CALL TO ARTISTS! “Contemporary Artists Respond to the New Orleans Baby Dolls”

“Contemporary Artists Respond to the New Orleans Baby Dolls” CALL TO ARTISTS Xavier University of Louisiana and the George and Leah McKenna Museum of African American Art are pleased to announce a “Call to Artists” for the exhibition “Contemporary Artists Respond to the New Orleans Baby Dolls,” scheduled to open on Friday, March 27, 2015.

Who Are the Baby Dolls?

The Baby Dolls are groups of black women and men who used New Orleans streetmasking tradition as a unique form of fun and self-expression. Wearing short dresses, bloomers, bonnets, garters with money tucked tight, they strutted, sang ribald songs, chanted and danced on Mardi Gras Day and on St. Joseph feast night. The practice emerged around 1912 and, while it waxed and waned, has endured to the present day.

The Exhibition

“Contemporary Artists Respond to the New Orleans Baby Dolls” is an exhibition of art about, and inspired by, the Baby Doll masking tradition. There are few artistic representations of this little-known yet significant New Orleans tradition. Selected artists will create works that make reference to a largely-undocumented practice dating back to c. 1912 and that has endured as a living art form through the current day. The show engages in the important work of educating, preserving and ensuring the contemporary relevance of a cultural heritage that has gone virtually ignored.

The goal of the exhibition is to convey the story and contemporary relevance of the New Orleans Baby Dolls through the visual arts.

Background and Rationale

This exhibition was created to engage the contemporary visual arts community in a dialogue that examines the meaning and relevance of traditional cultural forms in contemporary times. Now past its 102nd year, the Baby Doll tradition is as important today in its meaning and interpretation of today’s issues as it was in 1912. The goal of this exhibition is to discover newer ways of engaging in dialogue about contemporary issues that emerge in examining the Baby Dolls: issues of resilience, independence, feminine identity, and the emergence of the meaning of culture-building in today’s visual art practice.

Process “Contemporary Artists Respond to the New Orleans Baby Dolls” is open to living artists working in the United States. All mediums are accepted including, but not limited to, painting, sculpture, design, glass, metalwork, photography, video, mixed media and installation art. The size of the work is open to the interpretation of the artist, but may be considered in the context of a group show with spatial limitations.

Artists must submit a statement of interest (1-4 below) through electronic submission to: artaboutbabydolls@gmail.com. by August 23, 2014.

1. Cover sheet: contact information with name, address, phone number, and email address, website, and all social media 2. Statement of interest: a narrative describing the proposed work, media/materials, installation needs approximate size and reflective statement on how the work relates to the exhibit theme 3. List of work with title and interpretative statement (if submitting more than one) 4. One page bio

Images of the work must be submitted by February 1, 2015 for juried selection.

If selected, artists must deliver their works to the McKenna Museum, 2003 Carondelet Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 by March 20, 2015. Accepted works must be hand delivered or shipped. Artists are responsible for all shipping expenses to and from the McKenna Museum. All pieces should be ready for hanging or prepared to be installed. Sculptures must be able to be displayed on a pedestal or the floor.

Accepted artists must arrange for their own insurance needs if artwork is being shipped and when on exhibit.

Jury:

Dr. Pamela Franco - Dr. Franco, a native Trinidadian, earned a PhD in art history from Emory University in Atlanta. Prior to her appointment at Xavier University, she was an Assistant Professor of Art History at Tulane University. She was a member of the Newcomb Gallery Advisory Board. She has been instrumental in organizing symposia and exhibitions on African and Caribbean Art. Dr. Mora Beauchamp-Byrd – Dr. Beauchamp-Byrd is a curator and art historian.

She has served as the Interim Executive Director, New Orleans African American Museum of Art, Culture and History. She holds an M.A. in Art History from Columbia University, an M.A. in Visual Arts Administration and a PhD in Art History from Duke University in the Department of Art, Art History and Visual Studies.

Mr. Ron Bechet is the Victor H. Labat Professor of Art at Xavier University of Louisiana. A native of New Orleans, he began drawing in the fourth grade, studied

art at the University of New Orleans and went on to earn a graduate degree from Yale University. He his art teaching career began at Delgado Community College, then at Southern University in New Orleans and, since 1998, at Xavier.

July 8, 2014 August 23, 2014 February 1, 2015 February 21 2015 March 20, 2015 March 27, 2015

IMPORTANT DATES Open National Call For Artists Submission of Interest Artists submit images of proposed work for jury Artists notified of jury results Works delivered to McKenna Museum Exhibition opens

The George & Leah McKenna Museum of African American Art is an institution that collects, interprets and preserves the visual aesthetic of people of African descent in North America and beyond. Through innovative programs and exhibits that engage versatile audiences, the McKenna Museum seeks to make African Diasporan fine art accessible to visitors of all ages. The institution also actively identifies and presents emerging artists alongside well-established fine arts masters. Featuring the private collection of Dr. Dwight McKenna, the Museum presents works by local and internationally-renowned artists such as Henry Ossawa Tanner, William Edouard Scott, Clementine Hunter, Ernie Barnes and Ulrick Jean-Pierre. Located in New Orleans, the McKenna Museum is committed to the preservation of the distinct culture found within the African American community of Louisiana.

Exhibit Organizers:

Kim Marie Vaz grew up in New Orleans and attended St. Mary’s Academy and Tulane University’s Newcomb College. She earned her doctorate in Educational Psychology from Indiana University in Bloomington. She is the author of The ‘Baby Dolls’: Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition (Louisiana State University Press). Her book served as the basis for a 2013 major installation on the Baby Doll tradition at the Presbytere unit of the Louisiana State Museum as part of the museum’s permanent display on the history of Carnival in Louisiana.

Ron Bechet is a native of New Orleans and a relative of the early jazz pioneer Sidney Bechet. He began drawing in the fourth grade, studied art at the University of New Orleans and went on to earn a graduate degree from Yale University. He his art teaching career began at Delgado Community College, then at Southern University in New Orleans and, since 1998, at Xavier. Even though he is a celebrated

and accomplished artist, he feels he learns as much about himself and his art while teaching as his students do in their own studies. One of the biggest influences on his recent work was fellow Xavier Art Professor and renowned sculptor John T. Scott.

Jennifer Williams is Museum Director and Curator of The McKenna Museum of African American Art. She received her B.A. in History with a concentration in Art History from Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA. With the guiding spirit of her parent’s dedication of serving others throughout their lives, she moved to New Orleans to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA coordinating projects with the Tulane University Center for Public Service at a community center in the 7th ward. Serving 3 terms over, her commitment to social justice has grown.

Contact information: Telephone: 504-520-7553; Email rbechet@xula.edu