Gambit's 40 Under 40 2026

7,500construction jobs,$1.6billionfor Louisiana businesses. Up to $50,000 forteacherbonuses. Part of apartnership that’s just gettingstarted.

Tim

Food truckowner

Thomasina 2ndgrade teacher

Meet this year’s list of remarkable New Orleanians under the ripe old age of 40

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Satchmo SummerFest brings live music, panels on Satchmo and Lil Armstrong and more by Will Coviello |

LIL HARDIN ARMSTRONG WAS FAMOUS BEFORE SHE MET and married Louis Armstrong. She was an accomplished pianist in King Oliver’s band before Satchmo moved to Chicago.

She became the pianist for some of the Hot Five recordings that helped establish Armstrong’s influence on jazz. Lil is often called the “architect” of his early career, and with the recent discovery of her records and materials, there’s a much fuller picture of her influence and her life in her words.

“We didn’t know the extent of the story,” says Adriana Carrillo Silva, the director of guest experience at the Louis Armstrong House Museum in New York. “She’s so candid. She tells it like it’s nothing. She lived it. She was there. She was Louis Armstong’s best friend for life.”

Silva is returning to the Satchmo SummerFest to talk about Lil’s life and work and play her recordings. The annual celebration of Armstrong (scheduled near his birthday) brings live music to three stages, panel discussions on topics related to Armstrong and more. The festival runs Aug. 1-2 at the New Orleans Jazz Museum, and admission is free.

Silva has previously given talks at Satchmo Fest, including one about what was revealed by an original draft of Armstrong’s autobiography of his young life, “Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans.”

She was doing research at Tulane University’s Hogan Jazz Archives when she became interested in Lil Armstrong. There had been a lot of references to Lil writing an autobiography, but there was no proof of it, Silva says. But two big donations to Armstrong House from personal collections changed that. When New York jazz writer Chris Albertson died in 2019, his materials included a few drafts of chapters of the never completed book. Then last year, another, larger batch of materials was donated. It contained what appear to be chapter drafts recorded on reel-to-reel tapes. There also were scrapbooks, financial records from her bands and all sorts of memorabilia.

For Silva, it filled in many details about Lil’s life in her words and voice. Lil Hardin grew up in Memphis and was a child virtuoso on piano. Her

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

father died when she was young, but her mother had the resources to buy Lil a piano and lessons. Lil went to Fisk University but dropped out to be a professional musician in Chicago, which she tried to hide from her mother.

In an age when most women performers were singers or dancers, Lil was a pianist, respected by male musicians.

“She was one of the boys,” Silva says.

Although she liked New Orleans musicians and their sounds, Lil wasn’t terribly impressed by Armstrong at first, including laughing at the way he wore clothes that were too small for him. But Armstrong knew about her, and in a letter to Oliver, he asked him to pass on a greeting to her before he arrived in Chicago.

Musically, Lil and Armstrong were quite compatible, and she was on Hot Five recordings along with other New Orleans players including Kid Ory and Johnny Dodds.

Though the Armstrongs’ marriage unraveled before they officially divorced, she played quite a role in his life.

“It was evident she was so important in giving Louis the confidence to be Louis Armstrong,” Silva says. “She changed history. She had an intuition to know that jazz had to shift into a soloist art form. She pushed Louis to be a pioneer in it. You have to listen to the tapes to know for sure. I am so moved by her.”

Silva also notes that Lil got better and better as a musician as the years

went by. She wrote “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue,” and performers including Ray Charles and the Ink Spots recorded her songs.

“She has records in the ’40s that are sublime,” Silva says. “We slept on it.”

At Satchmo Fest, Silva will talk about Lil’s autobiographical materials and look at music she did with the Hot Five and with other bands. She’ll also play recordings.

“I want people to hear her,” she says.

Silva is from Colombia and wrote about culture and music, especially jazz, for the Bogata newspaper El Espectador. She moved to New York in 2010 and continues to do research while managing visitor programs at the Armstrong House. Louis Armstrong House Archives Director and Armstrong biographer Ricky Riccardi is a regular presenter at the festival. This year, he’ll lead sessions on the birth of the Hot Five and the 70th anniversary of Armstrong’s highly documented trip to Ghana and talk on a panel about a new box set of Armstrong’s early recordings in New York.

There’s also a presentation on Buddy Bolden and more on Armstrong.

The festival has two outdoor stages and piano music inside the museum. The Saturday lineup includes Mark Braud’s All-Stars, Yusa, HaSizzle with the TBC Brass Band, Charmaine Neville, Preservation Brass, Troy Sawyer and the Elementz with Girls Play Trumpets Too and more. Sunday brings an Armstrong tribute from Kermit Ruffins, John Boutte, Don Vappie and Jazz Creole, the Big 6 Brass Band, the Original Pinettes Brass Band, the Nayo Jones Experience and more.

The festival kicks off at 11:30 a.m. Saturday with the Roots of Music band performing on Barracks Street. On Sunday morning, there’s a Jazz Mass at St. Augustine Church at 10 a.m., and afterward, the Treme Brass Band leads a second line to the festival grounds.

For a full schedule and information, visit satchmosummerfest.org.

Bryan Adams

Canadian rock musician Bryan Adams was already building a successful career when his anthemic “Summer of ’69” took off — the song was itself just one of six songs from his 1985 album “Reckless” to rocket up the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Last year, Adams released his 16th studio album, “Roll with the Punches,” a heartland rock record about getting back up after a tough hit, Adams has said. He headlines a show with Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 31, at the Smoothie King Center. Tickets start at $34.50 via smoothiekingcenter.com.

Johnny Manchild & The Poor Bastards

Oklahoma City musician Johnny Manchild and his band, The Poor Bastards, play a kind of piano rock that careens from theatric and poppy to gritty and punk. And the band has built a reputation for its fun live shows peppered with a dash of chaos. They’re joined by Karma and the Killjoys and Friend of a Friend for a show at 9 p.m. Friday, July 31, at No Dice. Tickets are $17.20 via nodicenola.com.

Que Rico Saturdays

The New Orleans Jazz & Blues Market is presenting a Latin party night on Saturdays in July and August, featuring music by VDJ Emotion and hosted by Don Sevilla. At the next edition, on Saturday, Aug. 1, VDJ Emotion will mix in songs from Colombian pop artist Karol G’s album “Mañana Será Bonito” throughout the night. Doors open at 11 p.m., and tickets are $21.65 via jazzandbluesmarket.com.

‘A Little Night Music’

In Stephen Sondheim’s musical about mismatched relationships and infidelity, the middle-aged Fredrik has a much younger bride, Anne, who has attracted the attention of his son. Fredrik revisits a former mistress, whose new partner gets jealous, though he also is cheating. Ricky Graham directs the musical

PROVIDED PHOTO

Louis Armstrong and Lil Hardin Armstrong

PHOTO COURTESY OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG HOUSE MUSEUM

Meet Dr.Evers

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Meet Ou rKrewe ManningFamilyChildren’s

MichaelEvers,MD

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What superpower would youchooseand why?

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Diane Mack and Don Dubuc, two local radio news veterans, were recently honored by the Press Club of New Orleans with lifetime achievement awards during the organization’s annual gala. Mack, a New Orleans native, started her career in TV before joining WWNO 89.9 FM, where she spent 35 years. Dubuc, also a local native who first worked in print and then TV, is an avid outdoorsman and hosted the “Outdoors with Don Dubuc” radio show for years. Both Mack and Dubuc announced their retirements earlier this year.

OPENING GAMBIT

NEW ORLEANS NEWS + VIEWS

Congratulations to all the 40 Under 40 honorees!

New Orleans City Council eyes eliminating top Sewerage & Water Board position

NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL

Books by Robert Mann and Karly Pierre were chosen to represent Louisiana at the 2026 National Book Festival, held Aug. 22 in Washington, D.C. Each state makes two “Great Reads from Great Places” selections for the annual festival, and Mann’s “You are My Sunshine: Jimmie Davis & the Biography of a Song” and Pierre’s book for young readers, “Soggy Like Cush Cush,” will represent Louisiana’s culture and heritage.

PRESIDENT JP MORRELL JULY 20 SAID THE COUNCIL WILL TAKE UP THE QUESTION of whether the troubled Sewerage & Water Board even needs an executive director, one of a number of moves the council is planning after it gains oversight and budget control of the board in August.

Speaking at a community coffee event in Lakeview, Morrell said the council will hire a third party to help them decide whether to eliminate the position, but that he personally thought S&WB Executive Director Randy Hayman’s $427,000 salary was “a waste of money.”

“I don’t see what this person does other than occasionally go on TV and try to make you feel better,” he said.

Last month Kaitlin Tymrak became S&WB general superintendent, a position that oversees technical operations and pays $235,000.

Morrell also said the council will look at other ways to restructure the agency, including possibly doing away with the board altogether. He also wants to bring S&WB meetings back into the council chambers so there’s more room for the public to attend.

McCarron and Council Member Jason Hughes later this week are expected to unveil a new ordinance to formally bring S&WB under council oversight once a new state law giving the city more power over the agency takes effect Aug. 1.

Although the plan is not yet public and was still being finalized, City Hall sources told Gambit the initial ordinance will focus on basic changes to make the transition of power as smooth as possible.

“It’s honestly just basic housekeeping stuff,” one source involved in the process said, adding, “It’s been very clear that this board structure has been a failure.”

The ordinance will be the first step in a process to reign in the board and bring more stability and city control to S&WB.

340,000

THE AMOUNT, IN DOLLARS, OF MONEY STOLEN BY A KENNER PASTOR FROM HIS CONGREGANTS TO SPEND ON GAMBLING, MEALS AND LIVING EXPENSES.

Pastor Dale Sanders was convicted by a federal jury on more than two dozen fraud charges, with prosecutors claiming he withdrew cash, made wire transfers from congregation accounts and impeded a federal investigation. Sanders claimed he had turned the church around from “mismanagement” and had struck an agreement with board leaders to use the church’s debit card instead of accepting a salary for four years.

Legislation and petrochemical lobbying has steadily pushed Louisiana’s public air monitors further away from major industrial polluters, a Floodlight analysis recently found. Industry groups have consistently fought proposals for better monitoring near plants, and with the help of lawmakers, emissions data has become increasingly unreliable, leaving communities living near those facilities in the dark. C’EST WHAT ?

The comments came at a community meeting hosted by Morrell and District A Council Member Aimee McCarron at 762 Coffee + Cocktails.

According to sources who have reviewed drafts of the ordinance, it will likely give Mayor Helena Moreno the authority to appoint and remove members of the board; give the council more direct access to S&WB information and data; create specific rules for notifying nursing facilities, schools and other sensitive facilities when there will be water outages; and bring S&WB’s budget process under the oversight of the council.

Since Gov. Je Landry needs a reminder, what makes New Orleans so special?

Randy Hayman, Executive Director of Sewerage and Water Board

PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE

S&WB changes

DURING THE COFFEE WITH MORRELL AND MCCARRON, MANY RESIDENTS ASKED about the S&WB as the city prepares for Tropical Storm Bertha to hit on Wednesday.

The agency performed poorly during heavy rains earlier this month, including an employee making a mistake that turned the station’s three pumps off for almost an hour.

“What that tells me is the S&WB is not properly training people in advance of hurricane season to respond to foreseeable things,” Morrell said. “That is a complete failure of leadership.”

One District D resident complained about high grass in a lot across the street from her home. Another District D resident, whose situation Morrell was familiar with, said she made a complaint about an open sewer line by her house, only to have city Code Enforcement fine her instead.

Morrell said the council is working with the Moreno administration to restructure the code violation process. Under the current process, owners of blighted properties can avoid serious penalties by the city by making slight improvements to them.

“With a lot of these individuals, what you find is the real canny ones they’ll wait till the fines get to a certain level, go cut the grass suddenly, try to reset it, and then wait for the fines to get up again,” he said.

City nances

It will also create a formal system for altering council members, the mayor and other key city officials of emergencies, outages and other issues.

Sources also said the ordinance will also help increase the amount of information S&WB provides to the council, including on the state of infrastructure, repair projects, contracting and its budgets for both day-to-day operations and major projects.

One issue that at press time was still being looked at was the role of executive director. Initially, the plan appears to have been to vest hiring and firing decisions in the council. However, one source told Gambit it appears that can’t be done under current state law, at least not directly. In the coming months and years, the council will likely take up a number of other measures related to the board, most notably bills to reduce costs at the agency. That will range from changing the collection fee it charges the city for solid waste pickup to eliminating parts of the agency that can be replaced with existing city offices and done at significantly lower costs. Down the road, they’ll also tackle contracting and other issues, according to Morrell.

Council members and the Moreno administration already have new oversight laws drafted, including dealing with the way the agency budgets.

McCarron, who worked for then-Budget Chair Joe Giarrusso when he was a council member, said the S&WB will have to budget like city departments do and go through the council, which she hopes will help with prioritizing important projects.

“Right now, their capital budget is on a spreadsheet, and it’s labeled like, ‘We kind of want this done, we definitely need this done, and this is a maybe if we have money.’ But then there’s no like clear plans on money attached to it, which is very different than the way that the city does their capital budgeting,” she said.

The council will also call for a financial audit of S&WB, including for capital projects and a study on the rates the agency charges, according to McCarron.

Morrell said he’s long supported folding the state agency into city government, which is the typical structure, but that the process could take 10-20 years because the city would have to pay off all the agency’s debts first, which would involve passing new taxes.

The council members also talked about other areas of city government they want to revamp.

WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE CITY’S FINANCIAL POSITION AFTER IT WITHDREW ITS REQUEST FOR STATE APPROVAL OF A $110 MILLION TEMPORARY PRIVATE LOAN, Morrell said the administration’s plan involves revenue-raising measures and cuts to city services, though not to “public safety” or the Department of Public Works, which oversees street and light repairs. Details will be made public in the coming weeks.

Morrell also said the council and administration will start meeting on the 2027 budget next month.

One resident said she supported law enforcement using drones in the city. Morrell said the council did approve letting the French Quarter Management District use their own funds to enhance their drone program. That move drew pushback especially as the New Orleans Police Department proposed changing their policy to let them equip drones with weapons with the superintendent’s permission (NOPD recently reversed course on that decision).

Morrell acknowledged that there are significant privacy concerns with drones.

“We have not been able to get NOPD to give us a real good example of how they can protect privacy with drones,” he said, adding “Drones are expensive as hell, and we don’t have any money.” — Kaylee Poche & John Stanton

New Orleans court dismisses ‘white devil’ email defamation suit against Sen. Duplessis

IN MAY, THE ORLEANS PARISH CIVIL DISTRICT COURT DISMISSED A DEFAMATION suit against state Sen.

Royce Duplessis filed at the height of last year’s mayoral contest by influential donor Bill Hammack, according to court records.

The court also ordered Hammack — a multi-million dollar businessman who is a partner in the Link Restaurant Group and a board member of Greater New Orleans Foundation, among other high profile roles – to pay the court costs and attorneys fees for Duplessis, his campaign committee and his campaign manager Tyronne Walker.

The May 29 decision by Judge Monique Barial brings a close to one of the uglier chapters of last year’s mayoral election.

Although he’s supported Duplessis in previous campaigns, Hammack had decided to throw his support behind Helena Moreno, who went on to win outright in the primary.

In an email about a draft fundraising pitch for an outside PAC supporting Moreno, Hammack accused Duplessis’ staff of calling Moreno, who is a Latina born in Mexico, a “white devil.” That email was accidentally sent to Duplessis, who repeatedly denied that his staff had called Moreno that and brought it up during a televised debate between the candidates.

“Not only is it not true because nobody on my team thinks like that and we don’t use that kind of language, ‘white devils,’ it was used in an email to try to gin up white rage and divide our city by using racially charged terms that were false — that were not true — as a way to make money and raise money for you,” Duplessis said to Moreno.

Hammack subsequently sued Duplessis, claiming “Mr. Hammack did not fabricate the statement; rather, he was confidentially relaying to his attorney what was told to him by an individual who heard the Duplessis campaign senior strategist, Tyronne B. Walker, make the statement to a group of well-regarded African American businessmen.”

Hammack also claimed in the suit that it was Duplessis who was seeking to stoke racial animosity in the city in the lead up to the election, a claim the state senator has also repeatedly denied.

The court clearly sided with Duplessis.

“The Court, ignoring the emotions that attempt to surface at the invocation of race and considering the pleadings, the affidavits, the argument of counsel and the law,” Barial wrote in granting a motion to dismiss the case by Duplessis and the other defendants. Barial also noted that “the Court finds that [Hammack] has failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on his claims.” — John Stanton

Council President JP Morrell asks representatives of Sewerage & Water Board and Entergy questions in June.

PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE

The Scalpers Are Calling From Inside Your House

by Howie Kapłan & Stephen Parker

FOR MOST OF THE HISTORY OF LIVE PERFORMANCE IN AMERICA, you knew a scalper when you saw one. They worked the corner outside the venue. They lurked in the alley with a fistful of tickets and a price that moved depending on how desperate you looked. Shady? Absolutely. But they were visible. You had to walk over to them. You had to choose them.

Today’s scalper doesn’t wait outside the show. An absence of regulation left your front door unlocked. Search engines walked them right past you. Google Trombone Shorty or Galactic or Tipitina’s right now and see scalpers list tickets they don’t even have at prices beyond what the artist is selling it for. And billions of dollars in slick marketing bought them a seat at your kitchen table. Why is it illegal in the state of Louisiana to stand in front of the Superdome and resell a ticket above face value, but it’s OK to do it online? The scalpers are in your house. This week, they’re also in our backyard. Starting Monday, the ticket resale industry descends on the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans for the World Ticket Conference, scalping’s national convention, blocks from the stages and musicians it profits off of. They know how this looks. That’s why, weeks before flying to New Orleans, the national scalper trade group gave itself a makeover. After 32 years, the National Association of Ticket Brokers is now the National Association of Ticketing “Professionals.” A decadesold national organization does not rebrand because things are going well. It rebrands because of a crisis, unpopularity, and in this case, to deceive. Here’s what a new name doesn’t change. The multi-billion-dollar platforms these professionals operate through, StubHub chief among them, let resellers weaponize the marketplace while hiding who and where they are. Buy literally anything else secondhand on the internet and you can see the seller’s business name, their rating, their city. That anonymity lets an operation five time zones away pose as a neighbor with extra seats to Saturday’s show. Sometimes the seats don’t exist at all. State lawmakers have noticed. Eleven states have already banned speculative ticket sales outright. Resale ticket price

caps are now in bills moving through statehouses rapidly and on a bipartisan basis. Three different states have passed them just this year. State legislators are done waiting for Washington.

Everyone who makes live performances actually happen loses when scalpers win. Fans pay double, triple even ten times face value, and every extra dollar goes to a middleman who contributed nothing. Artists watch their fans get gouged and never see a dime of the markup. And independent venues and festivals eat the damage night after night.

We’ve stood at the door of the Howlin’ Wolf on a Sunday night for the Hot 8 Brass Band as someone presents a ticket that they paid three times face value for and it’s not a real ticket. We’ve watched “sold out” rooms sit half empty because spec sellers never delivered.

We’ve met fans who overpaid so badly there was nothing left for a drink, a meal, a t-shirt. That’s money venues and artists desperately need to survive.

New Orleans has survived plenty of uninvited guests (here’s looking at you, Katrina and Ida). So to this week’s visitors: enjoy the food, tip generously and go hear some real live music. But understand what you’re flying home to. In statehouse after statehouse, the lights are coming on, the locks are getting changed, and the era of hiding behind a multi-billion dollar platform is ending. No rebrand will stop it. The scalpers are calling from inside the house. Finally, somebody’s coming to escort them out.

Howie Kapłan is the owner of The Howlin’ Wolf in New Orleans and manager of the Grammy Winning Rebirth Brass Band. Stephen Parker is the Executive Director of the National Independent Venue Association.

People line up to buy tickets to Jazz Fest in 2022

PHOTO BY KEITH SPERA / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE

@GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com

Hey Blake, Is it true that Louis Armstrong performed at Loyola University? If so, when and what can you tell me about the show?

Dear reader,

DUE TO SEGREGATION, ARMSTRONG AND HIS BAND MADE FEW VISITS to his hometown after he left New Orleans in the 1920s. On Halloween 1965, one year after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, he returned for a benefit for the New Orleans Jazz Club. His 3:30 p.m. performance was at the Loyola Field House, located where the university’s Sports Complex now stands. Tickets ranged from $2 to $5. Armstrong and his All-Stars band opened with “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South.” “The audience was obviously receptive and Armstrong began his melodious ad-libbing almost immediately with ‘A Kiss to Build a Dream On,’ ” wrote Jim Conaway in the next day’s Times-Picayune. He called it a “spectacular program of traditional Dixieland jazz, modern renditions and the unique and captivating art of Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong.” Council Member Joseph DiRosa presented Armstrong with a key to the city. Special guests included some 50 youngsters from the Milne Boys Home, the successor to the Colored Waifs

BLAKE VIEW

Home where Armstrong spent time as a child and learned to play the cornet. Other songs performed during the concert included “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It,” “Memphis Blues,” “St. Louis Blues,” “St. James Infirmary” and “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams.” Conaway wrote that the show “was brought to a dramatic close with Armstrong’s famous and compelling treatment of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In.’ And ‘Satchmo,’ waving goodbye to the audience, just grinned and grinned.”

This weekend’s Satchmo Summerfest will honor Armstrong’s life and musical legacy, celebrating the 125th anniversary of his birth. Learn more at satchmosummerfest.org.

THIS WEEK (JULY 29) WE WISH A HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY TO ONE OF THE GREATEST SPORTS JOURNALISTS IN NEW ORLEANS HISTORY, retired TV sports anchor and longtime New Orleans Saints radio announcer Jim Henderson. Born in upstate New York, Henderson majored in English at Cortland State University. After serving in the Army and teaching middle-school English, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University. His early TV career included stints in Panama City, Florida, and Atlanta before coming to New Orleans for a position at WWL-TV in 1978. He did not receive a warm welcome from some fans of the man he replaced — iconic WWL sports director Lloyd “Hap” Glaudi. Picketers protested outside the station during Henderson’s first week on the air. But he endeared himself to viewers, anchoring WWL’s toprated sportscasts as sports director for 34 years.

In 1986, Henderson became the play-by-play announcer for New Orleans Saints radio broadcasts. Over the years, he was paired with Saints legends Archie Manning, Hokie Gajan and Deuce McAllister. Gajan sat alongside Henderson for two memorable calls. For the NFC Championship Game win in January 2010 it was, “Pigs have flown! Hell has frozen over! The Saints are on their way to the Super Bowl!” Two weeks later, when the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV, he exclaimed, “Get ready to party with the Lombardi, New Orleans!”

After leaving WWL in 2012, Henderson joined WVUE to provide Saints commentary and analysis. He retired from that role and his radio position with the Saints in 2018.

He was inducted into the

Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, received the Joe Gemelli Fleur De Lis Award from the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame and was a 13-time winner of the Louisiana Sportscaster of the Year award.

Young Louis Armstrong TIMES- PICAYUNE ARCHIVE

4040 under

TWO THOUSAND TWENTY SIX

BY

JAKE CLAPP, WILL COVIELLO, JENNIFER ODELL, LIAM PIERCE, KAYLEE POCHE, SARAH RAVITS, MADDIE SPINNER & JOHN STANTON

PHOTOS BY KAT KIMBALL

THIS YEAR’S 40 UNDER 40 issue comes at a turbulent time in New Orleans. Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill are waging war on New Orleans, belittling its residents and questioning the indisputable importance and special nature of the city — not only to the nation but the world.

So it’s perhaps fitting that our list of 40 exceptional New Orleanians would drop this week. Like the city itself, our honorees represent the very best of Louisiana and America.

As always, this year’s list was drawn from the hundreds of nominations sent in by Gambit readers. And although all of our nominees deserve accolades, after an exhaustive and difficult review, we selected these 40 honorees as the best of the best.

They’re doctors, musicians, entrepreneurs and student activists. They have turned improbable dreams into realities and have fought preposterous odds to make not only their lives better but also the lives of their families and the broader community. Indeed, it is a common trait amongst all our honorees that they don’t simply excel at what they do. They excel at being human, bringing their energy and spirit to other efforts that move our community in a better direction and make our lives better. In “Song of Myself,” the great poet Walt Whitman wrote, “I am large, I contain multitudes.” It’s an apt description not just of each of these New Orleanians, but for the broader community they represent.

At a time when our city is under attack, it’s fitting that we as a community take the time to lift up and celebrate those who truly make New Orleans what it is: special. Congratulations to all of our winners, and as always, here they are presented in no particular order. — John Stanton, Gambit Editor

Dr. Breanne McGhee, 36

Pediatric Optometrist; Founder,

They say the eyes are the window to the soul, but they also can be a window to the rest of the body, showing early signs of conditions like diabetes, HIV and sickle cell disease.

That’s what drew Breanne McGhee, a Hollygrove native, to the field of optometry. “We don’t just save eyes; we save lives,” she likes to tell her patients.

McGhee primarily works with children and says it’s amazing the difference glasses can make on a kid’s learning and behavior.

“I can’t tell you enough how many times we’ve prescribed glasses to kids, and they go back to school, and they just thrive,” she says.

It’s not hard to see why McGhee, a mother of four, is also particularly passionate about childhood literacy, which is why she formed ReadAloudNOLA. She started by collecting books and distributing them to little free libraries, summer camps and families hanging outside. Now through the Hollygrove Neighbors Association and other neighborhood groups in the city, she hosts back-to-school drives where she gives out books and school supplies and offers vision screenings.

McGhee also reads aloud to children at local schools, where she’s affectionately earned the nickname “The Reading Lady.” She says she engages the students by “getting into character and making the kids laugh.”

McGhee especially likes working with children who struggle with reading as she once did. She helps them strengthen their phonetic skills and looks out for signs of dyslexia.

And as if she wasn’t busy enough, McGhee also joined the Muff-a-Lottas Carnival dance krewe last year. The move was outside her comfort zone, but she was able to conquer her nerves by channeling her inner theater kid and transforming into her 1950s era waitress character, Suga.

“I’m sure gonna keep dancing out on that street until these knees give out,” she says.

— KAYLEE POCHE

Vinoin “Vin” Devpaul Vincely, 29 Co-Founder and CEO, LumaWave

Growing up in Chennai, India, Vinoin “Vin” Devpaul Vincely remembers visiting a public hospital as a child and seeing patients lying on the waiting room floor because the beds were full. Years later, his grandmother passed away after developing severe pressure ulcers that could have been treated with better care. Vincely decided he wanted to help make advanced medical technology more accessible.

Vincely spent his childhood in India, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and came to the United States for college, studying biophysics at Ohio’s Miami University before earning a master’s degree in physics. In 2020, he moved to New Orleans to pursue a doctorate in biomedical engineering at Tulane University.

His doctoral research became the foundation for LumaWave, the medical device startup he co-founded with Tulane faculty member Carolyn Bayer.

LumaWave is developing a photoacoustic imaging system that emits pulses of laser light and measures the sound waves they generate to assess tissue health. The current prototype sits on a wheeled cart, but Vincely hopes future versions will become wearable and shrink to about the size of an iPhone, allowing clinicians to carry advanced imaging into rural hospitals, community clinics and developing countries.

Vincely has won two Tulane Innovation Institute Open Medical Innovation Challenges,

placed first at Open Season and received a $50,000 Provost’s Proof of Concept Grant, helping secure nearly $70,000 in startup funding. LumaWave also has filed a nonprovisional patent application and executed an exclusive licensing agreement with Tulane.

Outside the lab, Vincely co-hosted the podcast Big Easy Science, and he founded the Optics and Photonics Tulane Innovation Club and Society to foster collaboration among optics and photonics researchers.

— LIAM PIERCE

La Reezy has had an explosive 18 months. The New Orleans rapper and producer, born Khayree Salahuddin, so far this year released his first full-length album, “Skiddle Bandana,” dropped an EP, “Leader of Da Uth,” and landed in XXL magazine’s 2026 Freshman Class, a closely watched feature highlighting quickly rising rappers across the country.

Those latest highlights follow a breakout year, when La Reezy released four stellar projects and received The Next Up Award from the national Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx. There also were shout-outs from Tyler, the Creator and Kendrick Lamar.

It’s the culmination of years of hard work put in by the driven 21-year-old. He grew up in the 12th Ward, near Napoleon Avenue, and started writing his own lyrics in his early teens and learned to produce his own music. Music videos recorded with friends soon followed, and La Reezy started to build a following among his classmates at the New Orleans Charter Science and Math School, where he graduated in 2022.

In 2023, though, La Reezy decided to effectively start from scratch with his EP, “Reeborn,” and it has been a steady yet swift climb ever since for the thoughtful, lyrically gifted rapper.

Alongside his music, he has developed a brand, Utilizing Time Here (or UTH), and recently launched the nonprofit the UTH Foundation with the goal of connecting New Orleans youth with educational programs, mentorship and creative and business resources.

“It’s up to you to make the world you want to see better. And that’s it,” La Reezy says. “We have a life. We’re here for a reason. We find our purpose and we execute that. No matter where you’re from, you’re capable.”

JAKE CLAPP

La Reezy, 21 Musician

Vincenzo “Cenzo” Caronna, 31

Founder and CEO, Thrivvy;

Executive Director, STartUP

Northshore

Her plan was to build a sprawling, dog-friendly social space with a bar, an indoor walking track and chaperones watching the pets. As executive director of STartUP Northshore, an entrepreneurship program serving St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes, Caronna helped Bannon identify a simpler place to start: a self-service dog wash near the Mandeville lakefront. The concept led to Four Seasons Barks and Bubbles, which opened in 2024 (The business last year said on Facebook it had encountered unforeseen financial constraints and is temporarily closed while looking for a new location).

The process of testing an idea, starting small and adjusting along the way also describes Caronna’s own company, Thrivvy.

Caronna and co-founder George Walker initially built Thrivvy (a combination of “thrifty” and “savvy”) as a grocery prices comparison app that searched nearby stores and assembled a shopping list designed to save customers money. More than 1,000 people used an early version, but conversations with food and beverage companies revealed a larger need.

Thrivvy now collects pricing, promotion and distribution data from roughly 6,000 stores and 500 retailers nationwide, tracking about 50 million products each week. Its platform is designed to help emerging food and beverage companies understand their competitors, optimize pricing, identify opportunities for expansion and decide where to seek shelf space. Thrivvy won Tulane Innovation Institute’s $50,000 Demo Day competition in 2026.

Through his day job at STartUP Northshore, Caronna has helped entrepreneurs access accelerators, pitch competitions, mentors and funding. Much of the rest of his time is spent growing Thrivvy — and, more recently, raising a newborn.

An LSU-trained biological engineer, Caronna began his career as the first employee at BioAesthetics, a Tulane spinout developing tissue-engineering technology. The experience taught him to approach business much like an experiment: Form a hypothesis, test it and adapt. Now, while building his own company, Caronna helps other founders do the same.

“I’m absolutely in the arena with them,” he says.

Jeff Benjamin, 39 Filmmaker; Professor

Although he was the chairman of the curriculum committee and director of Dillard University’s Academic Center for Excellence, Jeff Benjamin considered changing careers when the pandemic pushed him into thinking about his future.

“Me and my wife had a real conversation,” he says. They had a child on the way, but she encouraged him to explore.

“I left the university on a faith walk,” Benjamin says. “For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I had a goal. I got out there and let the doors open for me and let me go where I needed to go.”

Benjamin loved TV and film, and he decided to get into the industry. He started taking classes at the New Orleans Video Access Center, learned his way around a film set, and started working on movies. He became a production assistant in the art department on films including “Sinners” and “Spinal Tap II.”

“Nobody knew I had a doctorate degree,” he says.

Currently, Benjamin’s preparing the rollout of his own documentary “Hues of Happiness,” which explores how Black men experience and express joy. It reflects some of his academic work. His dissertation was on the retention of Black male students

Charlie Shunick, 38

in college, particularly regarding historically Black colleges and universities.

Now, Benjamin’s straddling both careers. He and a partner made a horror thriller, and he’s working on other film projects. Plus, he is teaching courses as an adjunct professor at Xavier University, including classes on hip-hop and social justice and how Black people are portrayed in film and television.

“I think Black people seeing themselves on TV does something for us,” he says. “We need to have a diversity of Black stories and big Hollywood releases and big streaming stories. I want to contribute to Black people telling their stories.” — WILL COVIELLO

Associate Professor of Biology and Biotechnology, Delgado Community College; Founder, Resource Association for Missing People; Founder, Shunick Missing Persons

Charlie Shunick teaches biology and biotechnology at Delgado Community College, leaning into the type of forensic science that helps solve crimes. She’s also dedicated to bringing awareness and resources to the families and loved ones of missing people.

These facets of her life’s work are connected and stem from her own lived experience.

In 2012, her younger sister Mickey was abducted and murdered in a case that drew national attention. For nearly three months before Mickey’s remains were found, the Shunick family had no real sense of closure, and the uncertainty compounded their grief.

About a year later, Charlie — who calls herself a “big sister to the missing” — founded the Resource Association for Missing People, a nonprofit that

helps raise public awareness about missing people, mostly in Louisiana but sometimes outside the state.

She also runs a consulting business, Shunick Missing Persons, which provides guidance for families and aid to law enforcement agencies, including NOPD.

Over the years, Shunick says she has heard from thousands of families whose loved ones have gone missing, most of whom are found safe and relatively quickly. “I might get a message at 8 a.m., but by 2 p.m., they’re found (alive),” she says.

But not everyone is so fortunate. Currently, Shunick has about 10 longterm cases, supporting people whose loved ones have been missing for months or years.

“We play a big role, especially when law enforcement and media aren’t engaged anymore. It’s a lot of trauma,” she says. “Just remember — just because you’re not seeing (the headlines) anymore doesn’t mean it’s not still happening.”

As the biotechnology director and an associate professor at Delgado, Shunick helps train students in forensic science, and she has designed four courses so far. She says she finds it fulfilling to work with young people and fellow scientists. “You get to meet so many different types of people,” she says. “It opens your eyes to the different lives that people live — and teaching is fun. I’m always learning new things and supporting people.”

— SARAH RAVITS

Vincenzo Caronna first met aspiring entrepreneur Richelle Bannon when she was, as he puts it, “trying to take over the world tomorrow.”

Frank Macaluso, 30

Autism Advocate; Direct Support Worker, Acumen

When Frank Macaluso was in elementary school, he had a “meltdown” in class. A classmate with nonverbal autism, communicating through a tablet, typed a simple message, Macaluso recalls: “It’s OK, Frank. I’ll be your friend.”

The moment stuck with him, and Macaluso, who has Level 1 autism, has become an advocate himself, giving talks during Autism Awareness Month at schools and through Families Helping Families. He breaks down what autism spectrum disorder is, explains that no two people experience it the same way, and hopes to give others a better understanding of what life with autism can look like.

“I feel like I’m doing my part because a lot of these individuals can’t really speak for themselves,” Macaluso says. “I figured I could provide a voice.”

Macaluso’s advocacy has continued through some of the most difficult years of his life. Macaluso, his mother, brother and four dogs became homeless in 2025 after their apartment was renovated and the rent increased beyond what they could afford. While living in one hotel room, Macaluso commuted an hour each way from Metairie to Northshore Technical Community College in Hammond, where professors helped connect the family with food boxes and other resources. Macaluso graduated magna cum laude this spring with a diploma in information technology, and the family is now staying at a friend’s house in Metairie.

Macaluso’s interest in computers began in elementary school, when teachers regularly pulled him out of class to troubleshoot their computers. Today, he works at Target while serving as a statepaid caretaker for his younger brother, who also has autism, helping with transportation, daily routines and other support.

Inspired by his experiences in the Special Olympics and with community organizations, Macaluso wants to create more places where people can find a sense of belonging, he says. He’s now hoping to raise funding for a new social group for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“When I was younger, I used to be in my shell,” Macaluso says. “Over time, I’ve become more outgoing.” — LIAM PIERCE

Dusky Waters, 36

Musician; Co-Founder, BlackAmericana Fest

Nellie Catzen, 35 Community Organizer

Although Dusky Waters was surrounded by music from an early age, she didn’t discover the Black roots of the banjo until attending college and seeing the Carolina Chocloate Drops perform. Learning about the instrument’s origins among enslaved Africans in the South sparked something within her.

She recalls asking herself, “Why didn’t I know this history?”

That question became foundational in her desire to start the BlackAmericana Fest, which she co-founded in 2024 with musician Teena May and educator Mark T. Williams II. The music festival is dedicated to uplifting Black musicians in Americana and folk music, and it will return for its third edition on Sept. 25-26 at the Broadside. The festival also has expanded into a nonprofit organization with more opportunities for programming and education.

Waters was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and grew up in a family of musicians and educators, which helped shape her commitment to community and understanding the power of music. That legacy also informed her path as a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter.

As she gears up to release her sophomore album, “Mother Magnolia,” Waters continues to explore her family history and the complicated beauties of the South.

“The album traces back five generations of my family and explores stories that are deeply specific to me, but I hope it resonates universally,” she says.

— MADDIE SPINNER

Nellie Catzen was always interested in social justice, from growing up in Baltimore to attending the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied public health and worked with a youth food justice initiative in west Philadelphia.

When she graduated, she received a Robert A. Fox Leadership Program Fellowship and entered a program created in the wake of Hurricane Katrina by former Mayor Marc Morial to help revitalize the city. But community work was only part of the draw.

“I am a swing dancer and love jazz and food and gritty cities,” Catzen says. “All of those things combined with this opportunity to learn from social service leaders brought me to New Orleans.”

Now she’s the executive director of Committee for a Better New Orleans (CBNO), where she helps build community and empower people to shape their city by engaging with their neighbors and city government. It also helps train community leaders with programs like the Bryan Bell Metropolitan Leadership Forum.

When she first came to New Orleans, Catzen worked with Catholic Charities and then became the founding program director for Lafitte Greenway. There, she launched programs like the holiday season Supernova festival and built the plaza. While developing the Greenway space, she saw how projects generated greater community benefits.

Lafitte Greenway “went from something that divided neighborhoods and became something that connects people,” she says. “That program is a model for equitable development of parks and adaptive reuse projects nationwide.”

At CBNO, she oversees initiatives like the People’s Budget Project, which engages citizens in how the city’s finances work and helps them advocate for spending priorities. The program has led to $80 million in community investment, she says.

“Today, I get so many opportunities to continually build community and show community leaders what they can do when working together,” Catzen says.

She also launched the annual CBNO Block Party, and other initiatives, and she’s getting ready for the organization to celebrate its 60th anniversary in December. — WILL COVIELLO

Gregory Agid, 39

Co-Founder and Executive Director, Second Line Arts Collective; Musician

As a multi-instrumentalist and career musician, Gregory Agid has learned over the years that it takes a lot more than just talent to succeed in an industry that can be notoriously tough.

Beyond music, artists also need to learn about finance, marketing, contracts — even social skills.

Agid knows he has been lucky. When he was younger, he was mentored by the likes of Alvin Batiste, Kidd

Jordan, Germaine Bazzle and Delfeayo Marsalis, among others. He also credits NOCCA, the University of New Orleans (now LSU New Orleans) and Loyola University New Orleans for giving him a solid foundation.

Now he’s happy to pay it all forward and give the next generation a boost.

That’s why he co-founded the nonprofit Second Line Arts Collective with Darrian Douglas, which nurtures young, aspiring professional musicians and teaches them how to navigate the industry through a variety of classes, programs and workshops.

As an educator who is also balancing his own performance schedule, “I wear so many hats,” Agid says.

He just wrapped up an international tour with the Canadian pop star and jazz artist Michael Buble. Agid, who plays clarinet and saxophone, started touring with Buble in 2019 and describes it as a dream come true.

“It is glamorous — being on stage is like the manifestation of many years of dreaming,” he says. “But it’s also mentally and physically challenging to live on the road and tour so heavily.”

Back home now, he also gets to celebrate a significant milestone: Second Line Arts Collective’s 10th anniversary.

Up next, the organization is launching a residency at the Andre Cailloux Center for Performing Arts and Cultural Justice and will continue to host classes and workshops, including free events at the New Orleans Public Library.

“Doing this (nonprofit work) is really a huge accomplishment, but also a chance to live my dream as a musician and be an inspiration to others and show them that they too can manifest their dreams,” he says.

— SARAH RAVITS

Skye Jackson’s debut poetry collection “Libre” was released last year by Regalo Press and distributed by Simon & Schuster. One of its poems, “Can we touch your hair,” was included in the Library of Congress’ Poetry 180 Project. Poems in the collection address everything from personal relationships to loss, grief, injustice, travel and inspirations from other art.

The book also made an impact in New Orleans when One Book One New Orleans (OBONO) selected it as the featured book for its 2026 campaign to spark community dialogue.

OBONO builds a schedule of events designed to reach various communities across the city, and that’s meant Jackson has done a lot of poetry readings beyond the usual bookshops and academic space, like at a New Orleans Pelicans game in April at the Smoothie King Center.

“A lot of people came,” Jackson says with a laugh. She’s also done readings at the BLK INK festival in City Park and for people imprisoned at Orleans Parish Prison, and one poem is being turned into a short film. The book also is the inspiration for a burlesque show coming to AllWays Lounge & Theatre.

Currently, Jackson is doing readings in Paris, where she’s spending a month teaching poetry workshops, and she notes that some of the poems in the collection were written in the city on a previous trip.

Jackson grew up in New Orleans, and writing is not her first career. She went into entertainment law and

worked for a time on copyright issues for Disney while living in California.

Jackson came home to New Orleans to attend the writing workshop at UNO, now LSU New Orleans. She currently is teaching at both Xavier University and at LSU New Orleans, where she’s leading a master’s level class and helping students defend their theses.

She’s also working on new poems and laying the groundwork for her next collection. — WILL COVIELLO

Skye Jackson, 36 Poet

PHOTO BY EDOUARD LEMIALE

Chris Olsen, 37

Owner, Olsen Ventures; Co-Founder, Louisiana Vintage Festival

Chris Olsen likes to joke that he quit his real job during Covid and started just selling old stuff. That may be technically true, but it’s an understatement.

In the last few years, Olsen and his wife, Megan Olsen (who was part of Gambit’s 40 Under 40 class of 2020), have opened two successful French Quarter vintage stores, Swamp Rags (originally on St. Louis Street but soon to reopen on N. Rampart) and Vice & Graft (on Royal Street). They also recently launched a business to run estate sales for clients.

Those objects tell a story, Olsen says, and in a time when everyone is fighting with online algorithms, “people want something tangible. They want to be able to go in and actually feel a garment and see something that was around when their grandparents were here.”

Olsen grew up in Binghamton, New York, and he and Megan decided to move to New Orleans in 2014. They now live in the French Quarter with their three kids.

The Olsens last year launched the Louisiana Vintage Festival, which brought in around 2,000 people to shop more than 40 vendors at the House of Blues. The festival returns to the venue Aug. 22-23.

“I think that New Orleans could be a hub for vintage” trade, Olsen says. “We’re trying to kind of cultivate that. We like the idea that a rising tide lifts all ships. We want [the city] to do really well in the vintage world.”

Olsen the last few years has also increasingly used his social media to highlight issues around the Quarter, like the impact of construction on Decatur Street businesses and risks to neighborhood community gardens. He’ll also talk about topics beyond the neighborhood, like Louisiana’s change to a closed primary system.

That’s “the stuff that actually matters,” Olsen says. “There are actual things in our community that we do need to stress about and we need to put our time and energy into.”

JAKE CLAPP

Kyle Roussel, 38 Musician

Kyle Roussel’s formal music education at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and in the jazz studies program at University of New Orleans (now LSU New Orleans) was important to his development, but the real instruction, he says, was outside of the classroom. It came from being on stage.

“I also learned a lot from other musicians,” Roussel says. “I’ve spent a lot of time playing with Herlin Riley and Shannon Powell and, in recent years, Zigaboo Modeliste, and I played on Ms. Irma Thomas’ last album. I really learned a lot from them musically and personally, [about] becoming a husband and becoming a man. That’s been the real musical education, so to speak.”

Roussel grew up in Boutte, Louisiana, and at an early age started tapping out songs on his older sister’s toy keyboard. He began taking piano lessons at the age of 9, and by the time he was 12 was playing weekly in several churches — another important education, he says. Later, while Roussel was at UNO, Delfeayo Marsalis introduced Roussel to Ellis Marsalis Jr. Despite being retired from teaching, the renowned pianist gave Roussel weekly lessons.

Roussel has since been a busy pianist, organist, composer and, more recently,

producer. Along with often performing with Riley and Modeliste, the 38-yearold tours with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and The Headhunters, and he leads his own band.

Roussel wanted to celebrate the New Orleans music community on his latest album, last year’s “Church of New Orleans.” The Grammy-nominated album features 37 New Orleans musicians, including Thomas, Riley, John Boutte, George Porter Jr. and Donald Harrison Jr.

“New Orleans is an extremely special and rich place, and I’ve been able to [see] that by going to other places and playing with other musicians and realizing that what we have here is special,” Roussel says. “I want to bring that to the world.”

— JAKE CLAPP

Kendra Smith-Parks, 31

Communications Strategist, Red Cypress Consulting

Kendra Smith-Parks is a communications strategist for Red Cypress Consulting and works to help organizations involved in various environmental, reproductive and economic justice campaigns.

Whether by supporting the Louisiana Abortion Fund, Step Up Louisiana or other grassroots efforts, Parks sees herself as part of a larger ecosystem when it comes to justice work. Her role, she

River Eckert, 16 Musician

At 16 years old, River Eckert has become one of the city’s brightest young ambassadors for the New Orleans piano tradition, following in the footsteps of his influences like Professor Longhair, James Booker and Dr. John.

Born into a musical family, Eckert’s connection to New Orleans music runs deep. His father is guitarist Jake Eckert, who played for years with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and co-founded the New Orleans Suspects. River Eckert spent much of his early childhood immersed in his father’s music rehearsals and performances.

says, is simply to help elevate the voices already doing the work.

Rather than one defining moment, Parks describes her path as a “series of awakenings.” Growing up on the Gulf coast of Florida before attending college in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, she witnessed firsthand the erosion of the South’s coastal environment and decline in reproductive rights.

These deeply personal experiences only reinforced her commitment to building a more equitable future for the South.

“I have hope for what it can look like down there,” Parks says. “I just want us to be better taken care of and invested in – not regarded as this place that’s forever stuck in the past.”

Despite working on issues that often demand constant crisis response, Parks stays grounded through community. For Parks, the most rewarding part of the work is the people. They serve as a reminder as to why she keeps showing up.

“Seeing people come together around these gargantuan issues is inspiring to me,” Parks says. “It’s the people that I’m supporting that make me love doing the work.” — MADDIE SPINNER

“My whole musical background is New Orleans music,” he says. “Anything I write, you can hear that musical upbringing and influence.”

Eckert took an interest in the piano at the age of 2, and by the age of 7, he was in classical training and later expanded into gospel, jazz and blues. This eventually led to a mentorship under music educator Michael Pellera through the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation and later at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.

Eckert’s recently released self-titled debut album introduces himself into the musical scene, and features Ivan Neville, George Porter Jr., Kirk Joseph and more. Fresh off his debut album, Eckert is touring France for both solo performances and his ensemble.

Eckert sees himself as part of a “musical lineage,” he says, and is grateful to take on the torch and carry the legacy.

“The spirit of New Orleans embraces the next generation if they’re doing work to keep traditions alive,” says Eckert.

— MADDIE SPINNER

Ray Fontaine, 35

Co-Founder, Climate Culture New Orleans; Designer and Founder, Bywater Branding; Founding Board Member, Bywater Marigny Business Organization

With a background in industrial design, Ray Fontaine is constantly thinking about the ways that public art can serve as an educational and infrastructural tool.

She’s also a firm believer in the power of community, which is why much of her work is focused on bringing diverse groups of people together. “Many hands make light work,” she says.

Fontaine founded Climate Culture New Orleans, an environmental collective that hosts events and initiatives centered around the impacts — and potential solutions — to climate change. And she’s always trying to bring more people into the fold.

After all, climate change impacts everyone, not just “granola hippies and scientists,” she says. “Sustainability is pragmatic.”

Through Climate Culture, Fontaine invites local culture bearers to lead conversations with scientists, academics and civic leaders. These events are not meant to give a sense of doom and gloom. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. They are typically more celebratory in nature, demonstrating why New Orleans is worth saving and why communities are worth building.

Fontaine also teams up with other environmental groups. For example, she helped launch the Mardi Gras Bar Wars, a glass recycling competition with Glass Half Full during Carnival season last year. The effort helped divert 42,000 pounds of glass from the landfills. Instead, the glass is crushed into sand and used for coastal restoration projects. The competition is serving as a model for smaller “recyclathons” throughout the area.

“That’s something we are really proud of,” she says.

Fontaine also serves on the board of the newly formed Bywater Marigny Business Organization, playfully known as BYMBO. One of the organization’s missions is to make the St. Claude Avenue corridor safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

She’s also the founder and principal designer of Bywater Branding, a boutique marketing agency. There she works with socially and environmentally conscious clients on branding, marketing and social media campaigns.

“I can’t just succumb to ‘the world is dark and cruel and falling apart and New Orleans is falling into the ocean.’ For my own sanity, I’m like, what can we try and

PHOTO BY MADDIE SPINNER / GAMBIT

Rudy Bazenet-Tilton, 36

Co-Founder and Head Curator, Nous Foundation

Growing up in Clermont-Ferrand in central France, Rudy Bazenet got interested in languages and the allure of living abroad. In school, he pursued a degree in international affairs and did internships in Iceland and Los Angeles before entering the French Foreign Service, which stationed him in Slovenia for a couple of years.

Since meeting his husband, New Orleanian Scott Tilton, in Paris, he’s focused more on the links

Quinn Bishop, 33

Tour Guide and Founder, Queer Underground Tours; Content Creator; Writer

Quinn Bishop became a tour guide as a way to pay the bills, but once she started uncovering New Orleans’ vibrant queer history, it quickly became her passion. Bishop carved out a niche focusing on the stories of LGBTQ people, women, sex workers and more and started Queer Underground Tours.

“The whole city’s history was so full and rich with these kind of stories,” she says.

When the pandemic halted her tours, Bishop started posting queer history content online and has since gained more than 17,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 30,000 on TikTok. She likes to think of her videos as short films because each one involves a script, storyboard, rehearsals, filming and editing. For some, she even creates her own costumes.

Sometimes research looks like reading history books, including the footnotes. Other days, it’s scouring archives and talking to LGBTQ elders. Recently, research meant digging through a woman’s box of keepsakes and trying to piece together why she kept those items.

“I rely a lot on community and then just a little bit of that New Orleans magic,” she says. “If I really don’t know how I’m going to figure something out, I just drop it and say if it’s supposed to come, it’ll come. And then that’s when just out of nowhere, I’ll be reading something totally unrelated, and I’ll find what I need.”

between Louisiana and France and the greater French-speaking world. Since 2021, they’ve lived in New Orleans.

“When I moved here, it was a big change from Paris to New Orleans,” Bazenet-Tilton says. “The French Quarter is like Europe because you can walk everywhere and meet so many people. It’s like the history is coming to life in a way.”

The two also created the nonprofit Nous, or the New Orleans Foundation for Francophone Cultures. Nous has a gallery space at 602 Toulouse St., and Bazenet-Tilton is the head curator. He curated the current exhibit, “Becoming Louisiana: Borders in Motion,” which looks at the history of the state through 18th century maps. Past exhibits have explored Louisiana’s ties to Haiti and music.

He’s also working on a project uniting musicians and composers from New Orleans and Paris to create a work that will debut next year in Paris.

Nous is growing as an institution and developing partnerships with larger museums beyond New Orleans and has worked with the Library of Congress.

Bazenet-Tilton also is starting a multidisciplinary doctoral program based within the French studies program at Tulane University in the fall. He plans to focus on historical research.

“There are so many documents that are in French from 18th and 19th centuries sitting around in archives, and no-one knows about them,” he says. “I want to shed light on them and find new things about history.” — WILL COVIELLO

Last year, Bishop wrote a cover story for Gambit on Black drag queens and rock ’n’ roll, and she penned her first play script for “Dixie’s Holiday Bar,” a fictional work set at a real local gay club in the 1950s.

Bishop is already working on her second play, “The Bacchae,” a Greek classic that she’s adapting to include modern references and make “very New Orleans.” It will be staged in October, the same month she also plans to offer a special tour she describes as her version of a ghost tour.

“People imagine a better future by understanding the past better,” Bishop says. — KAYLEE POCHE

Mandy May, 38

Founder, New Orleans Bombshells; Development Director, The New Orleans Women & Children’s Shelter

As the founder of the New Orleans Bombshells dance team, Mandy May says she wanted to create a group that would simultaneously “empower women and help the community.”

Women can get stuck in a routine “and forget to remind ourselves that we are powerful and we can make a difference,” May says. But as Bombshells, she won’t let them forget how capable they are of making positive changes and bringing joy to the community, whether it’s through dance, volunteer work or both.

Under May’s leadership, the Bombshells have become one of the most active dancing groups during New Orleans Carnival season. Last year they participated in 12 parades in a span of two and a half weeks. But it’s also a “year-round sisterhood,” May says.

The Bombshells have supported a variety of causes, including the Veterans Association of America, the Louisiana SPCA, Girls on the Run, and the New Orleans Women and Children’s Shelter — where May just started working as the development director. She previously volunteered with the nonprofit and loved its mission so much she decided to apply for a full-time job.

The team also has started welcoming “mini” Bombshells to practice and learn choreography, as young as 7 years old (though the younger ones don’t parade). The group has expanded its membership to the Northshore, and May eventually wants to expand to Baton Rouge and Mississippi.

“We want to open the door and have more women come in and feel empowered,” she says.

And they’re having a lot of fun along the way. The best part is that we “get to be a part of the community and meet new krewes and be a part of the New Orleans culture,” May says.

— SARAH RAVITS

PHOTO BY WAYAN BARRÉ

DonnyRouse CEO, 3rdGeneration

DRINKS

▶ Best bar for a first date

▶ Best bar for craft cocktails

▶ Best bar to watch sports

▶ Best beer selection

▶ Best dive bar

▶ Best dog-friendly bar

▶ Best place to get a martini

▶ Best happy hour

▶ Best late-night bar

▶ Best LGBTQ+ bar

▶ Best liquor store

▶ Best local brewery

▶ Best local smoothie/ juice

▶ Best local THC infused drink

▶ Best matcha

▶ Best neighborhood bar

▶ Best new bar (opened September 2025 or later)

▶ Best Northshore bar or brewery

▶ Best place to buy wine

▶ Best place to get a Bloody Mary

▶ Best place to get a glass of wine

▶ Best place to get a margarita

▶ Best local sober-friendly bar

▶ Best rooftop bar

▶ Best locally owned coffee house

▶ Best West Bank coffee house

▶ Best West Bank bar

FOOD

▶ Best bakery

▶ Best barbecue restaurant

▶ Best place to get a bagel

▶ Best beignet

▶ Best place to get a burger

▶ Best Caribbean restaurant

▶ Best Chinese restaurant

▶ Best fine dining restaurant

▶ Best French restaurant

▶ Best fried chicken

▶ Best gumbo

▶ Best Indian restaurant

▶ Best Italian restaurant

▶ Best Japanese/sushi restaurant

▶ Best Kenner restaurant

▶ Best king cake

▶ Best Latin American restaurant

▶ Best Metairie restaurant

▶ Best Mexican restaurant

▶ Best Middle Eastern/

▶ Mediterranean restaurant

▶ Best neighborhood restaurant

▶ Best New Orleans restaurant

▶ Best new restaurant

▶ (opened September 2025 or later)

▶ Best outdoor dining

▶ Best place to get oysters

▶ Best pizza restaurant

▶ Best place for lunch

▶ Best place to get desserts

▶ Best chocolate/ specialty candy shop

▶ Best place to get a po-boy

▶ Best place to get a sandwich

▶ Best place to get boiled seafood

▶ Best place to get breakfast/brunch

▶ Best place to get frozen desserts

▶ Best place to get live crawfish

▶ Best place to get tacos

▶ Best pop-up vendor/food truck

▶ Best restaurant for a date night

▶ Best restaurant for vegetarians/vegans

▶ Best seafood restaurant

▶ Best sno-ball stand

▶ Best St. Bernard Parish restaurant

▶ Best steakhouse

▶ Best Thai restaurant

▶ Best traditional Louisiana restaurant

▶ Best Vietnamese restaurant

▶ Best West Bank restaurant

▶ Best French Quarter restaurant

▶ Best place to get a muffaletta

▶ Best butcher

ENTERTAINMENT

▶ Best bounce artist

▶ Best burlesque performer

▶ Best casino

▶ Best drag performer

▶ Best festival (that’s still around)

▶ Best food festival

▶ Best live music venue

▶ Best live music club

▶ Best local blues artist/band

▶ Best local brass band

▶ Best wedding band/DJ

▶ Best local DJ

▶ Best local funk band

▶ Best local hip-hop group/artist

▶ Best local movie theater

▶ Best performing arts center

▶ Best local music artist/band

▶ Best local rock band

▶ Best local theater company

▶ Best local traditional jazz group/artist

▶ Best marching group

▶ Best Mardi Gras dance krewe

▶ Best Mardi Gras parade

▶ Best place to see burlesque/drag

▶ Best place to see comedy

▶ Best local street performer

▶ Best local comedian

▶ Best strip club

GOODS & SERVICES

▶ Best AC/HVAC company

▶ Best plumbing company

▶ Best exterminator

▶ Best bicycle shop

▶ Best Black owned small business

BY

LAND,R AIL, SE A&RIVER .

▶ Best caterer

▶ Best costume store

▶ Best florist

▶ Best garden store

▶ Best Jefferson neighborhood grocery

▶ Best personal injury attorney

▶ Best law firm

▶ Best local credit union

▶ Best local bank

▶ Best local roofing company

▶ Best local rug store

▶ Best locally owned bookstore

▶ Best locally owned bridal shop

▶ Best locally owned Carnival supply store

▶ Best locally owned children’s store

▶ Best locally owned furniture store

▶ Best locally owned jewelry store

▶ Best locally owned kitchen design store

▶ Best locally owned men’s clothing store

▶ Best locally owned music store

▶ Best locally owned pet supply store

▶ Best locally owned shoe store

▶ Best locally owned store for home decor/accents

▶ Best locally owned women’s boutique

▶ Best New Orleans neighborhood grocery

▶ Best Northshore neighborhood grocery

▶ Best pet boarding/ day care business

▶ Best pet grooming business

▶ Best place to buy a gift

▶ Best metaphysical shop

▶ Best place to buy CBD and THC products

▶ Best place to buy consignment clothing

▶ Best place to buy eyewear

▶ Best place to buy vintage / consignment furniture

▶ Best place to buy vintage clothing

▶ Best smoke shop

▶ Best thrift store

▶ Best dog trainer/ dog training company

▶ Best dog walking/pet sitting

▶ Best local animal rescue

▶ Best veterinary/animal clinic

▶ Best woman-owned small business

▶ Best travel agency

▶ Best shopping center

▶ Best house cleaning services

PERSONAL CARE + WELLNESS

▶ Best barbershop

▶ Best day spa

▶ Best dentist

▶ Best dermatology practice

▶ Best hair salon

▶ Best health club/fitness studio

▶ Best urgent care/walk-in clinic

▶ Best hospital

▶ Best locally owned pharmacy

▶ Best med spa

▶ Best piercer

▶ Best piercing shop

▶ Best place for mental health care

▶ Best place to buy adult toys

▶ Best nail salon

▶ Best place to get a massage

▶ Best place to get waxed

▶ Best tattoo artist

▶ Best tattoo shop

▶ Best yoga studio

▶ Best hairstylist

▶ Best bridal hairstylist

▶ Best bridal makeup artist

▶ Best plastic surgeon

▶ Best pediatrician

▶ Best chiropractor

▶ Best podiatrist

▶ Best aesthetician

CONTINUES ON P33

LOCAL LIFE

▶ Best art gallery

▶ Best assisted living/ retirement community

▶ Best dog park

▶ Best family friendly/ kid friendly places/activites

▶ Best golf course

▶ Best grammar school

▶ Best high school

▶ Best kept local secret

▶ Best local artist (painter, sculptor, etc)

▶ Best local coffee shop to work/study

▶ Best local museum

▶ Best local nonprofit

▶ Best nursery/preschool

▶ Best daycare

▶ Best park

▶ Best skatepark

▶ Best place to get married

▶ Best pool

▶ Best real estate agent

▶ Best real estate office

▶ Best real estate team

▶ Best summer camp

▶ Best adult recreational activities

▶ Best hotel for a staycation

▶ Best day trip

▶ Best martial arts school/studio

▶ Best boxing club

▶ Best dance school/studio

VISITOR RECOMMENDATIONS

▶ Best 24 hour bar

▶ Best bar for day drinking

▶ Best daiquiri

▶ Best hotel

▶ Best hotel bar

▶ Best place to cure a hangover

▶ Best place to get late night food

▶ Best local tour (haunted, swamp, neighborhood, etc.

▶ Best place to get a souvenir

MEDIA

▶ Best local food social media account

▶ Best local news/commentary content creator

▶ Best local investigative reporter

▶ Best local radio personality

▶ Best local content creator

▶ Best social media account

▶ Best local TV news anchor

▶ Best local TV sportscaster

▶ Best local TV station

▶ Best local TV weathercaster

▶ Best local cook book

▶ Best local book author

▶ Best radio station

NORTHSHORE

▶ Best Northshore bar or brewery

▶ Best Northshore restaurant

▶ Best new Northshore restaurant (opened sept 2025 or later)

▶ Best place to get breakfast/brunch

▶ Best Northshore neighborhood grocery

▶ Best Northshore grammar school

▶ Best Northshore high school

▶ Best Northshore festival

▶ Best outdoor dining

▶ Best Northshore hospital

▶ Best Northshore coffee house

▶ Best place to get seafood

▶ Best place to get married

▶ Best family/kid friendly activites

▶ Best place to get desserts

▶ Best Northshore hotel

▶ Best nursery/preschool

▶ Best reason to visit the Northshore

Robert Gordy, Rimbaud’sDream #2, 1971.Acrylic on canvas, NewOrleans Museum of Art,71.23

Tania Wolf, 34

Southeast Advocacy Manager, National Immigration Project

Everyday can look different in Tania Wolf’s immigrant justice work. As the Southeast advocacy manager of the National Immigration Project, which also is part of the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition, a lot of Wolf’s organizing focuses on abolishing the area’s detention centers and investigating abuses out of the New Orleans ICE field office.

Some days may find her at detention centers giving people information about their legal rights and documenting abuses to bring to the attention of elected officials. Other days, Wolf may be in court observing immigration hearings or leading trainings for community defenders and

Magdalene

Paris, 30

Fashion and Costume Designer

Magdalene Paris is a haute-couture fashion designer and frequent costume designer with the Marigny Opera Ballet and Verismo Opera Company.

Originally from Leawood, Kansas, Paris began sewing at the age of 7, curating fashion shows on his childhood farm inspired by his mother and the rural environment.

The young designer went on to study fashion at Central Saint Martins in London and then relocated to study in Paris. After the pandemic sent him back to the U.S., Paris came to New Orleans and immediately fell in love with the city.

When Paris first moved to New Orleans, he found a shared commitment to sustainable fashion practices in his mentor, Kate Beck. Together, they

other advocates about immigration enforcement and detention.

Wolf’s work involves building relationships with people who have been arrested or detained by ICE and families looking for a loved one who has been detained. More recently, she has been working on efforts to stop the opening of a detention center meant for families and children in Alexandria.

“We’re not there to white knight the situation,” she says. “We’re there to support folks and give them the information they need in order to make an informed decision about their life.”

Wolf moved to New Orleans in spring 2021 and for several years worked with the Southern Poverty Law Center until the organization suddenly shut down its Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative in mid2024. She has been with NIP for more than a year now.

As the child of immigrants from Ecuador and Colombia and as someone who was born and raised in Queens, New York, which has a large immigration population, Wolf takes her immigrant justice work personally.

“No matter where you go, in whatever part of the country, there is just something inherent about the immigrant community that makes you feel like you’re home,” Wolf says. “I know how hard the community works and busts their ass for just a decent, dignified, safe way of living.”

JAKE CLAPP

run a fully operational and sustainable textiles studio where everything is created in-house.

“New Orleans has this opportunity to create a new couture capital that isn’t just inclusive because they ‘have to,’ but inclusive from the very first step,” Paris says. “We have an opportunity to build an art-forward fashion ecosystem right here in America.”

Cameron-Mitchell Ware, 35

Deputy Director and Creative Producer, New Orleans African American Museum; Theater Artist

Cameron-Mitchell Ware plays a trio of roles in his life, he says. There’s the theater artist, the creative arts consultant and, since January, the New Orleans African American Museum’s deputy director and creative producer.

No matter the part he’s playing, though, there’s a connection: Ware wants to be of service to others.

“My personal mission is to be in the spaces and places that allow me to … be able to do the largest amount of good at any given time for the largest amount of people possible,”

Ware says.

Ware, whose father is Xavier University choral director John Ware, grew up in Algiers Point and graduated from Jesuit High School. He began acting in his teens, first taking part in Jefferson Performing Arts Society’s summer program. In the years since, Ware has worked with many local companies, including Goat in the Road, The NOLA Project and Le Petit Theatre. He won a Big Easy Award in 2017 for his role in Cripple Creek Theatre’s production of “Ragtime.”

Ware attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he majored in theater and sociology. A few months after graduation in 2015, he moved to New York, where he landed roles off-Broadway, in Broadway workshops, regional theater productions and cabaret spaces. He also worked with the Brooklyn nonprofit 651 Arts.

He moved back to New Orleans when the pandemic hit and, initially wanting to help his artistic friends, started working as a creative consultant. After he began working with NOAAM the following year, he decided to stay in New Orleans.

Over the last four years, Ware has worked on public programming, community engagement and partnerships at NOAAM, and earlier this year, he was named the museum’s deputy director.

“Talent is cheap, but what you do with it is way more important,” Ware says. “This felt like an opportunity to be able to have these larger conversations for the sake of the city’s cultural preservation and relevancy.”

JAKE CLAPP

Joshua Starkman, 38

Musician; Creator, Have a Great Day

In spring 2025, Joshua Starkman jokingly threw his top hat into the race for New Orleans mayor and spent the year campaigning on hellish neoliberal policies and promises to accept bribes. It was gloriously sarcastic and over-the-top, and the musician and content creator wanted to skewer the state of local and national politics.

“I kind of did it because I think the system that we have is claptrap and whatever we’re calling democracy is not democracy. It’s oligarchy. Just look at the leaders we get,” Starkman says. “Whether we’re talking about local entrepreneurship or politics, we can think more outside of the box. We can be more creative. We can try new things and take risks. But we’re not, and that’s why we stew.”

Starkman, a guitarist who grew up in the suburbs of Miami, moved to New Orleans in 2010 after studying jazz at Florida State University and has become a frequent performer with Preservation Hall and its musicians, including Charlie Gabriel, and other local jazz artists.

Since 2018, he’s grown a large social media following through Have a Great Day, a brand as well as a series of videos featuring numerous other New Orleans artists. Often, a video will feature a smiling Starkman sashaying out of his house with a social justice message.

Starkman also in recent years has worked on social media campaigns and offered creative services to other people and businesses. (Starkman ultimately supported the Helena Moreno campaign last fall.)

Recently, though, his attention has been shifting to other parts of his life. He’s been focusing more on guitar, and he’s now teaching lessons and recording instrumental music. He’s also the inhouse content creator for Music Box Village.

“I just want to exemplify things that show people that life is worth living,” Starkman says. “And music being that and camaraderie and finding common ground in spite of whatever differences are on the surface.” — JAKE CLAPP

Caroline Morgan, 38

Vice President of Marketing and

Strategy,

AOS Interior Environments

When Hurricane Katrina interrupted Caroline Morgan’s first week at Loyola University New Orleans, her parents told her not to unpack. Instead, they grabbed a po-boy at Parasol’s, packed a few essentials and assumed she’d be back in New Orleans a few days later. Instead, Morgan spent a semester at Loyola University Chicago before returning to New Orleans in early 2006. She spent weekends gutting flooded houses

Sultana Isham, 35 Composer, Violinist, Researcher

Composer and classically trained violinist Sultana Isham has scored a number of documentaries exploring race.

That includes the Peabody Award-winning HBO docuseries, “Stax: Soulsville USA” about the Stax Records label. She also wrote original music for “Declarations: Black Americans and the Revolutionary War,” which premiered last month and is streaming through PBS.

Previously, Isham scored the Emmy-nominated documentary about Confederate monument removals, “The Neutral Ground,” which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021, and she was a composer and researcher for the 2018 documentary “All Skinfolk Ain’t Kinfolk,” examining the mayoral race between Desiree Charbonnet and LaToya Cantrell. Overall, her creative process is “rooted in transformation, impermanence and memory,” Isham says. She’s inspired by “many people across disciplines and time who snatched their freedom without permission.”

Upcoming projects include work with French filmmaker Marguerite de Bourgoing on a documentary about Edmond Dede, the New Orleans-born Creole musician and conductor who composed “Morgiane,” the oldest-known complete opera by a Black American. Isham also is working on scoring an immersive planetarium opera called “Rogue Objects” with director Janani Balasubramanian. It’s based on the

with classmates. At night, she studied flash cards while working the door at Tipitina’s, where benefit concerts became, as she describes them, “church.”

Today, Morgan still sees herself rebuilding New Orleans, although her tools have changed.

After earning an MBA and working in advertising and the maritime industry, Morgan joined AOS Interior Environments 16 years ago. The commercial interiors company helps furnish everything from stores and office spaces to dorms. She has since helped build the company’s marketing department, reshape its brand and expand its community partnerships as it has grown to generate more than $50 million in annual revenue.

Much of Morgan’s work centers on opening doors for others. She helped establish a $90,000 scholarship for underrepresented students in LSU’s School of Interior Design and helped develop internship and workforce-development programs with GNO, Inc., NOMA Project Pipeline and Women in STEM. Morgan also has helped connect students with mentors in the design and construction fields.

Outside the office, Morgan serves as co-chair of NOLA Funk Fest, and she created Design at HeART, a fundraiser pairing artists and designers to benefit KID smART. The event has raised money for arts education while introducing nonprofits to new donors and connecting young designers to mentors.

“I was given access,” Morgan says. “I was given opportunity.”

And now, she says, much of her work focuses on creating those same opportunities for others.

— LIAM PIERCE

research of previously under-studied brown dwarfs by American Museum of Natural History astrophysicists.

Isham also is an academic researcher whose work focuses on the intersection of race, gender and ethnomusicology. She’s wrapping up a research fellowship through the University of Kansas, creating a multimodal archival project about Papa Joe’s, a historically racially segregated trans strip club in New Orleans that eventually allowed trans women of color.

Isham says she often turns to nature to tap into her creativity. “I have a very deep love affair with the Colorado mountains,” she says. “I’ve done some of my best writing, orchestrating, and thinking alone with the Tava-Kaavi spirit.” — SARAH RAVITS

PHOTO BY MADDIE SPINNER / GAMBIT

PHOTO BY HARLIN MILLER

Radha Yerramilli, 31

Director of Con ict Representation, Orleans Public Defenders

Radha Yerramilli has a tattoo of the word “rage,” an emotion she channels for her work with Orleans Public Defenders (OPD).

“At my core, it is rage,” she says. “I’m angry that kids that I love have to do the things that we ask them to and then get punished for it.”

At OPD, she oversees representation for clients the office cannot ethically represent due to conflicts of interest. If two people are accused in the same case, for example, one lawyer’s best defense may implicate the other client, creating a conflict of interest.

Yerramilli determines when those conflicts exist, then connects clients with contracted attorneys outside of OPD. But she also wants those clients to receive more than a lawyer.

In the past, contracted attorneys did not have a consistent system for accessing services that OPD provided in-house such as investigators, social workers, mitigation specialists, interpreters and client advocates. Seeing a need, Yerramilli built a network of providers, so that contracted attorneys could assemble teams based on each client’s needs.

In 2025, she re-launched a new model of holistic defense through OPD’s Conflict Division, a small, full-time unit handling some of the office’s most serious conflict cases

The work grew from her time spent representing children at the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights. There, she represented a child who repeatedly entered the court system alongside his brother. Her client had access to an investigator and social worker and spent less than a year incarcerated. His brother, whose lawyer did not have access to those same resources, spent years behind bars.

“The true and honest difference was not lawyering,” Yerramilli says. “My kid had a social worker he could call whenever his mom kicked him out of the house.”

Yerramilli estimates conflict cases account for 15% to 25% of OPD’s work, or roughly 1,000 clients in some years.

“Our folks deserve more,” she says. “They deserve more than just lawyers. They deserve the opportunity to access a life without the system.”

Noam Platt, 36

Founder and Executive Director, MakeGood Design

Noam Platt’s MakeGood nonprofit is making the world more accessible for people with special needs and disabilities, one 3D-printed device at a time.

Platt launched the organization in 2021 after using 3D-printing technology to create an assistive toilet seat for a friend in New Orleans whose son has cerebral palsy.

Nikki Ummel, 36

Poet; Specialty Writer, Park Evaluations; Executive Director, LMNL Arts

Most days, Nikki Ummel writes arguments explaining why someone should be allowed to stay in the U.S.

As a specialty writer for Park Evaluations, Ummel researches and writes immigration petitions that help attorneys advocate for clients seeking visas or permanent residency. It’s technical writing, but it’s also storytelling.

One week that might mean researching an 89-yearold Chinese composer preserving centuries-old folk music. Another, it might mean making the case for a kindergarten teacher or a humanitarian with Doctors Without Borders.

The belief that stories can change lives runs through everything else Ummel does.

After nearly a decade teaching English and humanities in New Orleans schools, she enrolled in the University of New Orleans’ MFA program hoping to become a better writing teacher. Instead, she discovered she had become a writer herself.

Ummel has since won the 2025 New American Poetry Prize for her forthcoming collection “Swamp Elegies,” and continues to publish poetry and creative nonfiction — which are sometimes inspired by her work at Park Evaluations.

She also co-founded the volunteer-run literary nonprofit LMNL Arts (pronounced “liminal”) in 2022. With a budget of around $6,000 and four volunteer organizers, LMNL hosts monthly readings, workshops, an annual arts festival and writing contests while paying featured readers, workshop leaders and contest judges — an uncommon practice in a field where artists are often expected to work for free.

That first creation was both affordable and easily replicated. It also made a huge difference to a family.

So Platt, an architect specializing in healthcare design, began exploring more ways 3D-printing technology could help people who struggle with everyday tasks, from walking or holding a pen to buckling a wheelchair strap.

Today, MakeGood functions as a collective, working with nearly 100 makers and differently abled designers to create open-source designs for assistive devices that anyone can download and 3D-print at a much lower cost than traditional assistive devices. By partnering with healthcare organizations and universities, the New Orleans-based nonprofit also has been able to deliver thousands of devices — for free — to families in need.

“We’ve made 7,000 to 8,000 devices in five years,” Platt says. That’s in addition to the “tens of thousands” of devices that have been downloaded globally, he notes.

Their signature device is a brightly colored, customizable rolling chair that helps kids ages 1-8 navigate their environment. “The reality is there’s a million kids who need these chairs in the South,” Platt says. “We’re barely scratching the surface.”

Along with their fundraising and design development efforts, MakeGood also is expanding into design education programs.

At the end of the day, “we want to get the most devices to the most people” at little to no cost to those in need, Platt says. — JENNIFER ODELL

And rather than compete with the city’s many literary organizations, LMNL collaborates with them, connecting newcomers from the MFA program with long-established reading series and bringing visiting writers into conversation with local voices. “Community equals connection” has become the organization’s guiding philosophy, and one Ummel tries to embody throughout her work, she says.

Whether Ummel is helping an immigrant tell their story, mentoring a new writer or building another space where people can gather around language, she keeps returning to the same idea: Stories matter most when they’re shared. — LIAM PIERCE

PHOTO BY MADDIE SPINNER / GAMBIT

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Ryan Gilbert, 34 Educator, Artist

Ryan Gilbert, also known as “Phlegm,” is a New Orleans educator, artist and DJ, but he prefers to identify as a storyteller. Across each outlet, he’s rooted in the same belief: community is both the foundation and the purpose of his work.

“As a Black New Orleanian, I don’t know a life without community,” he says. “DJing, teaching, my art practice, they’re the ways I can pay people back.”

In 2022, Black Education for New Orleans (BE NOLA) recognized Gilbert with its Black is Brilliant: Teacher of the Year award, and the next year, Gilbert was a semi-finalist for the state’s Teacher of the Year award.

Alexis Marceaux, 37

Musician, Sweet Crude and Alexis & the Sanity; Director of Community Programming, La tte Greenway

It didn’t take Alexis Marceaux long to start playing music. “As soon as I could walk, I was hitting the cowbell” along to her dad’s drum practices, she says. At 9, Marceaux started studying music and joined the local choir, and within several years, she was playing piano and guitar and writing her own music. Then it was off to study musical theater at the New Orleans Center

for the Creative Arts to become a more well-rounded performer.

Gilbert comes from a lineage of educators, and he has spent the last 11 years teaching science, where he often takes complex lessons and curates them into immersive and theatrical experiences. One of his most beloved projects is a pickle crime scene for his forensics class, accompanied by a New Orleans-style funeral. It’s a direct example of those life philosophies.

He also coined the mantra “Everything You Love About New Orleans Is Because of Black People.”

As a DJ, Gilbert draws from the Black experience to create spaces rooted in collective joy. And those same instincts shape his visual artwork, which he describes as a “Black spiritual theatrical practice.”

Through self-portraiture and influenced by ceremonial face painting, Gilbert creates “ritual dramas,” a concept coined by Marimba Ani that aims to “affirm that Black people exist, and to cement themselves in place and time,” braiding Black ethos, Black influence and Black inspiration together into one.

— MADDIE SPINNER

“In my bands, I definitely utilize that skillset tremendously,” Marceaux says. “I get to emote with my face like an actor, I get to move my body and dance ... and I get to use my voice as an instrument.”

Marceaux met Sam Craft and several of her other future bandmates at a Blue Nile show in 2009, when “the New Orleans indie rock scene was popping off,” she says. She’d grown up singing in Louisiana French with her grandfather, an accordion player, and she and Craft bonded over wanting to bring the language to a younger audience.

“Putting this pop spin on the dialect allows people that wouldn’t know about the history of it to learn about the history of it,” she says.

Over the following years, they formed the duo Alexis & the Samurai (now Alexis & the Sanity) and indie rock six-piece Sweet Crude. Marceaux was also a contestant on “The Voice” in 2012.

Sweet Crude plays the local festival circuit and toured throughout the U.S. and Canada with Tank and the Bangas in 2017. The band is currently working on an album completely reimagining Louisiana French classics, planned for 2027.

As director of community programming for the Laffite Greenway, she helps bring live music, theater and more to the public space and give a platform to new performers.

“It’s important for our emerging artists to have a place to feel like they’re learning and comfortable,” she says.

— KAYLEE POCHE

Nicholas Bijou, 35 CEO, Einstein Charter Schools

When New Orleans native Nicholas Bijou started teaching in 2013, he measured success in terms of something less tangible than test scores.

“For me, if a student left believing in themselves, believing they could achieve more than they thought was possible, then I had succeeded,” he says. “Today, I still feel like it’s the same. That vision has just grown.”

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On Jan. 1, Bijou stepped in as the interim chief executive officer of Einstein Charter Schools in New Orleans East, where he began as a high school biology teacher five years earlier. A jump in his students’ LEAP scores inspired an early move into the network’s instructional coach role. He was serving as the organization’s administrative officer in 2025 when the Einstein Charter Schools board announced plans to shutter its high school, Sarah T. Reed, and merge its three primary schools into one — with Bijou helming the transition.

Now Einstein’s permanent CEO, Bijou leads the team that will open Einstein Charter at Sherwood Forest, serving pre-K through 8th grade students who previously attended the network’s Village de l’Est, Einstein Middle and Sherwood Forest campuses.

Bijou has already helped launch STEAM initiatives like a hands-on aquaponics program, but his goals also extend beyond curriculum. Bijou’s team recently partnered with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence to train students and teachers in skills like effective communication, conflict resolution and emotional regulation.

“Our mission is to nurture every child to be academically strong as well as socially and emotionally resilient,” says Bijou, who’s also working on a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership through LSU.

At Einstein, the St. Augustine High School grad says he wants to help prove “academic excellence, emotional intelligence, innovation and equity belong together” in the classroom. — JENNIFER ODELL

Rahim Glaspy, 34 Actor, Vocalist

In the video for his recently released song

“Hurts When I Smile,” Rahim Glaspy wears clown makeup.

He starts a cappella before a beat kicks in and he sings about being on stage to please the viewer. Then Kr3wcial jumps in with a guest feature, and the rapper also produced the single.

“It’s telling the artist that it’s OK to take off the mask,” Glaspy says. “Even though I have the clown look and clown makeup on, I am not a clown. That is just a mask.”

The single is the first part of a bigger project, with more original songs, and he hopes to turn it into a full drama as well. He’s put teasers of its musical and visual concepts on his Instagram, @thegreatglaspy_.

Glaspy has pursued both stage and music careers. A fan of professional wrestling, his earliest forays into performance included scripted wrestling matches he organized with friends for his community while growing up in the Calliope housing projects, he says. He got his first taste of wider exposure while at McDonogh 35 High School. He was in a production of “Dreamgirls” that was featured on the BET network, and he traveled to Paris with a production of “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”

“Theater is my first love,” he says. “Everything I have always wanted to do is be an actor on stage and win a Tony.”

His professional credits include “Hair,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” and the recent “Guys and Dolls” at Le Petit Theatre, as well as the NOLA Project’s 2024 production of “The Colored Museum.” He’ll be in Harold Ellis Clark’s “Ganking Mr. Guidry,” which premieres at Le Petit in August.

On the music side, he was in Ryan Batiste’s Raw Revolution and later spent a few years singing with future funk band Water Seed. His solo albums include the multi-genre sampler “No More Karaoke” and “ROTG.”

Glaspy also has film credits and is the host of The Moth storytelling contest and of the burlesque show Bri & the Sparkling Diamonds. But for now, he’s most focused on his latest project, “The Clown Show.”

“It’s my love letter to New Orleans,” Glaspy says. — WILL COVIELLO

Delaney Nolan, 37

Environmental Reporter, The Lens; Fiction Writer

“Sometimes fiction, sometimes the apocalypse beat” is how Delaney Nolan sums up her career on Instagram. She writes in similarly direct terms at The Lens, where she covers climate change and displacement, and in her 2025 novel, “Happy Bad.” Her debut novel traces the messy fallout of a climate change-induced disaster, as told by a residential treatment center counselor.

“Maybe I’m some kind of adrenaline chaser,” Nolan says. “I like learning about disasters and the urgency it brings.”

Although she intentionally keeps her award-winning fiction, poetry and nonfiction writing separate, the throughline between them is easy to spot. Born and raised outside Boston, Nolan earned her MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She has worked extensively in mutual aid, coordinating services for refugees in Greece and providing outreach to unhoused people in New Orleans through Southern Solidarity.

When Hurricane Ida hit South Louisiana in 2021, Nolan recalls, she’d already “seen firsthand how our systems were not getting people’s needs met” in New Orleans.

“I would get so frustrated, I’d want to explain it to people,” she says.

After Ida struck, Nolan traveled to Terrebonne Parish with basic recovery supplies. While she was there, she met Elder Chief Shirell Parfait-Dardar of the Grand Caillou-Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw. Their land was “disappearing around them,” Nolan recalls, but “she was understandably skeptical of the government’s plans to relocate her people.” Instead, the group planned to move on their own.

Nolan reported on the story, launching her journalism career in the process. Since then, she’s covered the effects of dangerous herbicides on the Mississippi Basin, migration issues related to local ICE raids, New Orleans’ ties to conflict zones on the Palestinian West Bank and more.

— JENNIFER ODELL

Mik Grantham, 35

Writer;

Co-Founder, Lowpoint Co ee; Co-Founder, Disorder Press

Reading books or writing for hours at coffeehouses was a regular “family activity” for Mik Grantham while growing up in the Bay Area. Now that Grantham is a published author and mom herself, she’s keeping the spirit of those family outings alive at Lowpoint, the book-friendly Bywater cafe she opened in 2021 with Potter DeBella.

“Having a bookstore was always a part of my vision for Lowpoint,” says Grantham, whose indie publishing venture Disorder Press was just one of many small presses featured on the shelves at Lowpoint’s original Poland Avenue outpost.

The building previously housed Solo Espresso, where Grantham and DeBella worked as baristas before its closure during the pandemic. Together, they revitalized the tiny space into what became a sort of community hub featuring music and literary events, a mini-book shop, coffee from assorted small roasters, pastries, Italian-inspired small plates and natural wines.

Last fall, Lowpoint relocated to 3700 St. Claude Ave. Although Grantham was eight months pregnant at the time, she and DeBella faced skyrocketing rent and multiple building and location problems after a notoriously difficult summer for local businesses. The bright, airy new space is three times larger than Lowpoint’s original location, Grantham says, and more affordable.

Now back from maternity leave, Grantham is gearing up to install new bookshelves in the new space, where she also plans to resume hosting readings and a monthly book club. She’s also working on a new book “about postpartum depression, identity and motherhood,” a follow-up to her 2021 poetry collection, “Hardcore.”

“I truly believe books and art can bring people together and close the divide,” Grantham says. “They give us perspective on other human being’s experiences that we might not ever know or have considered.”

— JENNIFER ODELL

Nadia Sanchez, 38

Founder, Love Your Neighbor NOLA

In 2018, Nadia Sanchez and her family experienced a life-changing tragedy. Her mother was killed in a carjacking in Gentilly, and Sanchez’s husband suffered a traumatic brain injury trying to stop it.

During hearings with the three teens who committed the crime, Sanchez found herself empathizing with them as she listened to the hardships they’d been

through and witnessed what seemed to be a lack of family present.

When Sanchez was growing up, her mother was in a physically abusive relationship for around a decade and developed an addiction to alcohol. Having a supportive family, Sanchez says, made a huge difference.

“I had aunts, cousins and grandparents that would take me for the summer and would pay for me to do things my mom couldn’t afford and really exposed me to a different side of life than what it seemed like the defendants had,” she says.

So Sanchez poured herself into community work, starting the next year. First, she continued the work her mother, a pastor, had done. Sanchez’s organization Love Your Neighbor NOLA officially became a nonprofit in 2021, anchored in New Orleans East.

The team connects parents to physical resources, like formula, diapers, car seats and strollers as well as mental health resources like therapist-led talks and paid-for individual therapy sessions. They also started an art and music therapy summer program for kids ages 6-12 to do art twice a week, which will evolve into an after-school program.

They can’t meet every need, Sanchez says, so they work with New Orleans East clinics, the city’s Family Connects program for postpartum mothers and more.

Sanchez says it took a while to build trust in the community through consistency, but she estimates her organization now helps around 200-300 families a year.

“All of our growth, almost, is word of mouth from parents that come,” she says. “That’s monumental to us.” — KAYLEE POCHE

PHOTO BY BRYAN TARNOWSKI

PHOTO BY RETT ROGERS

Julianne Lagniappe, 39

Costume Designer; Garment Maker; Visual Artist

Lagniappe started taking classes at UNO (now LSU New Orleans) while she was still in high school and earned an art history degree. She then spent seven years in Los Angeles, doing upholstery and making clothes, including costumes for Burning Man in Nevada. That’s when she created a spandex mask with a zipper so that people could protect their face from dust but still drink or smoke a cigarette.

Lagniappe returned to New Orleans in 2016 and met people from Krewe du Vieux. She began making costumes and floats for the parade and now makes their royalty’s costumes, too.

Her work can also be found at the immersive museum JAMNOLA. As one of three lead artists for the expanded location that opened last year, she created The Rougerie exhibit, inspired by Storyville, and the Fountain of You, a reflective wishing well.

Through costume design and garment making, Lagniappe’s been able to help people celebrate all sorts of special occasions like weddings or major birthdays.

“People come to me in these milestone moments in their lives to commemorate an amazing event with a garment,” she says, adding, “It’s about helping the client become their best self.”

Julianne Lagniappe started learning how to sew from her mother at the ripe old age of 5. “Turns out that I like making dolls more than I like playing with them,” she says.

In high school, she made her own clothes in an attempt to add some personality to the uniform, causing her to get “sent to the vice principal’s office to argue about whether or not the Mandarin collar counted as a collar.”

Winsley Melancon, 36

Cultural Storyteller, Media Personality

Winsley Melancon grew up in the 9th Ward in a household full of creatives and educators. And those influences shaped her understanding that culture is something meant to be shared, protected and passed down.

Today, the cultural storyteller and preservationist is a content creator and writer for the New Orleans platform

Newtral Groundz and uses her social media and work to connect communities, whether through coverage of second lines, local musicians or her Black History Month writing series.

Melancon was inspired to create the Black History Month series two years

In fact, at his request, legendary bluesman Walter “Wolfman” Washington is buried in the sparkly red costume Lagniappe made for him. This helped her see that fashion isn’t just “frivolous.”

“These are pieces of art that people live their lives in,” she says.

—

KAYLEE POCHE

ago for her daughter. “I saw how important it was for people to actually know about these parts of New Orleans, especially in relation to Black culture,” she says. Recently, Melancon also has expanded into making bounce music in collaboration with artist Mikecol.

As a person who wears many hats, Melancon works on staying grounded and balanced.

“Try not to stay so serious, find moments to take a breather and take care of yourself,” she says.

— MADDIE SPINNER

Aubrey Allison, 34

Online Content Creator

Aubrey Allison is better known online as @AubreyAvocado. While commenting on New Orleans events, supporting causes and just filming ordinary life in the city, she’s had numerous posts go viral on TikTok and Instagram.

Posts on the last year’s jailbreak at Orleans Parish Prison and the bubble parade in defense of a local bar in the French Quarter have racked up millions of views. But even simple things can go viral, like a recent video of a kid doing a trick on a bicycle for a crowd at Pal’s Lounge.

“It’s probably up there at three-point-something million on Instagram,” Allison says. “That was grabbed for a TV morning show. Some of it is random luck, being in the right place at the right time, but I think there’s a little bit of an instinct for that.”

Allison grew up in Baton Rouge and discovered a knack for using social media in college when she handled the accounts of a smoothie bar. Now she has her own marketing company, Platform Creative Company.

She says she violates her own rules sometimes and follows her whims with her personal feed.

“I wish I was more planned out and organized with it,” she says. “But it’s more based in what’s happening in the moment, what’s in the news recently. It’s this living moving thing that you can’t plan out too much.”

But Allison also uses her platform for advocacy on local issues, including providing basic information about fall elections.

“One of my intentions is to spread awareness with my page with trying to make confusing election information less confusing,” she says. — WILL COVIELLO

Victor Romero, 17 High School Student; Activist

In an attempt to stay off TikTok during the pandemic, Kenner native Victor Romero instead turned to watching longer-form political news on YouTube. He was only around 11 at the time, but the 2020 presidential election showed him politics was something he should pay attention to, especially as the son of immigrants.

In seventh grade, his English teacher taught them about figures like Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Now, Romero is applying those lessons to community level activism, starting with Jefferson Parish schools.

“When you look at Jefferson Parish, it’s one of the largest parishes in Louisiana, and there’s so much wealth disparities in the school system, so much disparity in resources in the racial composition of the schools,” he says.

In February, Romero, a rising senior at magnet school Patrick F. Taylor Academy, formed Student Action Movement with a friend, a group that has since grown to 17 student organizers at schools across the district. In March, they organized a walkout against the Trump administration’s antiimmigrant raids with an estimated 150 students participating between four high schools.

It was a powerful demonstration in a parish with a large immigrant population.

In June, Romero spoke at his first school board meeting, arguing against the closure of schools and for increasing teacher pay, among other issues.

“I felt like something needed to be said because over the past 10 years that I’ve been in this school district, I haven’t felt like my education has been the best that it could be,” he says.

Romero hopes to eventually have lots of students speaking at every school board meeting. And his student group is working to start their own mutual aid network.

After graduation, Romero plans to go to college to become a seventh grade English teacher, just like the one that inspired him years ago.

“I want to continue that sort of legacy and help students also get involved in politics as students,” he says. — KAYLEE POCHE

Alexandra Holliday, 26

Policy and Development Strategist, Celebrate Canal! Coalition; Graduate Research Assistant, LSU New Orleans

Alexandra Holliday is imagining a different kind of Canal Street: a more family-friendly destination that’s appealing to locals as much as visitors.

As the policy and development strategist at the Celebrate Canal! Coalition, she is working to improve the historic corridor, particularly the area bordering the French Quarter and downtown. The organization is trying to revive the street with public art projects, beautification and safety initiatives and transform the aging storefronts and vacancies into modern attractions.

Their “Windows on Canal” initiative last year featured multimedia art installations on local storefronts and an audio tour voiced by Ivan Neville. The group also works with city leaders and members of the Downtown Development District to figure out ways to attract local businesses.

“If you look up, there are beautiful buildings and so much history on that street, and a lot of that has fallen to the same iteration of one type of store,” Holliday says. “But you talk to anyone here, and they’ll tell you, ‘I (used to come here) with my mom or my grandma,’ and you can hear people get so excited about these beautiful memories.”

Holliday also is working on her doctorate degree as a graduate research assistant at LSU New Orleans, focusing on transportation and urban studies. She completed her master’s degree in May. She is passionate about the use of public transit and wants to see the city become more accessible and safer for pedestrians and people who don’t travel by car.

She credits Bethany Stich, an urban planner and director of the LSU New Orleans Transportation Institute, as one of her role models, along with Sandra Herman, president and founder of Celebrate Canal!.

“These women are so badass, they’re gungho, and they believe in what they do,” she says. “They’re just strong women that shape a lot of this part of my life.” — SARAH RAVITS

EAT + DRINK

Neighborhood retreat

Respite opens along Bayou

THERE’S A TASTY NEW REASON TO HEAD TO HISTORIC BAYOU ROAD along Esplanade Ridge. What was once a trading route that linked the Mississippi River to Bayou St. John is now a growing dining destination. The pocket neighborhood has become a magnet for Black-owned restaurants and businesses, including Addis NOLA, Coco Hut and Whiskey & Sticks. Pagoda Cafe and Leo’s Bread are two popular spots for breakfast and lunch.

Now Respite is adding fresh oysters and seasonal global dishes to the mix. The compact cafe is tucked behind Leo’s and faces Bayou Road at 2438 Bell St. Chef Haley Vaughan, 27, and her business partner Sage Ellis, 30, opened Respite last month. The friends met four years ago when Vaughan was cooking at Honey’s in the Marigny. Ellis, a longtime front-of-the-house worker, had become a regular customer there.

The two friends discovered they shared a common vision of the right way to run a restaurant. Both have worked in hospitality since they were 15. Ellis first worked in the front of the house at an oyster bar in Los Angeles, where she grew up. Vaughan started at a coffee shop in her tiny hometown in North Carolina.

When the coffee shop’s owners decided to move back home to New Orleans, Vaughan wound up following them. “I fell in love with the city and never looked back,” she says.

She worked at HEY Coffee Co. on the Greenway and Fourth Wall in the CBD as well as for a French chef across the lake.

“I took a few semesters of college, but it wasn’t for me,” she says. “I found my passion in cooking. Hospitality in New Orleans is special. It wasn’t viewed as a career back where I grew up, but here it is.”

Ellis also leaned into hospitality, moving to New Orleans and working at Mosquito Supper Club and Seaworthy. At Respite, the partners have brought their shared vision to life.

Road by Beth D’Addono |

“We had to build everything out,” Vaughan says. “It was just an empty box.”

“We knew we worked well together after we did a construction project together,” Ellis adds.

With the help of talented friends, including Justin Andre of Opossum Woodshop and artist/fabricator Jordan Hess, they accented the 28-seat restaurant with custom-milled wooden booths and linen and metal sconces inspired by 1970s designs from Silvio Coppola.

Vaughan’s menu is filled with farm-raised produce and local fish and oysters. Crusty bread comes from the adjacent Leo’s. They compost and recycle as much as possible.

The menu is as compact as Respite’s kitchen. Smaller plates include the steak tartare, made from the trimmings of the NY strip served with french fries. There’s a summer panzanella salad and a version made last week had juicy peaches, green beans, tomatoes, torn Leo’s bread and brown butter vinaigrette.

Eggplant Milanese has charred slices of aubergine pounded like a cutlet, breaded, fried and topped with a Romesco sauce, stracciatella and a pickled summer vegetable salad. A vegan cabbage roll is modeled on a dish the chef tried in Greece, with slightly crisp cabbage bathed in a light miso broth instead of the usual heavier tomato sauce.

The oyster program includes farmed oysters from the Gulf, as well as bivalves from colder waters, available raw and char-grilled.

There’s always a whole Gulf fish, and one recent dish featured porgy with a criolla nuoc cham, herbs and peanuts. Because she doesn’t have a walk-in refrigerator, items like the fish sometimes run out.

“Some people expect to get anything they want on the menu, but especially in a space where Haley is prepping the entire menu every day, we see selling out as a goal,” says Ellis, who curated a wine list aimed to support smaller producers.

A vein of sustainability is one of their North Stars. Treating staff well is another. They emphasize cross training, guarantee an agreed-upon hourly wage and encourage the kind of work-life balance that gives the team flexibility to have other jobs, take care of their kids or go on vacation.

“We wanted Respite to be a place where the emphasis is on the food, on the time our guests are having with friends,” Ellis says.

“So far we see people come in and order everything on the menu and a few bottles of wine, and we also see people coming in with their laptop for an aperitivo and an order of fries in the late afternoon,” Ellis adds. “We love being that to this neighborhood.”

+ CENTER

Stuph’D

hits the road

STUPH’D BEIGNETS & BURGERS IS KNOWN FOR SERVING BEIGNETS with sweet or savory fillings at its Bywater restaurant. In its latest venture, founder Duana Lawrence, her daughter Dionne Lewis and her father Sherman Clarke put their concept to the test in Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race.”

The Stuph’D team faces seven other food trucks in the TV cooking competition, which premieres at 8 p.m. Sunday, July 26, on Food Network. Celebrity chef Tyler Florence hosts the competition. The teams start in Nashville and trek to different cities for new challenges, culminating in the final showdown in Louisville, Kentucky, in September. The first place team wins a $50,000 prize. The show features four teams known for savory foods and four known for sweet items, ranging from pizza to doughnuts, and other trucks have their own hybrid specialties, like the waffle-meets-quesadilla concept Waffadilla from Illinois.

Stuph’D has mastered using beignets as the base for sweet and savory fillings. Their menu includes sweet beignets filled with cheesecake and fruit or sweet potato pie filling. Savory options include hot sausage, Creole crawfish and a veggie one with peppers, onions, mushrooms and cheese. Lawrence originally launched the concept as a pop-up inside a MidCity bar and later moved to her own location in Gentilly. Then, early in the pandemic, they moved to the current spot at 3325 St. Claude Ave.

Sage Ellis, left, and Haley Vaughan opened Respite.

PHOTO BY MADDIE SPINNER / GAMBIT

Stuph’D Beignets and Burgers’ Duana Lawrence, left, Sherman Clark and Dionne Lewis compete on Food Network’s ‘The Great Food Truck Race.’

PHOTO BY CONNIE CHORNUK / COURTESY OF FOOD NETWORK

The restaurant was featured on TV before in the reality TV show “My Amazing Cheap Date,” in which couples try to plan a fun date and spend less than $50.

This is their first cooking competition, and their first foray into cooking on a truck. Lawrence and Lewis handled the cooking, and Clarke got behind the wheel of the big bright orange and purple truck. For more information about the show, go to foodnetwork.com/ shows. For more about Stuph’D Beignets and burgers, visit getstpuphd.com. — Will Coviello

Southern Italian

FORK & CENTER

IN NEW ORLEANS, SOUTHERN ITALIAN COOKING USUALLY POINTS TO CREOLE ITALIAN, the adaptation of Sicilian traditions specific to southeast Louisiana.

Soon though, a new restaurant in the Marigny will open with a menu drawn directly from what people in Italy understand as southern Italian cooking from the mainland — the traditions of Campania, especially Naples and the Amalfi Coast.

Procida is now taking shape at 2000 Burgundy St., slated to open in early August.

It’s the first restaurant from Italianborn chef Valeriano Chiella, previously executive chef at Domenica who later ran the pop-up Fico Cucina.

Procida’s opening menu will include Italian comfort food (think meatballs), but seafood and lighter coastal dishes will be the focus.

The idea, Chiella says, is to apply the same rigor in sourcing and technique that modern Italian restaurants have done with northern Italian cuisine to the dishes of the south.

Crudo platters finished with colatura di alici (an Amalfi fish sauce), swordfish carpaccio and linguini with lobster are some examples, and the chef has a regional pasta dish in mind that he compares to a French onion soup merged with an Italian ragu.

One facet of his menu will have entrees offered with a choice of sides, in the traditional style of a trattoria. This will allow more seasonality in the selection, he says.

Procida’s building, across from the Ruby Slipper brunch spot’s Marigny location at the corner of Burgundy and Touro streets, was previously Barrilleaux’s Weddings and Events.

The space, now under renovation, will have a large bar finished with blue tile and a pink-toned marble top. The front dining room will have both loungestyle seating for drop-by visits and wall-hugging booths, while a second dining room separated by curtains will

be flexible for private events. With sidewalk tables under the gallery, Procida will have about 130 seats.

The name comes from an island off the coast of Naples, which Chiella describes as more of a low-key destination for people from the region rather than a tourist hub. He compares that to the Marigny in relation to the French Quarter. — Ian McNulty / The Times-Picayune

CBD sushi

A NEW SUSHI AND HIBACHI RESTAURANT

IS SLATED TO OPEN on the ground floor of a downtown parking garage by the end of the year, bringing the flamboyant flat-top grilling style to a long-vacant space in the Central Business District. Uni Sushi & Hibachi is set to occupy the 3,700-square-foot space at the corner of Roosevelt Way and Common Street next to the Orpheum Theater after city officials this month issued a permit for a more than $1 million buildout of the property.

The space was home to Cleo’s Mediterranean Cuisine and Convenience from 2013 to 2017.

The new restaurant will be operated by Lin and Sky Huang, relatives of Florida-based property owner Thomas Gigliotti Jr., whose company Parking Management Services owns seven garages and handles valet services for 58 hotels in New Orleans.

Gigliotti says the space has been designed to make the cooking visible to passersby.

“We’re wrapping glass all the way around the building,” he says. “It’s going to open that whole corner up beautifully, so when people are stopped at the red light, they’ll be seeing flames going up, and it’ll be a little showtime.”

Plans for the restaurant call for more than 100 seats spread across three dining rooms and a bar area, with four hibachi tables and a sushi counter. The restaurant plans to serve alcohol and

operate from 11 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, according to documents filed with the city. The ground floor remodel coincides with more than $1.2 million in separate renovations Gigliotti has planned for the University Parking Garage. It also comes as developer Kailas Companies is converting the upper 18 floors of the former Bank of New Orleans building at nearby 1010 Common St. into the 250room Fairmont New Orleans. Set to open in mid-November, the new Fairmont will include two restaurants from Emeril Lagasse — a second location of Delmonico’s Steakhouse and a more casual spot called The Cafe by Emeril.

Gigliotti says he had long wanted to bring the former Cleo’s space back into commerce and effectively offered to provide a free restaurant build-out to attract a tenant.

“I interviewed so many people,” he says. “Nobody would take me up on it.”

But that changed after a visit with his wife’s niece, Lin, and her husband Sky, an experienced hibachi chef.

“He came to my house and did the show for us,” he says. “I was like, ‘You know what? I think that would be very nice.’ ”

Uni Sushi & Hibachi’s management team is also in line to open up a second, faster-format sushi spot in the lobby of the Fulton Place parking garage, which also is owned by Gigliotti.

Unlike the former Cleo’s space, there has been significant interest in the vacancy at the garage in anticipation of the planned Omni convention center hotel to be built across from the garage, Gugliotti says.

“I’ve had so many people approach me to build out that one little 1,100 square feet,” he says. “Whoever’s in the restaurant, obviously, they’ll do a lot of business as that hotel gets developed.”

Last month, the city council signed off on zoning changes to clear the way for construction of the $600 million, 1,000-room Omni New Orleans. A series of tax rebates sought by the developer has yet to win the approval of state legislators or Superdome commissioners.

Currently, the ground floor of the Fulton Place parking garage is home to several restaurants, including a Joe’s Italian Bistro, Two Chicks Cafe and a Subway sandwich shop, as well as offices of FedEx, Hertz and the Mexican consulate. — Ian McNulty / The Times-Picayune

Chef Valeriano Chiella will open Procida.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY VALERIANO CHIELLA

Out to Eat is an index of Gambit contract advertisers. Unless noted, addresses are for New Orleans and all accept credit cards. Updates: Email willc@gambitweekly.com or call (504) 483-3106.

3rd Block Depot — 316 Chartres St., (504) 552-4095; 3rdblockdepot.com — The menu ranges from seafood and sausage gumbo and Gulf shrimp ceviche to smashburgers and steaks. Brunch brings crab cake Benedict with hollandaise on an English muffin. Reservations available. Breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner daily. $$$

Acropolis Cuisine — 3841 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 888-9046; acropoliscuisine.com — The menu of classic Greek dishes includes souvlaki, gyros and pita wraps, spanakopita, hummus and Greek salads. Moussaka has layers of eggplant, potatoes, zucchini, ground beef and bechamel. No reservations. Lunch and dinner daily. $$ Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream. com — This Mid-City sweet shop serves its own gelato in flavors like praline, salted caramel and tiramisu, as well as Italian ices in flavors like lemon, strawberry and mango. There also are cannolis, biscotti, fig cookies, tiramisu, macaroons and coffee drinks. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $

Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant.com — Gulf fish Capri includes artichokes, crawfish, tomatoes and capers. There also are oysters, seafood pasta dishes, salads, steaks, lamb chops and desserts like bananas Foster bread pudding and lemon icebox tart. Reservations recommended. Dinner Thu.-Mon. $$$ Audubon Clubhouse — 6500 Magazine St., (504) 558-1200; audubonclubhouse.com — The menu by Dickie Brennan and Co. includes crabmeat cheesecake, shrimp remoulade, fried oysters, burgers, sandwiches and more. Shrimp Tchefuncte combines house-made andouille, mushrooms, popcorn rice and Creole meuniere sauce. Outdoor seating available. Reservations recommended. Brunch, lunch and dinner daily. $$$ Banana Blossom — 500 9th St., Gretna, (504) 500-0997; 504bananablossom. com — There are traditional Thai dishes like pad thai, green curry, pineapple fried rice, drunken noodles and coconut shrimp as well as original creations. Beef rib Chiang Mai features a slow-braised beef rib with yellow curry, egg noodles, pickled mustard greens, cilantro and chili oil. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Budsi’s Authentic Thai — 1760 N. Rampart St., (504) 381-4636; budsisthai.com — Chef Budsaba Mason prepares dishes from her native Issan region of Thailand and other popular Thai dishes like papaya salad, grilled pork shoulder, larb, khao soi, pad thai and red curry. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$

Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop — 2309 N. Causeway Blvd., Metairie, (504) 835-2022; gumbostop. com — The Gumbo Stop has several gumbo varieties including chicken and sausage gumbo and seafood gumbo with shrimp, crab and crawfish. The menu also has boudin balls, Bayou shrimp scampi, crawfish etouffee and fried shrimp po-boys. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ The Commissary — 634 Orange St., (504) 274-1850; thecommissarynola.com — Dickie Brennan’s Commissary supplies his other restaurant kitchens and also has

$ — average dinner entrée under $10

$$ $11-$20

$$$ — $20-up

a dine-in menu and prepared foods to go. A smoked turkey sandwich is served with bacon, tomato jam, herbed cream cheese, arugula and herb vinaigrette on honey oat bread. The menu includes dips, salads, sandwiches, boudin balls, fried oysters and more. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Tue.-Sat. $$

The Country Club — 634 Louisa St., (504) 945-0742; thecountryclubneworleans. com — The Bywater restaurant and pool has a menu of crab beignets, truffle mac and cheese, shrimp and grits, burgers and more. Seared redfish is served with kale, toasted chickpeas, sesame seeds, chili crisp and whipped tahini. Outdoor seating available. Reservations recommended. Lunch, brunch and dinner daily. $$$

Delacroix Restaurant — 1 Poydras St., (504) 655-9002; delacroixrestaurant.com

With views overlooking the Mississippi River, the restaurant serves a mix of South Louisiana dishes like smoked duck gumbo, crawfish bisque, shrimp Creole, blackened redfish and crawfish étouffée. Drum amandine is served with green beans and stewed potatoes. Reservations available. Lunch and dinner daily. $$$

Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 5860300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — A menu full of Gulf seafood includes oysters served raw on the half-shell or char-broiled with with Parmesan, garlic and herbs. The menu also includes po-boys, gumbo, blackened fish, fried seafood platters and more. Reservations recommended. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House — 144 Bourbon St., (504) 522-0111; bourbonhouse. com — There’s a seafood raw bar with raw and char-broiled oysters, fish dip, crab fingers, shrimp and more. Redfish “on the half-shell” is cooked skin-on and served with crab-boiled potatoes, frisee and lemon buerre blanc. The bar offers a wide selection of bourbon and whiskies. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$$

Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse — 716 Iberville St., (504) 522-2467; dickiebrennanssteakhouse.com — The menu includes a variety of steaks, plus seared Gulf fish, lobster pasta, barbecue shrimp and more. A 6-ounce filet mignon is served with fried oysters, creamed spinach, potatoes and bearnaise. Reservations recommended. Dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$

Domenica — 123 Baronne St., (504) 6486020; domenicarestaurant.com — The Italian restaurant offers a mix of wood-fired Napolitano-style pizzas and house-made pastas. Appetizers include various salumi and cheese boards, antipasti, roasted cauliflower and more. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$$ Don’s Seafood — 4801 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 888-1555; donsseafoodonline.com — The seafood options range from char-broiled oysters to seafood gumbo, fried shrimp and catfish platters and stuffed flounder. The menu also has rib-eye steaks. Reservations accepted for large parties. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

Elizabeth’s Restaurant — 601 Gallier St., (504) 944-9272; elizabethsrestaurantnola. com — Elizabeth’s is known for its signature praline bacon, and the menu also includes boudin balls, shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles and eggs Florentine. Outdoor seating available. Reservations accepted for parties of 10 or more. Breakfast and lunch daily. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — The Cajun Cuban is stuffed with roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard. The eclectic menu also includes char-grilled oysters, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, fried seafood platters, pasta, salads and more. Delivery available. Reservations accepted for large parties. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

King Brasserie & Bar — Kimpton Hotel Fontenot, 501 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 324-3000; kingbrasserieandbar.com

The restaurant’s menu is inspired by the cuisine of the Riviera and southern France. There are dishes like steak frites and bouillabaisse as well as blackened Gulf fish and barbecue shrimp and oysters. Reservations recommended. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$$ Legacy Kitchen’s Craft Tavern — 700 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 613-2350; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes oysters, flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, salads and sharable plates like NOLA Tot Debris. A slow-cooked pulled pork barbecue sandwich is served with coleslaw on a brioche bun. Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Legacy Kitchen Steak & Chop — 91 Westbank Expressway, Gretna, (504) 513-2606; legacykitchen.com — The selection of steaks and chops includes filet mignon, bone-in rib-eye, top sirloin and double pork chops and a la carte toppings include bearnaise, blue cheese and sauteed crabmeat. There also are burgers, salads, pasta, seafood entrees, char-broiled oysters and more. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$ Luke — 333 St. Charles Ave., (504) 3782840; lukeneworleans.com — The raw bar offers oysters, boiled shrimp, cured tuna, smoked trout dip and more. The menu has dishes like shrimp and grits, crab omelets, crawfish etouffee and steak frites. Reservations encouraged. Breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner daily. $$$ Lyons Corner — 537 Gravier St., (504) 527-0006; lyonscornernola.com — The eclectic menu includes Cajun prawns, bangbang fried oysters, chicken sandwiches, salads and more. In the morning, there are breakfast empanadas, muffins, croissants, scones, beignets and more. Delivery and takeout available. No reservations. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The menu of Japanese cuisine includes sushi, signature rolls, tempura fried items, udon noodles, teriyaki, salads and more.The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado, snow crab, green onion and wasabi roe. Reservations accepted. Delivery available. Lunch Sun.-Fri., dinner daily. $$ Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery serves Italian dishes and specialties including shrimp Mosca, baked oysters Mosca and spaghetti bordelaise and chicken cacciatore. Chicken a la grands is sauteed with garlic, rosemary,

Italian herbs and white wine. Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.-Sat. Cash only. $$$ Mother’s Restaurant — 401 Poydras St., (504) 523-9656; mothersrestaurant. net — This counter-service spot serves po-boys dressed with sliced cabbage like the Famous Ferdi filled with ham, roast beef and debris. Creole favorites include jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, red beans and rice and more. Breakfast is available all day. Delivery available. No reservations. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar & Bistro 720 Orleans Ave., (504) 523-1930; orleansgrapevine.com — The wine bar offers a selectoin of cheese boards and appetizers. Creole pasta combines shrimp and andouille in tomato cream sauce. Reservations accepted for large parties. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$ Pascal’s Manale — 1838 Napoleon Ave., (504) 895-4877; pascalsmanale.com — This Creole-Italian spot invented New Orleansstyle barbecue shrimp, and the menu also includes seafood gumbo, crab cakes, oysters and Italian-style pasta dishes. There’s also an oyster bar. Reservations recommended. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$$

Peacock Room — Kimpton Hotel Fontenot, 501 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 324-3073; peacockroomnola.com — At brunch, braised short rib grillades are served over grits with mushrooms, a poached egg and shaved truffle. The dinner menu has oysters, salads, pasta, shrimp and grits, a burger, cheese plates and more. Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.-Mon., brunch Sun. $$ Pizza Domenica — 4933 Magazine St., (504) 301-4978; pizzadomenica.com

Pizza is the focus of this offshoot of the Italian restaurant Domenica. There also are meatballs, roasted cauliflower and house-made pastas. No reservations. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

Restaurant August — 301 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 299-9777; restaurantaugust. com — The fine dining restaurant serves Creole and contemporary dishes featuring foie gras, Gulf fish, duck and more. Gnocchi are served with crab, summer truffles and Parmesan. Reservations recommended. Dinner Sun.-Fri., lunch Fri. $$$ Rivershack Tavern — 3449 River Road, Jefferson, (504) 834-4938; rivershacktavern.com — This tavern along the levee offers a casual menu of roast beef po-boys, burgers, wraps, fried shrimp platters, catfish and gumbo. A country fried steak is served with brown gravy, mashed potatoes, vegetables and salad. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner daily. $$ Shaya — 4213 Magazine St., (504) 891-4213; shayarestaurant.com — The Mediterranean and Middle Eastern menu includes dishes like hummus, falafel, kebabs, grilled chicken and woodoven pita bread. A chicken schnitzel sandwich is dressed with little gem lettuce, pickles and harissa mayonnaise on sesame brioche bread. Outdoor seating available. Reservations recommended. Lunch and dinner daily. $$$

Stingray’s Restaurant & Bar — 1303 W. Esplanade Ave., Kenner, (504) 443-4040; stingraysseafoodrestaurant.com — Zydeco fish is stuffed with crabmeat dressing and topped with shrimp cream sauce. The menu also includes fried shrimp and oyster

platters, grilled redfish, crabmeat jalapeños, and boudin egg rolls. Reservations available. Lunch and dinner daily. $$$ Tableau — 616 St. Peter St., (504) 934-3463; tableaufrenchquarter.com

The menu features traditional and creative Creole dishes. Pasta bouillabaisse features squid ink mafaldine, little neck clams, Gulf shrimp, squid, seafood broth, rouille and herbed breadcrumbs. Outdoor seating available on the balcony. Reservations recommended. Dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Thu.-Sun. $$$ Tacklebox — 817 Common St., (504) 827-1651; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes raw and char-broiled oysters, seafood platters, po-boys, fried chicken, crab and corn bisque and more. Redfish St. Charles is served with garlic-herb butter, asparagus, mushrooms and crawfish cornbread. Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Tavi — 330 N. New Hampshire St., (985) 200-2045; tavirestaurant. com — The menu combines dishes from the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean. There’s hummus, falafel, kebabs, flatbreads, grilled fish, lamb burgers and more. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 733-3803; 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; theospizza.com — A Marilynn Pota Supreme pie is topped with mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, mushrooms, bell peppers and onions. There also are salads, sandwiches, wings, breadsticks and more. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily. $ The Vintage — 3121 Magazine St., (504) 324-7144; thevintagenola.com — There’s a full coffee drinks menu and baked goods and beignets, as well as a full bar. The menu has flatbreads, cheese boards, small plates and a pressed vegetable sandwich with avocado, onions, arugula, red pepper and pepper jack cheese. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Vyoone’s — 412 Girod St., (504) 381-4384; vyoone.com — The French-Creole menu includes dishes like escargot, crawfish beignets, crab cakes, shrimp pasta, duck a l’orange and lamb chops. Reservations recommended. Dinner Wed.-Sun. $$$ Willa Jean — 611 O’Keefe Ave., (504) 509-7334; willajean.com — The bakery and cafe serves biscuits with honey butter, cookies, pastries, breakfast sandwiches, shrimp and grits and more. Avocado toasts are made with house-baked ciabatta topped with tomatillo, spiced pepitas, pickled onion, cilantro and chipotle aioli. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Breakfast and lunch daily. $$ Yinzer’s Amazing Cheesesteaks — 1514 Delachaise St., (412) 860-6801; yinzersamazingcheesesteaks.com —There are classic and original cheesesteaks filled with steak, chicken and more. Diners can opt for toppings like provolone, house-made cheddar whiz, mushrooms, onions, banana peppers and more. Delivery available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Wed.-Sun. $

for Summer Lyric Theatre at Tulane University. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 30, through Saturday, Aug. 1, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, at Dixon Hall. Tickets $32-$57 via liberalarts. tulane.edu/summer-lyric-theatre.

NOLAKEYS Youth Bike Ride

Music education organization

NOLAKEYS hosts its sixth annual Stop the Violence youth bike ride on Saturday, Aug. 1. Kids ages 11 to 18 can ride a route together around Mid-City, and there will be a party bus for kids under 11 and their parents. There also will be free bicycle rentals and school supplies, food and drinks given to kids who register for the event. The bike ride kicks off at 4 p.m. Find more info and registration through nolakeys.org.

The Body and Big | Brave

The bands The Body and Big | Brave are both celebrated for their experimental approach to heavy music, each pushing the boundaries of doom and sludge in their own ways. They also collaborated on a great (and pleasantly unexpected) album in 2021, “Leaving None but Small Birds.” The bands are now on a co-headlining tour and stop in New Orleans for a show at 9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, at Gasa Gasa. Tickets are $22.85 via gasagasanola.com.

‘You Have No Idea

How Far I’ll Go’

In his new work, “You Have No Idea How Far I’ll Go,” choreographer Calvin Rowe reimagines the story of Orpheus’s descent into the underworld through a noirish lens. Landon Strause and Sierra Carvalho perform their original score live. Rowe has danced with Lightwire Theater, Flock Dance and Of Moving Colors. He previously created the full-length piece “FLUID” during a residency at the Marigny Opera House. At 8 p.m. Thursday, July 30, through Sunday, Aug. 2, at Marigny Opera House. Tickets $33.37 via marignyoperahouse.org.

Mahmoud Chouki

Mahmoud Chouki, a master of the guitar and oud, brings together a stellar lineup of New Orleans musicians for a show at 9 p.m. Friday, July 31, at The Barnett Hotel’s venue Good Measure. Chouki will be joined by guitarist Yusa, bassist Martin Masakowski, drummer Jafet Perez and saxophonist Brad Walker — all in-demand players in the city and abroad. Entry is free. Find more information at goodmeasurenola.com.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder’

In the musical farce, Monty Navarro realizes that he is ninth in line to become the Earl of Highhurst and wonders what he can do about the eight people in front of him. David Hoover directs the show for Jefferson Performing Arts Society. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 31, and Saturday, Aug. 1, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, at the Westwego Performing Arts Theatre. It continues Aug. 7-9. Tickets $42 via ticketmaster.com.

Saigon Jazz Revival and Dong Lan

Vietnamese singer and songwriter Dong Lan blends traditional music from her home country with modern pop and style. She has recently been in New Orleans for several weeks working with Saigon Jazz Revival, a contemporary music project co-directed by Marion Hoang Ngoc Hill, Oscar Rossignoli and Steve Lands. The ensemble of New Orleans musicians was inspired by the Vietnamese jazz scene of the 1950s through the mid-’70s, and Saigon Jazz Revival has this year performed with Vietnam’s Queen of Soul, Carol Kim. Dong Lan and the Saigon Jazz Revival will give a peek at some of their recent collaborations during two concerts hosted by Couches on Friday, July 31. Shows are at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., and tickets are $20 via couchesrecords.com.

Vincent Hsu Jazz Ensemble

Bassist and composer Vincent Hsu mixes jazz, Afro-Cuban influences and Taiwanese music into his sound. Hsu lives in Tawain but spent years in the U S. and is no stranger to New Orleans. While visiting the city years ago, he was influenced to write “Music for the River Jazz Suite,” about the Mississippi River and Taiwan’s Love River. Hsu returns to New Orleans for two performances on Sunday, Aug. 2, at Snug Harbor. Shows are at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $41.30 via snugjazz.com.

Science Time!

Science Time! is a monthly happy hour series featuring presentations on different topics. This month’s meetup will include wildlife biologist Carissa Thiel, a member of the Louisiana Bat Working Group, talking about bats. There will be a Q&A after Thiel’s presentation. Science Time! is at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 30, at Siberia. Free to attend. Find more info at siberianola.com.

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MUSIC

FOR COMP L ETE M US IC L I S TING S AND MORE EVENT S TAKING P L ACE IN THE NEW OR L EAN S AREA, VI S IT CALENDAR.GAMBITWEEKLY.COM

To learn more about adding your event to the music calendar, please email listingsedit@gambitweekly.com

MONDAY 27

30/90 Margie Perez, 6 pm; Piano Man ‘G’, 9 pm

ALLWAYS LOUNGE Betsy Propane & The Accessories, 7 pm

APPLE BARREL — Bread For Sale, 6 pm; Decaturadio, 10:30 pm

BACCHANAL — David Sigler, 6 pm

BAMBOULA’S The New Orleans Rug Cutters, 12 pm; Jon Roniger, 4:30 pm; Ted Hefko & the Thousandaires, 9 pm

BJ’S LOUNGE Red Beans & Blues, 9 pm

BROADSIDE — Mellow Mood Mondays with Gráinne Du y & Firebrain, 7 pm

BUFFA’S — David Doucet, 7 pm

CAFÉ ISTANBUL Vockah Redu & Sissy

Nobby Bounce Verzus, 9 pm

CARROLLTON STATION Biscuits n’ Jam with Meryl Zimmerman & Friends, 10 pm

DBA — Secret Six Jazz Band, 6 pm; Corey Henry & The Treme Funktet, 9:30 pm

THE DOMINO — Upward Spiral - Dub Edition ft. DJs Arose2arose, Nice Rack & More!, 8 pm

DOS JEFES — John Fohl, 8:30 pm

FRITZEL’S JAZZ CLUB Tin Men, 5 pm; Richard Scott & Friends, 8 pm

HOLY DIVER — Puppy Mill & More!, 10 pm

THE MAISON — NOLA Rug Cutters, 5 pm; Gene’s Music Machine, 8 pm

MAPLE LEAF BAR George Porter Jr. Trio, 7 pm; 10 pm

MAYFIELD’S 208 Kermit Ru ns: Red Bean Mondays, 6 pm

NOLA BREWING & PIZZA CO — Bluegrass Pickin' Party, 7 pm

SATURN BAR — BC Coogan, 8:30 pm

SIBERIA Holy Wave + Burnt Sugar, 9 pm

SNUG HARBOR — Charmaine Neville Band, 7:30 pm; 9:30 pm

SPOTTED CAT — Dominick Grillo & The Frenchmen Street All-Stars, 6 pm; Tuba Skinny, 9 pm

TRUE SOUTH — Danny Alexander Blues Jam, 8 pm

TUESDAY 28

30/90 Sugar & The Daddies, 6 pm; Higher Heights, 9 pm

APPLE BARREL Bubbles Brown, 6 pm; Jackson’s Flying Circus, 10:30 pm

BACCHANAL — Tangiers Combo, 6 pm

BAMBOULA’S — F K-rrera Music Group, 12 pm; Ted Hefko & the Thousandaires,

4:30 pm; Caitie B. & the Hand Me Downs, 9 pm

BAYOU BAR The OG’s, 8 pm; 10 pm

BJ'S LOUNGE BYWATER Bruisey's Bottoms Up Open Mic, 9 pm

BUFFA’S — Wilson-Weber Project, 7 pm

CAFÉ NEGRIL Super-Most-FantasticBlues-N-Such-Jam, 7 pm

CAJUN BOIL HOUSE Les Getrex, 3 pm

THE CRYPT — Wax Wizard, 98pm

DBA — T Marie & Bayou Juju, 6 pm; Kid Chocolate + the Free POC, 9:30 pm

DOS JEFES Tom Hook, 8:30 pm

JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — The Sam Lobley Trio, 7:30 pm

MAHOGANY JAZZ HALL — Big Joe Kennedy, 6 pm; Joe Lastie’s New Orleans Sound, 8 pm

THE MAISON — Jacky Blaire, 5 pm; Paradise Jazz Band, 8 pm

OKAY BAR — Big Easy Stompers Line Dancing & Lessons, 7 pm

THE RABBIT HOLE — Rebirth Brass Band, 10 pm

SANTOS BAR Spinster Records: Wax Cult, 8 pm

SATURN BAR Tirra Lirra + Vinny’s Mirror + Chalant + Urq, 9 pm

SIBERIA — Black Tusk with Nest and Blood & Earl, 9 pm

SNUG HARBOR — Sansone, Fohl & Worrell, 7:30 pm; 9:30 pm

SPOTTED CAT — Chris Christy Band, 2 pm; Sweetie Pies of New Orleans, 6 pm; Smoking Time Jazz Club, 9:30 pm

ST. ROCH TAVERN — Hairaoke: Haircuts & Karaoke, 8 pm

VAUGHAN’S LOUNGE — Cuttin’ Up with Lil Prince & the Youngbloods, 10 pm

WEDNESDAY 29

30/90 — Sciryn, 6 pm

APPLE BARREL Hobo Gadget, 6 pm; Joey Houck, 10 pm

BACCHANAL — Jesse Morrow, 6 pm

BAYOU BAR — Firm Roots, 8 pm; 10 pm

BJ'S LOUNGE BYWATER Nic Cage

Movie Bingo, 8 pm

BLUE NILE — New Breed Brass Band, 9 pm

BUFFA’S — Joe Adregna (Junior League), Hex Windham & Natasha Sanchez, 7 pm

CAFÉ DEGAS Gizinti Trio, 6 pm

CAFÉ NEGRIL — Jam-ilton, 7:30 pm

DBA — Stephen Walker N’em, 6 pm; The Next Level Band, 9:30 pm

DOS JEFES Jenna McSwain, 8:30 pm

FRITZEL’S JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 1 pm; Bourbon Street Stars, 5 pm; Fritzel’s All Star Band with Kevin Ray Clark, 8 pm

HOLY DIVER The Amazing Henrietta, 8 pm

JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Funkin’ It Up with Big Sam, 7:30 pm

THE MAISON Gene’s Music Machine, 6 pm

MAYFIELD’S 208 Irvin May eld ft. Kermit Ru ns, 6 pm

OKAY BAR Hunting Accident + Moral Disorder + Female Gun + Quilt, 8 pm

SANTOS BAR

Chambre Noir with Paco, 10 pm

SATURN BAR — tv star, pope, new fools, 9 pm

SNUG HARBOR Paul Sanchez, 5 pm; The Uptown Jazz Orchestra, 7:30 & 9:30 pm

SPOTTED CAT — Chris Christy, 2 pm; Los Tremolo Kings with Margie Perez, 6 pm; Marty Peters & The Party Meters, 9:30 pm

THURSDAY 30

30/90 — The Dapper Dandies, 6 pm; Where Ya At Brass Band, 9 pm

4141 NOLA — John Fohl, 6:30 pm

ALLWAYS LOUNGE Van Ella Bordella, 7 pm

BACCHANAL — Pete Olynciw, 6 pm

BAMBOULA’S JJ & the A-OKs, 12 pm; Midnight Brawlers, 9 pm

BAYOU BAR — Double Bird, 8 pm; 10 pm

BJ’S LOUNGE The Unmentionables, 9 pm

BLUE NILE — Irvin May eld’s Music Church, 10 pm; DJ T-Roy, 11 pm

BMC Decaturadio, 6 pm; Kat Kiley Experience, 9 pm

BUFFA’S Symone French, 7 pm

CAFÉ NEGRIL Maurice Cade & The E.S.S. Band, 6:30 pm; Armani Smith & Soul Ties, 10 pm

DBA — Palmetto Bug Stompers, 6 pm; Vegas Cola Band, 9:30 pm

DOS JEFES — Mr. Kohl, 8:30 pm

DOUBLE DEALER Ti any Pollack, 9 pm

FRITZEL’S JAZZ CLUB Richard “Piano” Scott, 12 pm; Doyle Cooper Band, 2 pm; John Saavedra Band, 5 pm; Fritzel’s All Star Band with Caleb Nelson, 8 pm

GOOD MEASURE Benjamin Cousins Trio, 8 pm

HOLY DIVER DJ Eclipzia & Witch House, 9 pm

JAZZ PLAYHOUSE Brass-AHolics, 7:30 pm

LE BON TEMPS ROULE — The Soul Rebels, 11 pm

LIVIN SWELL 4211 RECORDING

STUDIOS Thursday Night House Party featuring Stooges Brass Band, 8 pm

THE MAISON The Champagniacs, 4:30 pm; Single Malt Please, 8:30 pm

MAPLE LEAF BAR Booker & Beyond Piano Series with BC Coogan, 6 pm; Johnny Vidacovich Trio, 8 pm

NO DICE Smokey Mirror // Fen Magus, 9 pm

PEACOCK ROOM Da Lovebirds: Robin Barnes & Pat Casey, 8 pm

RABBIT HOLE — Free Thursdays with DJ Zack Weiss, 9 pm

SANTOS BAR — Reptilia Indie Vinyl Night with DJ Shane Love, 9 pm

SATURN BAR — James McClaskey & the Rhythm Band + Friends, 9 pm

SNUG HARBOR Gladney, 7:30 & 9:30 pm

VAUGHAN’S LOUNGE — Corey Henry & The Treme Funktet, 10 pm

FRIDAY 31

B30/90 Ado Soul & The Tribe, 5 pm; Street Lyfe, 11 pm

ANNA’S — Heelturn, 9 pm

APPLE BARREL Bubbles Brown, 6 pm; Joey Houck, 10:30 pm

BACCHANAL — Willie Green III, 7 pm

BAMBOULA’S The New Orleans Rug Cutters, 11 am; Felipe Antonio Quarteto, 2:15 pm; Les Getrex & Creole Cookin’, 6:30 pm

BANKS STREET BAR — Domenic Fusca

Honest Man Happy Hour Show, 4 pm

BJ’S LOUNGE — Miss Martha & Her Goodtime Gang, 9 pm

BLUE NILE — Kermit Ru ns & the BBQ Swingers, 10 pm; DJ WestBankRed (upstairs), 10 pm

BMC — Mother Ruckus, 6 pm; Big Mike & The R&B Kings, 9 pm

BROADSIDE — Mia Borders, 7 pm

BUFFA’S — T Marie Stories & Songs, 8 pm

Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers play Saturday, Aug. 1, at 10 p.m.

PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE

CAFÉ NEGRIL — Dottie Kelly, 6 pm; Higher Heights, 10 pm

THE CRYPT — Vacillator + Everstatic + Pale Shelter, 7 pm

DBA — Yirmey Yisrael Band, 6 pm

DOS JEFES Vivaz!, 9 pm

THE DRAGON’S DEN — $5 Zydeco Fridays with line dancing and Yung Dex Brass Band, 6 pm

GASA GASA — 76th Street & Tornsey, 9 pm

GOOD MEASURE — Mahmoud Chouki, 9 pm

HOLY DIVER — Skullbasher & Cries of Agony, 8 pm

HOWLIN’ WOLF Millie Grace Band + Shelby Kemp + Shawn Bourg + Chris Vincent & Jack Lucas, 8 pm

LE BON TEMPS ROULÉ Tri-Fi, 11 pm

THE MAISON Jenavieve & the Winding Boys, 5 pm; The Kazzettes, 9 pm

NO DICE Johnny Manchild & the Poor Bastards + Karma & THe Killjoys + Friend of a Friend, 9 pm

NOMA NOMA at Night ft. redrawblak + Asher Danziger + DJ Kuti, 6 pm

OKAY BAR — Mystery Flicks + Thee Agitator + O al Lettuce + walkingonsunshine, 8 pm

REPUBLIC NOLA I Love R&B Party, 8 pm

ROCK 'N' BOWL — Groovy 7, 8:30 pm

SANTOS BAR — Juke Train ft. Maximo, 10 pm

SIBERIA The Gong Show, 9 pm

SMOOTHIE KING CENTER — Bryan Adams + Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, 7:30 pm

TIPITINA’S — Free Fridays Concert Series ft. New Orleans Suspects + Brass Tyrannosaurus, 9 pm

SATURDAY 1

THE ALLWAYS LOUNGE & CABARET

The New Orleans High Society Hour - Live Jazz and Burlesque, 8 pm

BACCHANAL Miles Berry, 7 pm

BAYOU BAR — Jordan Anderson, 8 & 10 pm

BJ’S LOUNGE Horace Trahan & Ossun Express, 9 pm

BMC T Marie & Bayou Juju Satchmo Summer Fest, 6 pm

BUFFA’S Gage Rhodes with The Dead Magnolia String Band, 8 pm

CAFÉ NEGRIL — Orphaned in Storyville, 1:30 pm; Sunny Side Jazz Band, 6 pm; Zena Moses & Rue Fiya Allstars, 10 pm

DBA Margie Perez, 6 pm; Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers, 10 pm

MUSIC

DOUBLE DEALER — Shawn Williams, 9:30 pm

GASA GASA Santero Record Release Party, 9 pm

GOOD MEASURE DJ Madspinnz, 6 pm; Erica Falls, 9 pm

HOLY DIVER Pressure Beat: Reggae, Ska & Rocksteady Rave-Up + Shark City Byrd, 10 pm

HOUSE OF BLUES Diggy Graves, 8 pm

LE BON TEMPS ROULÉ — Smoker’s World, 11 pm

NEW ORLEANS JAZZ MUSEUM — Satchmo Summerfest, 11:30 am

REPUBLIC NEW ORLEANS — San Holo with Elephante, 10 pm

SNUG HARBOR — Kelly Love Jones, 4:30 pm

OKAY BAR — “Heatwave!” Soul/R&B

Dance Party with DJ Ann, 9 pm

TIPITINA’S An Evening with IKO Allstars, 9 pm

TRUE SOUTH Uncle Mo, 9 pm

SUNDAY 2

BACCHANAL David Sigler, 7 pm

BJ’S LOUNGE James McClaskey & The Rhythm Band, 9 pm

BROADSIDE Chlorinho & Samba, 2 pm

BUFFA’S — The Millie Grace Band, 7 pm

CAFÉ NEGRIL — John Lisi & Delta Funk, 4 pm; The Next Level Band, 9 pm

CHICKIE WAH WAH — High Fade with JT Loux, 9 pm

GASA GASA — The Body + Big|Brave + MJ Guider, 9 pm

HOWLIN’ WOLF — Hot 8 Brass Band, 10:30 pm

MAHOGANY JAZZ HALL Smoking Time Jazz Club, 2:30 pm; Big Joe Kennedy, 6 pm; Mahogany Hall

Swingsters ft. Roderick Paulin, 8 pm

NEW ORLEANS JAZZ MUSEUM — Satchmo Summerfest, 11:30 pm

NO DICE — Oreja the Band + Sgt Dork + Da Screech, 9 pm

SATURN BAR Crys + Charlie & the Tropicales, 9 pm

SIBERIA Greg Mendez + Maria BC + Rui Gabriel, 9 pm

TIPITINA’S Fais Do-Do with Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band, 5:15 pm

SCAN FOR THE COMPLETE

MUSIC

Motherlode

by Jake Clapp

AS ODD THE ARTIST WAS DEVELOPING HER LATEST PROJECT “MOTHERSHIP,” she started digging into the Blaxploitation films of the ’70s. She was drawn to the portrayal of strong Black women, like Pam Grier in “Foxy Brown” and Tamara Dobson in “Cleopatra Jones,” ready to wield a gun and save the day.

There was an “ability to showcase that women are strong. There’s an ability to protect and ascend. There’s strength and leadership,” says Odd, a New Orleans rapper, producer, DJ and visual artist. “That was displayed mostly in the movies of that era. I see it now, but back then it was like a stamp in the community.”

“Mothership,” released earlier this year, is about motherhood and Odd’s own journey as a new parent and a hard-working artist. She wanted to have that same Black feminist strength on the album — and there are ’70s soul and funk-inspired samples in the production of the album.

“There’s the realities of love and ambition,” she says. “The ship symbolizes survival, leadership and the generational responsibility of Black women and what they shoulder. But there’s also power to build and ascend and protect.”

Odd the Artist, the performer name for Jasmine Williams, grew up in New Orleans and graduated from Dillard University with a degree focused on the music industry. She started rapping and learning to produce her own music, using a MacBook and a Wii microphone, while in high school, and since 2019, she’s released a steady string of EPs and singles.

In recent years, Odd has been hitting bigger and bigger stages, like the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, French Quarter Fest and the now defunct BUKU Music + Art Project. She’s also La Reezy’s live DJ and last fall went on tour with the ascendant New Orleans rapper and played Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw festival.

But 2024 was an especially monumental year for Odd. She opened for Noname during the hip-hop artist’s stop at the Republic and, in the spring, released her first full-length album, “Let Go, Let Odd,” which found Odd leaning into her abilities as a singer with a mix of hip-hop, R&B and neo-soul.

Just a few days after her album release show, though, Odd learned she was pregnant. And her son, Apollo, was born that December, following a difficult birth during which he had to be resuscitated. While also adjusting to being a new mother in 2025, Odd continued to create art and music, and last October

released the song “Go All In” before joining La Reezy on tour. Playing shows and traveling made Odd want to get back to hip-hop, and La Reezy encouraged her to develop “Mothership.” Across “Mothership,” Odd raps about the different parts of her recent life, often with a lot of vulnerability. There are the joys and challenges of parenting, acceptance that she’s going to make mistakes and openness about the dangerous delivery she went through. On the track, “Breathe,” La Reezy offers a guest verse from Apollo’s perspective. “I wanted to be as real as I could,” Odd says. “My whole approach to making music in general is embracing reality.” Odd also is committed to her artistic dreams, and there’s a ton of confidence across “Mothership.” As she raps on “Don’t Miss,” odd is “Making moves with Apollo on my hip.” Odd produced most of “Mothership” and, influenced by “Drought” era Lil Wayne, Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint,” Kanye West and Lil Kim’s ’96 record “Hard Core,” she sought heavy drums and an epic feeling. Odd’s boyfriend, and the father of Apollo, Leverne co-produced “Mothership” and made the beat for the track “Perfect Mother.” And producers ndigoslim, Dvmn Rudy, Stix and DJ PJ also contributed to the project. Sketches at the beginning and end of “Mothership” frame the album like a flight full of mothers taking the journey together. There are spoken word interludes from women talking about art and motherhood. “Every woman carries a universe, and every mother is a vessel of creation,” Odd says. “I wanted to put that out there as like I’m mothering the game, in a sense.”

Find “Mothership” at oddtheartist. com. And find a recently release album of freestyles at youtube.

Odd the Artist

PROVIDED PHOTO BY KERRY SANTA CRUZE

Fresh linen

by Will Coviello

THIS WEEKEND THE ARTS DISTRICT GETS FESTIVE WITH WHITE LINEN NIGHT, an evening of gallery and museum shows, art activations and live music in the streets and more. White Linen is at 5-10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, and there’s an afterparty at the Contemporary Arts Center.

White Linen is anchored by the contemporary art galleries along Julia Street and nearby blocks of Magazine and Tchoupitoulas, as well as the outlying Stella Jones Gallery on St. Charles Avenue in the CBD. There also are shows at venues including hotels and other spaces. The mix of shows ranges from gallery artists and group shows to more experimental and fun shows curated for the crowds at the summer event. One festive show is “Altered States” at Arthur Roger Gallery, featuring art and installations by creatives who build things for Burning Man, the annual festival in the Nevada desert. There’s work by Josh Pitts, co-founder of Interrobang, and Brennan Steele, founder of the Space Vikings. Steele also has work at a special expo at the offices of Deutsch Kerrigan at 755 Magazine St. There’s also work by muralist JoLean Barkley, large-scale art installation fabricator William Nemitoff and more.

musicians including John Legend. Stella Jones Gallery presents a show reflecting on his three-decade career.

Octavia Art Gallery presents a show of paintings by Brittany Fanning, Luke Forsyth, Bradley Kerl and Ransome. The brightly painted canvasses explore memory and imagination.

Julia Street will be bookended by two music stages. The main stage on the 300 block of Julia will feature Robin Barnes & the Fiya Birds, Irvin Mayfield and Primus Roman. On the 600 block, the NOCCA stage will host student bands and alumni performers from the arts high school. There also will be several art activations. Burning Man aficionado Walker Babington is steering Bed Zeppelin to the 400 block of Julia, in conjunction with the “Altered States” expo. Last seen at Carnival, the contraption features a steampunk-like dirigible made out of mattresses flying above a large gondola that looks like a Victorian bed. Other activations include a projection mapping display, a sculpture garden, a fashion show, moon photos with fstop504 and more. Besides “Altered States,” Arthur Roger Gallery presents Keith Duncan’s new work featuring New Orleans brass bands, which follows his recent work about the marching bands of historically Black colleges and universities. There also are cast glass installations by Mitchell Gaudet. Charly Palmer is a fine artist and illustrator who has designed postage stamps and album covers for

The Ogden Museum of Southern Art opens its 15th annual Louisiana Contemporary expo. The juried show features 50 works by 45 artists from across the state, with 28 artists being included for the first time. This year’s judge was Sarah Jones, the head curator of live art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Admission to Ogden is free during White Linen, and DJ Ram will provide music throughout the night and there’s a cash bar.

In its gallery space, the Contemporary Arts Center presents “Idyll: Summer Pleasures,” a show of paintings, mixed-media works and more exploring visions of summer by 27 artists.

The CAC also hosts the White Linen afterparty in its warehouse space. The dance party features DJs, interactive installations and more. As part of Ashley Shaw Scott Adjaye’s The Stories of Us project, five giant talking drums were painted by local artists. Tickets are $25 via eventbrite.com.

During White Linen, Julia Street is lined with bars and food vendors and food trucks, including Southern’s, Lillie’s Cajun Kitchen, Wolf’s Burger Truck, Da Grillmaster Smoke Soul BBQ and more. Bar offerings include special cocktails and daiquiris.

There’s also the indoor Cool Down Lounge at 420 Julia St. with music by DJ chvrchwiig, art activations, live painting and a bar. Admission is $20.

For information about White Linen Night, visit artsdistrictneworleans.com.

WORKING WHAT’S NOT

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Hosted by John Stanton

PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE

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