had guidance from my late father, who had collected stories about the family over the years, and from many, many friends and family members all over the United States and France who I sought out and who, once they heard about the book, sought me out in hopes that their stories, photographs and documents would be part of our shared history.
Some were born in France, with children being born in Louisiana during the Civil War. It is absolutely amazing to see that. There were 26 years between the birth of the first and the last of the 14 children, and over 46 years between the birth of the first and last of the 75 grandchildren. I believe this is why the book was chosen as the selected book of the Louisiana Bicentennial, because my family was here during most of the first 200 years of Louisiana as a state. And we have all the records, all the documents.
In truth, I didn’t have any idea where that first book would take me, nor how long it would take to complete. It’s like when a guy is walking in the woods, drops his cigarette, and the next thing you know there’s 600,000 acres on fire. That’s what happened. That’s how it all started, and it just continued to grow and grow.”
But it was amazing to me that the book was so well received, not just by state organizations, but by the people I grew up with. There is one story, from Dr. Eugene St. Martin, age 92, of the Houma St. Martin family, that chokes me up every time I tell it. You see, Dr. Gene and my father grew up together and went to LSU College and Medical School together. A few years back, he told me the story of how he came home from school to introduce his fiancée, Peggy, to his family. After dinner, Dr. Gene told his mother and father, Dr. Hugh P. St. Martin, that he and Peggy would be moving to Shreveport when he finished his residency. Well, that didn’t go over too well. So, the next morning before they left, his father gave him two little cypress trees and said, ‘Son, if you’re not coming back to Houma, take these back to Shreveport so you’ll always have a little bit of Houma with you.’ And he did.
OM: Eyes of an Eagle is the most comprehensive history of early Houma-Terrebonne ever compiled. It was a selected book for the Louisiana Bicentennial Celebration in 2012 and is now being used as a textbook in Terrebonne Parish schools. How has the book’s success affected you? How has it impacted people in the Houma-Terrebonne community? CC: I always did like history, and my father always preached family to us, so the book was something I felt like I had to do for my family and my community. My father died January 24, 1990 and that’s when I began. I realized that I was probably the link – I’m not bragging, but because I speak and read French, I was that link to the past. I realized that if I didn’t do it for my grandchildren, it would never be done. I believe my father could have written this book in six weeks, but it took me considerably longer to write it. I was still working as an orthopedic surgeon fulltime, so it took me a while to gather everything together. But all the documents were there. One of the amazing things we did was put together the baptismal, birth, marriage and death certificates and photos of the entire first three generations of family members. 16 January/February 2015
So Dr. Gene called me up after he received a copy of the first book and he says, ‘Chris, I’m sitting on my back porch, looking at Peggy and Gene.’ These were the two 50plus year old cypress trees given to him by his father, now growing in his backyard in Shreveport. And he says, ‘You know my wife Peggy passed away last year.’ And I said, yes, Dr. Gene, I know. And he says, ‘So all I can do now is sit in my rocker and look at Peggy and Gene and think about my whole life. And this is all I have from Houma because all my friends and family have passed away and I can’t go
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back home anymore. So your package arrives at my door, and I open it up, and it’s this book. And I start looking at it, and reading it. And I want to tell you, Chris, not only do I have Peggy and Gene, but now I have my whole life back in front of me. And you have no idea how much that means to me. Thank you so much.’ So when I say that my Daddy could have written the book in six weeks, I mean that although it took me almost 20 years to get it done, hearing just one story like that one from Dr. St. Martin makes everything worthwhile. OM: How did your second book, Livestock Brands & Marks: An Unexpected Bayou Country History, come about? CC: While researching the first book, I came across a note that my father had written saying that his grandfather had registered his livestock brand at the courthouse. So I went down to the courthouse to see Bobby Boudreaux, who had been there almost 40 years at the time. I asked him about the brand books and he said, ‘Chris, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ You see, Bobby lived down the street from my Mama and Daddy and he knew my whole family. So I said, ‘Look, now, Daddy wouldn’t have said it happened if it didn’t happen,’ and Bobby said, ‘Well, I believe you, Chris, but I still don’t have any idea what you’re talking about!’ Well, it turns out he was correct, because Bobby started working there in the 1960s and they discontinued brand registration by parish in 1946, as we subsequently found out. So it wasn’t until two years later that we found the actual brand books in a storage facility that the Parish was renting. They were in a shoebox – labeled Brand Books of Terrebonne One, Two and Three – Not very big, just old time
ledger books. But it took a long time to get to them, and to compile all the documents and research, and they have become an invaluable tool for understanding the land use and family history of our region, and for documenting the early pioneers and settlers of Terrebonne. You see, when we first started researching these books, we’d talk with the families and find out about photographs and documents and ask if we could see them and make copies of them. In some cases, the families would come with a document to the office and sit right there and watch us as we’d make a copy. I mean, they would literally not let these documents out of their sight! These things are important links to their past. In some cases, they were all that was left in their possession. OM: How has your success as a writer changed your life’s direction? CC: I thought the first book was just about my family and the region – south Louisiana, southeast Louisiana – but it went everywhere. I mean, the French Consulate in New Orleans is working to have it translated into French, and I’ve been back to France about seven times now to visit family and friends there.
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That book has taken me places I never expected to go, and the second book has expanded my horizons even further. I’m looking at a picture right here at the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH) award ceremony – a picture of myself and Walter Isaacson. Walter Isaacson is the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, former Chairman and CEO of CNN and past Managing Editor of Time magazine. He has written biographies of Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Kissinger and Albert Einstein. He was the Humanist of the Year, and I wrote the Book of
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the Year. The odds of me meeting him are a million to one! I mean, I didn’t even know who Walter Isaacson was before all this! And then I get this document in the mail, this Senate Concurrent Resolution Number 88 of the Louisiana Legislature acknowledging me as a Gentleman of Letters for my literary contributions to the history of the state and my parish. Now, that’s really something. That’s pretty strong stuff. What a surprise.
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OM: What is next for you as an author and historian? CC: So, like I said, I’d never done this before and I was smart enough to know that I didn’t know what I was doing, so I got some good help. Before I began, I spoke to the writer’s society here in Terrebonne and everybody turned me down, including one of my high school classmates, Claire Domangue Joller. But several months passed, and Claire came back and said that she had thought more about the subject matter and wanted to help. So we’ve been joined at the hip since 2008, working on these books, and in our research, we even found out that we were related! We’ve been very fortunate to have so much help and to have the continual support of our spouses. The first book led to the second book, and both books led to the third and fourth books. The working title of the third book is Hardscrabble to Hallelujah: The Lost Plantations and Communities of Terrebonne, and it’s already been submitted to the University Press of Mississippi for acquisition. As for the fourth book, I received a phone call from a representative of the Louisiana State Medical Society several months back. He has my books, and he asked me if I would be interested in writing the history of the Louisiana State Medical Society. I told him I could not because I was committed and had already begun the fourth book, A History of Medicine in Southeast Louisiana. Around the same time, I was approached to be a co-author in a 15-volume series, America’s Third Coast, for the University Press of Mississippi. I will author the volumes on Medicine and the Seafood Industry, working alongside Dr. [Carl] Brasseaux, Dr. [Don] Davis and Dr. [Shane] Bernard—all very talented and accomplished authors and historians. This is just so overwhelming.
lifelong friend] and his wife, screenwriter Michelle Benoit, about a PBS documentary, America on the Halfshell, based on the first book. My goodness…Can you imagine that? A graduate of Louisiana State University Medical School, Dr. Christopher Everette Cenac, Sr. is a member of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons and a Fellow in the International College of Surgeons. He was appointed in 2003 by the Louisiana Supreme Court to the Judicial Campaign Oversight Committee and elected King of the Mystic Krewe of Louisianians in Washington D.C. the same year. Dr. Cenac is the author of two award-winning books, Eyes of an Eagle, Jean-Pierre Cenac: An Illustrated History of Early Houma-Terrebonne (2011) and Livestock Brands & Marks: An Unexpected Bayou Country History (2013), both of which are used as 7th-8th grade history texts in Terrebonne Parish schools, and available at every library in Louisiana. Both books are recognized as Official Historical References by the Historic New Orleans Collection and the State Library of Louisiana. Dr. Cenac resides at Winter Quarters on Bayou Black, outside Houma, with his wife Cindy, and has three children, eight grandchildren and a widespread family both in and beyond Terrebonne Parish.
So, we’re trying to get Hardscrabble to Hallelujah out next year, and discussions are ongoing with film director Glen Pitre [a 20 January/February 2015
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The World of
Corporate Design 22 January/February 2015
Ann B. Dobie
Overture Magazine
The term corporate design is used to refer to just about everything from choosing the right office furniture to creating a company logo. Nevertheless, it is not the label that comes to mind upon entering the downtown Lafayette office of designer Todd Zimmerman. Instead of the cold and calculating ambiance that the term suggests, the environment there is warm and inviting, filled with interesting art and designer renderings. The poster boards, catalogs, computers, and loose papers reflect a busy working space, but at the same time exude a sense of pleasure that comes from dealing with the work at hand. Todd Zimmerman and his assistant, Jennifer Kemsuro, are both experienced interior designers who apply their talents to residential as well as contract (corporate) spaces. After graduating from Louisiana Tech, Todd spent several years working in Philadelphia, then in Dallas before returning to Lafayette to open his office here. Jennifer is a University of Louisiana at Lafayette graduate who has been working with Todd for ten years. They both have a passion for creating beautiful places. Whether working on someone’s home, planning a business headquarters, or creating a company logo, a designer is called upon not only to make artistic choices, but also to implement a strategy that will allow him or her to discover what is appropriate for each particular client. Corporations, for example, want their design work to communicate their mission, objectives, needs and even product information with users and clients. As Zimmerman explains it, a project begins with the programming phase, the stage at which intensive interviews
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with the client take place. Designing the lobby of a bank is not the same as planning someone’s living room; plans must make different statements about the person or institution they represent. After the programming phase comes the creation of a matrix, involving a bubble diagram that pulls together all the different aspects of the task. Sometimes that means helping clients see what they need but haven’t recognized. A schematic design that lays out the plans follows. Finally, the ideas must be presented to the client for approval, ideally with explanations of why each choice has been made. The artistic aspects are no less complicated. One of the trickiest elements is working with lighting. Because lighting has a significant effect on people’s moods and attitudes, it is critical to find the appropriate type and amount to install in a given space. Given the technological developments that have taken place in the field over the past several years, the possibilities for increasing efficiency and quality of lighting have been significantly 24 January/February 2015
expanded. Color, too, influences people’s feelings. Seeing red, for example, can raise a person’s heartbeat; yellow (like the color of a school bus) is annoying; orange stimulates hunger. Since colors make strong statements, they should, obviously, emphasize the philosophy of an organization or the personality of a person. For graphical designs, not only the coloring but typefaces need to be considered. Other artistic choices involve decisions about the use space and the selection of furnishings, art work, and surface materials. Computers have streamlined some of the process, but the designer’s own creative talents are still where it all begins. Whether planning the offices of a law firm, drawing up a letterhead for a new business, or renovating a kitchen, it is the mind of the designer that makes it possible for the client to make a visible statement to customers and friends. As Todd Zimmerman is fond of quoting: “Design is the body language of your business. Don’t slouch.” Overture Magazine
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Good Boy, mattress quilting, upholstery foam, cording, wood, 24 x 140 x 8 inches, 2013. (photo by Mike Smith)
art & humor: stephanie patton by john guidry
Photo by Katherine Bryant
Art and humor have been integral parts of Patton’s life since childhood. There were a number of artists on her father’s side of the family, and a number of seamstresses on her mother’s side. Born in New Orleans and raised in Lafayette, Patton grew up watching Saturday Night Live sketches on television. She was interested in pursuing comedy and theater before deciding on visual art, earning her BFA in painting from ULL and MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. This eclectic background has directed Patton’s work through multiple genres including sewed pieces, video, and photography.
gadgets in the catalogs that were mostly aimed at older people. At first glance, many of the contraptions strike Bronzed SAS Shoes (detail), bronzed shoes, mirrored pedestal, approx.- 36 x 12 x 15 inches, 2008. (photo by Mike Smith)
For an artist, inspiration can come from any variety of sources, even memories of gadgets and undergarments from grandma’s mail order catalog. This may seem like a humorous source, and that is exactly the point for Stephanie Patton.
the reader – especially a child – as being funny or silly. However, they serve a purpose and can be useful upon further examination. In a way, this same idea has found its place Patton’s work.
A perfect example is Patton’s piece “Bronzed SAS Shoes” which consists of a pair of her grandmother’s size 8 SAS shoes that she had bronzed. The shoes sit atop a mirrored pedestal. At first glance, one might chuckle So where do those mail order catalogs come into play? at the sight of a bronzed pair of larger shoes instead of the traditional tiny baby’s shoes. But a second of Patton recalls seeing all sorts of humorous devices and
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consideration brings reflection, literally and figuratively, as one contemplates the idea of advanced age bringing about a return to a childlike state. Thus a moment of humor is used to introduce a more serious topic.
This just scratches the surface of Patton’s work which, like all good art, is better experienced firsthand. Patton is represented by the Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans, and she has an upcoming exhibit entitled “Synthetic Happiness” that will be showing at the Lawndale Art Center in Houston from January 23rd to February 28th.
Respire, vinyl, batting, muslin, 45 x 41 x 8 inches, 2014. (photo by Mike Smith)
Private Practice, installation view, (left to right) Good Boy, Valor, 2013. (photo by Mike Smith)
For more information about Stephanie Patton and to see some of her work, visit her website: www.stephaniepatton.com.
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Concert Feature
Romance and the ASO:
Heartstrings Ann B. Dobie
In England and its colonies having a cup of tea is not just having a cup of tea. At its best the serving of tea is a ritual bound by protocols and expectations. There is, for example, afternoon tea, which is served between four and six o’clock. Presented on fine china and linens, adorned by flowers, preferably roses, little cakes along with bread, butter and jam are enjoyed by both the middle and upper classes, the latter often adding cucumber sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, sponge cake and other treats. Today afternoon tea is often taken in a hotel or tea shop where dainty sandwiches and sweet treats are served on a tiered tray. High tea, on the other hand, usually consists of a hot dish or sometimes cold cuts of meat, followed by cakes and bread and butter. Usually served between five and seven o’clock in the evening, it is often the last meal of the day for members of the working class and sometimes for middle and upper class children. Why is it called “high” tea? Since around 1825 the term has been used to indicate that it was taken later in the day than afternoon tea.
The Acadiana Symphony’s Heartstrings tea has its own unique conventions, in particular a romantic atmosphere created by food, drink, and music. Held in February at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, the candlelit ambiance 28 January/February 2015
of the Valentine concert is sure to please those celebrating the season of love. Catered this year by The Lab, known for its unique coffees, teas, and sweets, the menu will surprise and delight the gourmets in attendance. The shop’s name was inspired by a statement by Ralph Waldo Emerson that “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” It is a comment that expresses the philosophy of constant testing and playing with unusual combinations of teas, coffees, and pastries at The Lab. As the owner Thomas Peters says, “We curate coffee in the same way a good art museum curates its collections. We are constantly exposing our customers to new and exciting specialty coffee roasters and sweet treats in an effort to make great products.”
The ASO afternoon concert will have the same inviting ambiance that The Lab has at its River Ranch location. It will be open and welcoming, operating much as a theater might. As Peters says, “It’s all about the experience and the interactions.” At Heartstrings, he says, “the Tea Service will make the audience feel “as if they are back in the 19th century.” The musical selections chosen by Maestro Mariusz Smolji will round out the romance of the afternoon by featuring music related to love. The program will start with a string version of one of the most famous
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©gennady/Shutterstock.com
Beatles’ songs, “And I Love Her,” and will continue with Romance for Strings by the Finnish composer Jan Sibelius. The soloist for the concert, marimba virtuoso Greg Giannascoli, will present his arrangement of “Tonight” from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story in a version for marimba and strings. Less directly connected to the theme of love, but still romantic, is the Waltz from Serenade for Strings by Dvorak and part of the Serenade for Strings by American composer George Whitefield Chadwick. The “fire” element that connects all the concerts this season will be present not only in the guest artist’s virtuosity but also in a composition entitled “Phoenix” by the Chinese composer Changjun Xu (for marimba and strings).
In short, ASO’s 2015 Heartstrings is sure to be an event of romance. For music lovers and foodies alike, it will be a welcome valentine for both the young and the young at heart. Tickets for the concert and tea sold separately. They are available online at www. acadianasymphony.org or at the ASO Box Office at 412 Travis Street, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Acadiana’s Publication for the Arts
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Washington
A Celebr All Things By John Guidry
People around the country are familiar with the celebration of Mardi Gras in Louisiana. They have seen the revelries of the city of New Orleans, the traditional country celebration of rural Louisiana, and everything in between. However, many Americans probably do not realize how significant of an event the holiday has become in the nation’s capital. The purpose of Washington Mardi Gras is to bring the culture of Louisiana to Washington and celebrate Louisiana, its politics and its people. Over the course of seventy-five years, Mardi Gras in Washington D. C. has steadily grown into a well-established institution, thanks in large part to the Mystick Krewe of Louisianans. After a canceled first attempt at a ball in 1938 and several years of hard times due to the Second World War, C. J. Bourg, president of the Louisiana State Society, announced that there would be a “surprise demonstration of the spirit of Mardi Gras” in the Statler Hotel in February 1944. Hundreds of masked revelers flocked to the first Washington Mardi Gras Ball. After a spotty decade that excluded celebrations in 1945, 1951, and 1952 due to international conflicts, the celebration in Washington began to grow in earnest. In 1957, the Mystick Krewe of Louisianans was officially formed, and its members have been the driving force of the celebration ever since. Today, the Washington Mardi Gras Ball and its accompanying activities hosted by the Mystick Krewe of Louisianans are major annual events in the D. C. area, drawing around 3000 people, about ninety percent of whom are from Louisiana. The Washington Hilton which hosts the events is always booked to capacity months in advance, and employees from other Hilton branches regularly request opportunities to work at the hotel for the weekend of the festivities. 30 January/February 2015
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Mardi Gras
ration of Louisiana Photos By Blane David Faul
The Mystick Krewe of Louisianans’ members include many politicians and business leaders with connections to the Louisiana area. The weekend’s events offer the state’s natives a unique opportunity to interact with political and community leaders in a fun and festive environment, while offering non-natives a slice of what Mardi Gras is like in Louisiana. It also serves to bring the celebration to Louisianans living in Washington who cannot make it home for Mardi Gras. But the weekend is not just a big party – plenty of work gets accomplished for the state, as well, as Joey Durel points out. “While there is traditional Mardi Gras pageantry, there is also much more going on. Cities like Lafayette host hospitality suites that create an atmosphere that brings people together to network in a relaxed atmosphere. We meet with other senators and congressmen, sometimes in formal meetings, sometimes just visiting in their suite or in the Lafayette suite. This is a time when all of Louisiana converges on Washington D. C. to celebrate our unique culture and work as one voice for the good of the entire state.” This year promises not to disappoint. The 2015 Theme is the Land of Coastal Riches, highlighting the important role that the coast plays for the entire State of Louisiana and the many “riches” that come from that coastline - waterways and ports, oil and gas, recreational sports, tourism, environmental conservation, wildlife, cuisine, and agriculture - to name a few. There will be receptions, dinners, exhibits and, of course, the Ball. This year’s Krewe Chairman is Congressman Charles W. Boustany and the Captain is Senator David Vitter. The King is Mr. Charles T. Goodson - a Shreveport native - and the Queen is Amelia Grace Zepernick, a Lafayette native.
For more information on Washington Mardi Gras and the Mystick Krewe of Louisianans, please visit the krewe’s website at www.mkofl.com. Acadiana’s Publication for the Arts
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Art Impacts On Education John White, Superintendent of the State of Louisiana
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Like many in Louisiana, I love Mardi Gras. I find to the Bayou through Acadiana, up to the Delta it exhilarating, purely beautiful, and so completely and Northwest. Big bands blowing loud down the street corridors and smaller bands summoning the unlike anything else on earth. For many of us in public education, it is also a break, underdog spirit. Big kids going on to college and little a time to be with family, to celebrate, and to take your kids getting their first shot on the big stage. Girls and boys, young men and young women, students of all mind off the daily challenges of work in schools. backgrounds. But, among the many joys of Mardi Gras, perhaps When students participate in the arts with focus my favorite is actually its role as a showcase for the artistic talents of tens of thousands of Louisiana and vigor, they join a timeless and essential human youth. Parents, teachers, and students know this process. They express themselves with energy while aspect of Mardi Gras well, of course, but those of keeping to age-old disciplines and rhythms. The result us taking Fat Tuesday off can forget that on that day is an intellect and instinct that cannot be captured in words. It defines people and shapes how they interact, many of our kids are most decidedly on. immediately and for the rest of their lives. I recall my first Mardi Gras day as state This Mardi Gras, and in the year to come, let us superintendent. I was standing on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. And for all the splendor of the floats remember the extraordinary cultural assets of our and the cascading beads, what captivated me most state and its communities. And let us remember that that day was band after band, dancer after dancer, an essential part of growing up is being given the all bedazzled in spectacular costumes, marching mile chance to explore them and to experience the sense of being alive that comes with making art. after mile, showing what they can do. School names we all know. From New Orleans
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Bayou Bakery A Taste of Louisiana in Washington, D.C. By Emily Brupbacher
Like many who grew up in southern Louisiana, David Guas understands that food is more than just sustenance—it is a vital part of people’s culture, a true connection between the creator and the consumer. Guas grew up in New Orleans and now lives in northern Virginia, where he brings authentic southern food to Washington, D.C.’s diverse population. Guas’ Bayou Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery is located in Arlington, VA and opened in 2010 (with a second location opening in Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Hill in Spring 2015). “I’d been in Virginia for years and like many, I got the itch to be my own boss,” says Guas. “I also wanted to open up a place that would honor the Bayou state, my native state—something that was New Orleans-focused, but also drew from Vermilion parish and other areas of the south where I had family.”
With a menu that offers Louisiana classics such as beignets, grits & grillades, red beans and rice, and much more, Guas serves up authentic southern food by the plateful. “I think people love coming to Bayou Bakery because they recognize it’s authentic,” Guas explains. “People who are from Louisiana walk in and feel that connection to home when they have one of our King Cakes or a bowl of our andouille and 34 January/February 2015
sausage gumbo.”
People who buy Guas’ King Cakes aren’t just buying a pastry treat; they also get a glimpse into the history of the Carnival season and the reason why King Cakes are such an integral part of those festivities. “Our King Cakes have developed a following,” says Guas. “They have the Mardi Gras beads, the baby, and information about
Festival season, so people can chew on the history, meaning, and stories behind Carnival season.” Named one of the Top 5 King Cakes in the U.S. by The Washington Post, Bayou Bakery King Cakes have a light, delicious texture, similar to a Frenchstyle Brioche with a signature Creole cream cheese filling and tri-colored icing. In keeping with the spirit of Mardi Gras, Bayou Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery also hosts an annual Bayou Gras Block Party to celebrate the season. The party is one block away from D.C.’s parade route, and features Guas’ “Krewe de Roux” parade route favorites ranging from his award-winning Overture Magazine
HUBBELL CHAMBER SERIES NO.2
Acadiana Center for the Arts
GUEST ARTISTS: ASO Chamber Orchestra Mariusz Smolij, Conductor Greg Giannascoli, Marimba
PROGRAM:
Muff-a-lottas (named one of the best sandwiches in the U.S. by Food & Wine magazine) to andouille & shrimp gumbo, and of course, plenty of King Cake. “When we first suggested doing a block party, people thought it was a crazy idea,” says Guas. “Now, the Bayou Gras Block Party is in its fifth year and it’s something people look forward to during the Mardi Gras season.” For more information about David Guas and Bayou Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery, please visit www.bayoubakeryva.com.
Acadiana’s Publication for the Arts
Lennon/McCartney And I Love Her Antonín Dvorˇák Waltz from Serenade for Strings Jan Sibelius Romance Changjun Xu Phoenix for Marimba and Strings Leonard Bernstein Tonight from West Side Story
TICKETS: www.acadianasymphony.org
Treat your Valentine to High Tea provided by The Lab!
heartstrings
Sunday, February 8, 2015 3:00 pm
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the ARTicle Parents helping kids discover their creativity Colleen Waguespack
I am a firm believer that the brain is plastic. Neurological connections that have not been made naturally can be made through therapy, and from there a more typical development is possible. I also believe anything is possible.
When our middle son was around two years old, my husband Stephen and I started to notice that he was not following a normal path of development. At eighteen months we should have found it odd that he knew every letter and number out of order, but it wasn’t until he was around two that we started detecting odd behaviors that had us concerned. I sat up late at night typing a list of all of my worries and then took Christopher to a local psychologist for what was to be an intensive two-day evaluation. After listening to my concerns she kindly told us that with a child so young there was not much more she was going to uncover than we already knew. Instead of giving us a heartbreaking diagnosis, she directed us to the Speech and Hearing Foundation and encouraged us to get to work. At the Foundation they presented a positive course for how we could unlock the world of a child who had no meaningful speech or manner of communication. They told me Christopher had strengths and he had weaknesses; we would all use his strengths to work through his weaknesses. They identified his phenomenal visual abilities and his talent with numbers and letters. By the time he was three years old Christopher was reading fluently: he learned to read, then learned to speaknot your typical path, but one that worked.
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Although Christopher had no meaningful speech, he could vocalize. In fact, he loved to sing. He did not call me mom, he didn’t ask or answer questions, but he could remember almost every song he heard including the subtle beats between verses that most of us do not pay attention to. Three years we hustled between the Speech and Hearing Foundation and a litany of other therapists, Christopher was mainstreamed into kindergarten at a small, private Episcopal school. The first year was a big transition, but by first grade he had hit his stride and his teacher recommended we sign him up with their piano teacher. She said he was dying to join in when the older students got to play at assembly. The piano was an instantaneous fit for Christopher. Sometimes the hardest part of learning an instrument for a child is reading the music, but for a child like Christopher, the piano used all of his skill sets and at the same time gave him a great tool to work on focus, which had been a struggle for him. The first year he could only sit through a 30 minute lesson, but by the second year he was up to an hour. On his own, he practices every night and loves to have an audience at his recitals. Playing the piano, which comes naturally to him, is a blessing because so many other things do not. It’s also a trait that he got from my own father who to this day plays the piano every morning and every night before he goes to bed. I grew up in New Orleans as the second oldest in a family of six children. Though most of my siblings went into law
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or the medical profession, I was always the family artist- in practice and in spirit. Many weekends my Dad would take me to the Hobby Store on Magazine Street or the New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park and encourage my love of the
grader. It’s just that he’s not a typical second grader. He has had to work hard to achieve every little success and meet every developmental milestone. When he was two years old I remember thinking that we would have to teach him every
arts. Looking back I appreciate that he found the time to take me on these excursions. I love that he encouraged me to find a career that used my strengths. I became an interior designer and have been able to make a successful career doing something I truly love. Because Christopher is happy when he is singing away and playing the piano, I have stopped trying to coax him into soccer and baseball and am focusing on his strengths.
little functional thing he would ever learn, which was an overwhelming concept. That he has reached a stage of his life where he can develop his own outside interests is a blessing.
Christopher’s visual ability also carries over into his drawings. When he was young, he did not color in the lines. No matter what he was supposed to be coloring, he covered the paper in dots, as if the black and white drawing he was supposed to be coloring did not exist. He lined up anything he could find in the colors of the rainbow. As he came out of his own world, and became more a part of ours, this went away along with many of the behaviors we feared never would. These days, I always look forward to seeing what drawings come back with Christopher’s schoolwork. There are always small details that I am tickled by particularly because I know most boys his age gloss over these little embellishments. This is what makes him unique. While I once panicked over his obsession with rainbow colored dots and wondered if he’d ever just color in the lines, I now secretly hope one day they will come back. Maybe he’ll be the next Jackson Pollack. Surely most of the greatest artists saw the world differently from those around them? When it comes to the piano and drawing, Christopher does not have savant like abilities. To the rest of the world his level of piano playing and drawing would look like nothing more than what you would expect of a typical second Acadiana’s Publication for the Arts
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Art Impacts Our Community
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Joey Durel, City-Parish President, Lafayette Parish
One of my greatest regrets is never learning how to play a musical instrument, particularly the piano. When I was a child, my mother begged me to take lessons, because I enjoyed sitting down at the piano and playing songs by ear. My wife, Lynne, however, has the musical talent in our family. She played in the Lafayette High School band when they were excelling under Harry Greig. Her fondest and proudest high school memory would have to be when the LHS band was the only high school band in the nation invited to play at President Richard Nixon’s Inauguration. I have set two goals for when I leave office: To take piano lessons (and violin/fiddle), and for Lynne and I to take art lessons together.
This is why I believe the arts have a huge impact on our economy. Businesses and people can often locate anywhere they wish, so quality of life amenities play a significant role in those choices. I have no doubt that our community support for the arts helps businesses make the decision to locate in Lafayette and Acadiana.
Many communities attempt to “create” culture, but what we have is authentic. That is what not only attracts visitors to our area, but encourages them to settle down and take root. Our shared creativity is done so through community and family. We are always willing, in fact, anxious, to share our rich culture with anyone and everyone, which I believe is the reason we are recognized for being so welcoming.
spaces into an Art Park. Maybe the Horse Farm will give us new opportunities as well! Lafayette has a responsibility to all of Acadiana to be the hub city for the region, including and especially for the arts. Let’s live it!
Since taking office, I have come to realize the many misconceptions that abound about the arts, and to appreciate the vital, central role they play in our community. As City-Parish President, I have had the Our heritage and way of life here in Lafayette and opportunity to participate in this aspect of Lafayette, Acadiana is unique, and so is our culture. What and have come to a whole new appreciation on the distinguishes us from other cities, and Acadiana impact the arts has in shaping our culture. from other regions in Louisiana and the rest of the As Lynne and I have traveled around the world country, are the arts and innovation that arise from enjoying successful cities, we have observed that those our singular mixture of cultures, which we refer to as cities enthusiastically embrace the arts. I would like “Cajun.” Without a doubt, our unique cultural blend to see more public displays of art here in Lafayette, makes us who we are through the music, dance, visual much like what the Oil Center has done, and have arts, and “food art” we create and share. had discussions about turning one of our green
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Wendy Drolma
Acadiana’s Publication for the Arts
By John Guidry
January/February 2015 39
Photo by Perry Gallagher
Maestra of the Mask
The decision to make a career change can be difficult, but it also can be a watershed moment that alters a person’s life for the better. For Wendy Drolma, abandoning a corporate job in New York City for the craft of mask making was just that.
a week or so I realized that it looked nothing like a circle anymore. It looked like a cow at one point, later it looked like a peacock. Each design comes about organically and I can just tell when it’s done.” Unique designs and high quality craftsmanship have earned Drolma success in a market flooded by cheap, massproduced, plastic pieces from China. “I don’t even think of them in the same way that I think about my pieces,” Drolma says. She takes particular enjoyment in the process of matching a customer to one of her creations. The person’s face, their event, and what pieces interest them all factor into helping someone choose a mask. “Seeing people’s faces light up when they see something that catches their eyes is really rewarding. It’s great to be able to give them a piece that is well made and actually fits comfortably.” This element of comfort is important to Drolma, as all of her masks are hand-formed, full grain leather, and lined with velvet on the inside. Drolma will be in New Orleans this Mardi Gras season – not at balls and parties – in the French Market, selling her pieces. You can view her craftsmanship and support her brave career change February 13th - 16th at the Dutch Alley of the Mask Market. For more information about Wendy Drolma’s work and to see some of her collections, please visit www.wendydrolma.com.
“It was a matter of life or death,” says Drolma, who has been hand-crafting leather masks from her home in Woodstock, New York for a number of years now. “I remember getting off the subway on the way home every day and thinking ‘this can’t be it.’” A chance encounter with some handmade Mexican clay masks during a lunch break provided the impetus for the drastic change. “I didn’t really choose the masks, they chose me. Everyone thought I was nuts, but I was in my twenties and could afford to make the change. It was something that I was willing to do all day every day.” Drolma draws inspiration from a variety of sources, including fashion and literature, but also simple concepts such as colors, patterns, and geometrical shapes. The masks develop and change throughout their creative processes, and sometimes look nothing like the original idea that birthed them. Drolma recounts one particular instance that began with a desire to create a piece using a perfect circle. “After 40 January/February 2015
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Photo by Andrea Thompson
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January/February 2015 41
New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA)
Nurturing Young Artists in Louisiana 40 Years and Counting
By Ann Dobie Photos by Elizabeth McMillan & Jackson Hill
Since its earliest days New Orleans has been a city that nurtured the arts and its artists. The first opera production took place on May 22, 1796 at a small theater on St. Peter Street, and in the ensuing years the city has been home to such writers as Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, and Sherwood Anderson. Perhaps its best known artistic contribution is jazz, that wild new musical form that moved on to take the whole world by storm. Today New Orleans continues its tradition of cultivating the arts in numerous venues, one of the most productive of which is the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. NOCCA, as it is known to many, supports young talent by offering pre-professional instruction in a wide variety of creative disciplines ranging from ballet to visual arts to musical theatre, creative writing, classical instruments, and culinary arts. Founded in 1973 by a diverse coalition of artists, educators, business leaders, and community activists who saw the need for an institution devoted to arts education, over the years it has produced such well known performers as Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., and Mary Catherine Garrison. Such success stories have their roots in both people and practice. On the people side there is the faculty, which is composed of outstanding practitioners in their respective fields. On the practice side, there is the commitment to developing discipline and responsibility in students, traits that carry over into their post-NOCCA lives. The result is that 95-98% of NOCAA graduates go on to college and conservatory programs, a remarkable rate of commitment to higher education. Even more remarkable is the fact that 80% of them receive scholarships to support their continued learning. 42 January/February 2015
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Another surprising aspect of the NOCAA experience is that it is tuition-free. Students are accepted by audition only. Upon acceptance they can apply for fullday, mid-day, or after school instructional opportunities. The usual full-day routine begins with mornings devoted to small-group learning sessions that value and emphasize student questions, reflection, and critical thinking—all of which are dependent on good reading and writing skills. The afternoons include an intensive three-hour arts-training session and a two and one-half hour period for supported work and world language. During this time students work with faculty individually or on group projects to clarify that which is not understood, move to the next level, or go more deeply into subjects that interest them. Such a schedule means that each student has not only an arts mentor, but also an academic mentor, both of whom guide the student’s learning experience. In the end, all graduates receive a high school diploma from the State of Louisiana. The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts takes a variety of approaches to nurturing the arts, but all efforts are dedicated to supporting young talent by giving students opportunities to learn, grow, and develop in a supportive atmosphere. Louisiana has always been richly creative in the visual, literary, and performing arts. Today the tradition grows stronger with such a healthy, committed institution lending its support.
To learn more about the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts go to www.nocca.com.
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Savannah DesOrmeaux
A Passion for the Theater By Ann Dobie When she was around twelve years old, Lafayette native Savannah DesOrmeaux sent a handwritten letter to a talent agency in New Orleans asking for representation. She knew even then that she had a passion for the theater. As she says, “Those of us who have ever been bitten by the acting bug, dancing bug, whatever bug know the incomparable feeling of being on stage or in front of a camera. It is a priceless, unparalleled energy. It ignited me to a point where I knew I wanted to pursue acting as a degree and career path.” Early recognition of her passion for acting paid off. That childhood letter led to auditions for film and television parts during her middle school and high school years, and by the time she was an eighth grader at Episcopal School of Acadiana she was appearing in her first theatrical performance, a small, written-in part in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. It was the first of several roles she played in ESA theater department productions, including The Wedding Singer, Annie, and The Bad Seed. She remembers those years fondly and credits her mentor Kat Movassaghi with much of her success. Savannah’s high school years also included participating in summer acting programs at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, the New York Film Academy, and a New York University Tisch Drama pre-college program. As if that were not enough, she sought out acting workshops throughout Lafayette and New Orleans, including Acting Up (in Acadiana) with Amy Waguespack. After high school 44 January/February 2015
graduation she moved on to the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. For her first three years there Savannah studied in the rehearsal rooms of a studio called Atlantic Acting School, which is a conservatory program that also functions as an adjunct studio with NYU Tisch. During her years there she has been in three productions: Shakespeare’s As You Like It, The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman and Almost, Maine by John Cariani, along with various short films and web series produced by NYU film students. Last year she put aside her distaste for horror shows and took a role on an episode of “American Horror Story: Coven,” which was filmed in New Orleans. She also appeared in a short film called “Baby Steps,” which will be submitted to festivals in the coming months. She is currently in her final semester of college studying abroad in Paris. Since she will finish at mid-term, she has several months free before graduation, which she plans to spend at Stonestreet Studios in New York, a studio that specializes in television and film acting and overall industry networking. During her third year at NYU Tisch/Atlantic Acting School Savannah and some of her peers created The Joust Theatre Company, for which she serves as elected marketing director as well as an actor. She points out that theater artists need to create their own work. “In an industry in which everything can seem very much out of one’s control,” she says, “creating their own work puts the power back in the hands of the actors and, as an added bonus, lets them do the work they want to do with the people they want to do it with.” Overture Magazine
The Joust Theatre Company is comprised of (mostly) New York based theater artists who have trained at the Tisch/Atlantic Acting School together. Because of their democratic process they have developed a company marked by its extraordinarily strong sense of ensemble. Company members are a family, a fraternity of sorts that puts on plays and can recite Shakespearean monologues on command. After performing and training together for three years, they presented their inaugural production of Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman in May of 2014. Part of its success DesOrmeaux credits to the “intangible kinetic energy among us all when we’re on stage during a show or off-stage in a company meeting.” The serious intent of the new company is evident in its mission statement, which reads: “The Joust Theatre Company is an artistic ensemble determined to produce relevant, sensitive and fearless work that captivates audiences by articulating the spirit or facing challenges great and small.” Clearly its members want to do work that they feel is truly fulfilling. To that end they hope to change the way people think about experiences and issues in the world, whether it be personal relationships, everyday interactions, or even larger issues. As Savannah puts it: “If people leave our show having shifted or illuminated their perspective on how they engage with their surroundings, we know that we are doing worthy work as a company. And our goal is to accomplish this with simple, truthful and engaging aesthetics.”
Such idealistic goals are based on the belief that human experiences are shared in this world, the good ones and the bad ones. The members of The Joust Theatre Company want to encourage moments of introspection about those universal happenings. Recognizing that throughout history theater has been a vehicle for making a bold statement about society, being able to do so because it exists under the guise of entertainment (think Shakespeare or Moliere writing parodies of the nobility or clergy of their day), they want to probe what it means to love, what it means to be hurt by someone, what it means to truly fight for something. Asked where she wants to be in five or ten years, Savannah says that she wants to be happy and that by then she wants to own a cat that loves her unconditionally. As to professional concerns, she hopes to still be living in New York or possibly have moved to Los Angeles. She would also like to expand the term “bi-coastal.” Rather than referring only to the east and west coasts, she wants to add Louisiana to the mix, making it a member of a tri-coastal theatrical scene. That might just happen. After all, her first professional appearance took place in Louisiana. She admits, “I’m not usually a sucker for sentiment, but getting to share that experience with Louisiana was very special for me.”
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By Emily Brupbacher
If you ask Matt Chiasson, it all started with a beloved family tradition: the close-knit Chiasson family loved to get together at family events and, led by Matt’s dad Willard Chiasson, would imbibe from a bottle of The Famous Grouse whiskey. Soon, sharing a bottle of The Famous Grouse will be more than just a Chiasson family tradition. In Spring 2015, Matt will be opening a new upscale bar in Lafayette, fittingly called The Grouse Room. The idea of loved ones coming together, raising a glass of good whiskey, and toasting to their passions struck a chord with the Chiasson family, particularly after eldest son John passed away in August 2013.
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John was a talented photographer who, after graduating from then USL, travelled the world pursuing his art. His work has appeared in art galleries all over the world, as well as in magazines such as Time, People, Cigar Aficionado, and ESPN. “After John’s death, our family wanted to have a place where we could honor John’s legacy,” says Matt. “John was the epitome of an artist. After he passed away, our family thought of opening a gallery in downtown Lafayette to pay tribute to his work.” It was around the same time that Matt also developed an idea for a new type of venue in Lafayette. “I felt like professionals in Lafayette really didn’t have anywhere to go if they wanted to go out dancing after dinner,” Matt explains. He wanted a different nightlife experience than what Lafayette’s more traditional clubs currently offer. “I wanted a place that offered more than just cold beer and music.” The two ideas—an art gallery dedicated to his brother’s work and a new venue for Lafayette professionals to enjoy live music—eventually merged
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While many are anxiously awaiting the opening of The Grouse Room as a new and exciting nightlife locale, it ultimately remains for Matt and his family, a very personal tribute to John and his artistic talent. “My goal is that The Grouse Room becomes a place where people who visit will be able to see the world through John’s eyes, through his photography and his legacy. I want John’s philosophy to inspire people. He didn’t have a bucket list; he lived his bucket list,” says Matt. “If you didn’t know John, you will know him when you come to The Grouse Room and see his work. If you did know him, you get to keep on partying with him and enjoy your memories of him in the company of his work.” into one. Part of The Grouse Room’s appeal will be its variety—Chiasson wants it to be a place where you can listen and dance to live music, come in to watch a game, or even meet to conduct business. “The idea is that The Grouse Room will be where sophistication meets success, regardless of your definition of success, on the dance floor,” says Chiasson.
The Grouse Room plans to open in early Spring 2015 and will be located at 1919 Kaliste Saloom Road in Parc Lafayette, next to Agave. For more information on The Grouse Room, please visit www.thegrouseroom.com or www. facebook.com/thegrouseroom. For more information about John Chiasson’s photography, please visit www.johnchiasson.com.
John Chiasson’s photography will also be a key part of what makes The Grouse Room unique. “John’s photos, including pictures of celebrities that he shot for magazines to photos from his travels all over the world, will be on display at The Grouse Room,” says Matt. “There isn’t a corner of the world John didn’t travel to, and his photos in The Grouse Room will bring home some of the knowledge and vision he gained throughout his life’s journeys.” 48 January/February 2015
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M I G N O N FAG E T
Mignon Faget believes BEAuTy is all ArOuNd us
HANd cr AF TEd IN AMErI cA N E w O r l E A N s : 3 8 01 M AG A z I N E s T r E E T • c A N A l P l Ac E • l A k E s I d E B ATO N r O u G E TO w N E c E N T E r • PA r c l A FAy E T T E • M I G N O N FAG E T.c O M
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& Artistic Families
Family
The Michots: By Emily Brupbacher
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Music
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I
In Acadian culture, music is often akin to a good family recipe—it gets passed down from generation to generation, with each person adding their own spin on a family tradition. In a similar way, the Michot family has passed down a love of music throughout the generations. “When my siblings and I were growing up, we all learned how to play one instrument or another,” says Tommy Michot, who is a research scientist at UL’s Institute for Coastal Ecology and Engineering and also plays in the Michot family band Les Frères Michot. “Looking back, it doesn’t feel like we had a ‘musical household.’ It was just something we shared as a family. My dad played piano, accordion, and guitar; my grandpa sang and played piano. It just evolved from that love of music we saw growing up.” This love of music grew into a gift for performing that Tommy and many of his siblings pursued in high school and college. “During the 1960s, when we were teenagers, there was a lot of great folk music,” says Michot. Tommy, who is the third oldest of the nine Michot children, moved out West to pursue post-graduate studies after earning an undergrad from USL. “My brother Rick and I both left Lafayette for a little while, and it was then that we started to really miss the Cajun music we grew up with. We’d play albums from
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The Balfa Brothers and that got us interested in playing Cajun music ourselves.” It wasn’t until after the brothers returned that the family formed Les Frères Michot (The Michot Brothers), a band that plays Cajun music. “Nearly everyone in the family has, at one time or another, rotated through and played with the group. Now it’s mostly me, my brother Rick, and my sister Yvonne’s son,
Daniel, who play in the group now. The others still join us now and then.” Les Frères Michot have played at major festivals such as Festival Acadien et Creoles and Festival Internationale in years past. To Tommy, part of the joy of sharing the music of Les Frères Michot with others is keeping alive a beloved culture that is unique and beautiful. “One of the great things about Cajun music January/February 2015 51
Symphonic Embers Saturday, March 21, 2015 6:30 pm /// Heymann Performing Arts Center GUEST ARTISTS: Westwater Arts Symphonic Photochoreography Allison Eldredge, Cello
PROGRAM: Manuel de Falla – Ritual Fire Dance from ballet “El Amor Brujo” Samuel Barber – Adagio (Reflections of the Spirit by Westwater Arts) Aaron Copland – Two Dances from Rodeo (Rodeo! by Westwater Arts) Antonín Dvorˇák – Cello Concerto in B-minor Op. 104
is that it keeps the French language, which is such a deep part of our culture and history, alive.” Les Frères Michot has also entertained international audiences, performing everywhere from Portugual to Guatemala to France and bringing a bit of our Acadian culture to a worldwide stage. The love of music instituted by Tommy’s parents and grandparents continues to be passed down through the Michot family. Tommy’s sons, Louis and Andre, founded GRAMMY-nominated local and national favorite Lost Bayou Ramblers. Yvonne’s sons Daniel, Jesse, and Asher are all members of The Rayo Brothers, a folk rock and bluegrass band. It’s likely that the Michot family will continue to make their own unique mark on music here in Acadiana for years to come. If you’d like to see them in action, Les Frères Michot plays every Monday evening at Prejean’s restaurant from 7-9 PM. You can also find any of the four albums released by Les Frères Michot at their website, lesfrèresmichot.com and on iTunes.
TICKETS: www.acadianasymphony.org
MASTERWORK NO.5 52 January/February 2015
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Marc Krampe, Social Southern Table and Bar
I have salt roasted shrimp and various fish but never crawfish. Theoretically it has to work, right? So I figured I would give it a try. I gathered some rock salt, the kind used for ice cream machines, my favorite spices listed above, and put them in a pan into a 500F oven for 15 minutes. I then put the live crawfish into another deep hotel pan, and when the salt was ready, I poured it over the crawfish and put them back into the oven for another 6 or so minutes. When I pulled the pan out of the oven the smells where intoxicating. Garlic, peppercorns, ginger, chiles, crawfish. Unable to hold my excitement, I tore into one, burning my fingers! To my astonishment, it worked!!! The experiment was a complete success. As the smells crept through the kitchen, one by one, the staff of Social Southern Table & Bar came to give judgment. They were all converted. The tail meat was so sweet with the perfect amount of salt. The chilies offered just enough spice, and the head fat and juices were just sublime. Best of all, no boil water to get rid of and our hands did not smell. It was such a great experience taking a local product and treating in such a way that put smiles on hardcore boiled crawfish fans. Acadiana’s Publication for the Arts
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©Strannik_fox/Shutterstock.com
Don’t let the title of this article scare you away. I love boiled crawfish just as much as any South Louisianian. It was my favorite way to eat them until a few weeks ago. Crawfish are found on just about every continent except Antarctica. There are many ways that they can be eaten. My favorite way to cook crawfish (instead of boiling) used to be wok frying. This method is surprisingly quick and easy. Get a wok hot, add some oil and throw in some spices (I use star anise, Szechuan peppercorns and dried chiles), dump in the crawfish and start sautéing until bright red. Then drizzle in some soy sauce and chopped green onions. Sauté for a few more minutes and then check one to see if it’s done. Make sure to suck the heads - the juice is unreal. While this method is amazing, my new favorite way to prepare crawfish is salt roasting.
Symphony Seauxcial
Maestro Circle Reception Fireside Christmas December 18, Heymann Performing Arts Center
ASO Maestro Circle members enjoyed a festive holiday reception before a lovely evening of holiday music, including a performance of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, a spiritual Christmas medley and traditional holiday favorites.
Above Photos by Carolyn Brupbacher
Above Photos by Danny Izzo, Nouveau Photeau
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WiFi that is pure artistry. 1 Gigabit Internet and Hub City WiFi Plus from LUS Fiber.
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Standing Ovation
Sponsors The Acadiana Sympony Orchestra & Conservatory of Music would like to extend its extreme gratitude to those who support the Do-Re-ME! program. Their generosity is greatly impacting the lives of our youngest students. Thank you! Dwight Andrus
Louisiana Department of Education
Anonymous
Louisiana Open, Inc.
Elizabeth Ray
McDonald’s of Acadiana
Falcon Rice Mill
Moody Company Foundation
First National Bank
Pinhook Foundation Inc.
Florence Mauboles Charitable Trust
Stone Energy Corporation
Great Harvest Bread Company
Stuller Foundation
Harry and Dru Patin
The Pugh Foundation
IBERIA BANK
The Taylor Foundation
Kurt and Lea Carleton
United Way of Acadiana
Lafayette Consolidated Government
Whitney National Bank
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“Why do I subscribe? Times of Acadiana and Business sections keep me inspired and informed in an easy-to-read, accessible way. When my local paper reflects the community I live in, I’m reminded of how lucky I am to live here. It’s a great way to start your day—inspired and informed from your friend in the community, The Daily Advertiser.” — Jenny Krueger, Executive Director, Acadiana Symphony & Conservatory of Music No one covers local issues and entertainment better than The Daily Advertiser, the heartbeat of Acadiana since 1865.
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Community Seauxcial
Alexandre Mouton House Annual Christmas Party December 5, 2014
Photos by Carolyn Brupbacher
Visitors stepped back in time as they entered the historic museum home and were greeted with Southern hospitality by the Les Vingt Quatre members, who also provided a gourmet cocktail buffet of their family recipes. Live entertainment was provided and local florists and artisans decorated each room for Christmas to reflect the circa 1800 period of the museum home which was enjoyed by all. All proceeds of the event go to the preservation of the Alexandre Mouton House.
Richard Young’s Annual Christmas Party at the Victorian December 13, 2014 Photos by Carolyn Brupbacher Richard Young once again ended the year with a fabulous holiday event. This year, under the Victorian event tent in Broussard, an era thought-to-be-gone was revived as Lafayette native Spencer Racca sang the songs of Frank Sinatra while guests danced the night away.
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School of Sacred Heart Full Page Bleed
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Moss Motors Full Page Bleed
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