In the wake of natural disasters, art can serve as a lifeline for communities in urgent need of healing. Today, we’re chatting with the curators behind A Tale of Two Cities, a cross-cultural exhibition commemorating the anniversaries of hurricanes Helene in Asheville and Katrina in New Orleans. Our guests include Kenn Kotara, an artist based in Asheville; Jan Gilbert, an artist from New Orleans; and Andrew Rogers, the executive director of the New Orleans Academy of Fine Art (NOAFA), where the exhibition will be held. 

The discussion centers on the cultural impact and aftermath of both hurricanes on their respective cities. Each guest shares their experiences and insights regarding how art has played a critical role in recovery efforts. Ken Kotara reflects on the Asheville community’s resilience, highlighting how local artists have embraced collaboration and creativity to rebuild their cultural identity. Jan Gilbert adds to this narrative by discussing the unique challenges New Orleans artists face, emphasizing their commitment to using their work as a form of healing. Andrew Rogers emphasizes the importance of showcasing the interconnected stories of artists from both cities. He encourages listeners to engage with the arts and support local talent, underscoring the healing power of creativity in the aftermath of adversity.

Through a shared platform, A Tale of Two Cities invites artists to reflect on their experiences with climate-related disasters and engage the public in meaningful conversations about hope and recovery. The exhibition emphasizes the importance of protecting and representing vulnerable artists, affirming that art can catalyze healing in communities facing existential challenges. With both physical and virtual showcases, this exhibition aspires to inspire ongoing connections between the two cities, promoting cultural exchange and reinforcing the role of art in building resilient communities.

A Tale of Two Cities opens Sept. 13 and runs through Nov. 8, 2025, at NOAFA. 

For more information, please visit https://www.artsvilleusa.com/a-tale-of-two-cities-curators-panel

Hartsville, Hartsville, the happening town where art abounds.

Hartsville, Hartsville from Asheville Town where heart abound.

Hartsville, Hartsville Feeling mountain high and inspiring.

North Carolina, that's where you'll find us amazing artists and designers.

Oh, yeah.

Artsville from Asheville.

Welcome to Artsville, the podcast where we celebrate American contemporary arts and crafts from Asheville and beyond.

I am your host at least today.

Returning after a while, Scott Power, AKA Sourdough, here.

And it's such a privilege and an honor to be back because we have a very special show today to talk about a very important exhibition that's happening in New Orleans with Asheville artists.

But I'm joined today with my very special friend, my colleague, who's come out of retirement to join me here today.

I wouldn't be here without her.

The one and only Louise Glickman.

Hey, Louise.

Hey, how you doing?

I can't believe it.

Feels like old times.

This is it.

We got the band back together.

We're here together.

This is such a delight, such a treat.

Well, thanks.

And you know, I'm trying really hard to stay in my retirement lane, but this project that we're doing in New Orleans for the benefit of Asheville's artists and the River Arts District, you know, I've got my heart and soul in both of those cities.

So it's been very special to work on this project and so happy I can share it with you and the audience in Artsville in particular.

Well, I tell you what I mean, one of the things I've always cherished about you, and you've really just inspired me, is your heart is so big and you care so much for the people you love and the places you love.

And there are two places that I know you love more than words could express, and that's your home of New Orleans and your home of Asheville, North Carolina, where you've been for a long time.

And you have the very dubious honor, if you want to put it that way, of having helped both communities heal after a catastrophic event.

And whether it was Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and recently Hurricane Helene in Asheville, you've been in both cities during both these horrific events, and you've helped both cities heal, and that's what brings us here today.

Well, that is a road that's well traveled these days because there's been so many climate disasters.

And the idea that you would have a storm like Helene and have it up in the mountains of western North Carolina is just unbelievable.

And then we've had the fires and Then we've had the horrible flooding right up through the Midwest and tornadoes, and this year it hasn't stopped.

And I've noticed, as I've talked to people, this podcast is being released during the height of hurricane season, and people in this part of the world, which is the eastern coast and southeastern parts of the United States, are really on pins and needles.

Yes, it's changed travel patterns for sure.

And we need people to come back to Asheville for our arts and crafts.

I have never seen so much spirit, hope, community, working together to welcome people home.

And that's what this exhibit and all the events around it are meant to do, Help our artists survive and stay here so that we can continue to express our history, our culture.

I mean, our arts, our crafts.

Yes.

I mean, it's just imagine if all of the storytelling, the music, the art and craft went away from Appalachia and we're talking about now contemporary Appalachian works or the history of the craft movement within the Cherokee Nation, which is right here.

All of this incredible talent that goes all over the world from the Pedland School of Craft and all these areas were severely impacted.

This wasn't something that just happened in a town or city called Asheville.

This happened in 25 counties.

And we're all working together.

Yes, yes, yes.

And we're coming upon the one year anniversary of Hurricane Helene, which is also why you've been working so hard to put this exhibition together in New Orleans, A Tale of Two Cities.

And it was, you know, and you're so humble, you, you wouldn't necessarily say this overtly, but I'll say it for you, because this was your brainchild from, from the, from the, from the get go.

You knew that these two cities shared this very unfortunate sort of experience that they had in common, being devastated by a natural disaster.

And you were there in New Orleans when Katrina hit, and you watched how artists, the communities, came together to protect the culture, preserve the culture, and rebuild New Orleans bigger and better.

And then ironically, you're in Asheville when Hurricane Helene hits.

Very similar thing, devastation, but 20, as you said, 25 counties devastated.

And, and, and very quickly you realized that because of your unique connection to both these communities that you were sort of well positioned to curate and help produce and curate the show Tale of Two Cities.

So take us back and just help me understand, help us understand exactly the moment of inspiration where you, where you saw this, you had this vision, you decided to take this on.

Well, let me correct one point.

I have been integrally involved in, in the building of the cultural and art scene in New Orleans, first working as an assistant in the mayor's office during the whole redevelopment of their downtown.

You know, away from kind of a.

From hanging on a pole on Bourbon street to being a cultural destination.

I had newly moved to Asheville when Katrina hit.

And to be honest, I watched the whole thing for two weeks straight and sat and ate potato chips.

I mean, I just couldn't move out of my, you know, chaise, as we call it, where I watch tv.

And I was devastated.

And I knew I had to do something.

I had to go back, I had to help.

And I ended up doing some things mostly without going back.

I wouldn't be good with a hammer.

I wouldn't be good helping to rebuild.

I'm going to give you a hammer, Louise.

So I did.

I raised money.

Yes, yes.

And I played to your strengths, which has always been fundraising, as far as I can.

One of your strengths.

And I targeted specific areas, the arts in particular, and also animals, because we love dogs.

And so I got very involved with the SPCA down there.

They lost thousands of dogs, and they actually were able to retract them.

My close friend was head of the New Orleans SPCA at the time, so I gave an ice cream party for them here in Asheville.

Every dog that was.

Every dog that was adopted in this region was invited to an ice cream.

Ice cream.

That's amazing.

So that was Katrina.

But I go back at least once a year, sometimes many more.

And so I've seen this recovery process and been kept in touch with it, and then, lo and behold, it happens here again, but in Asheville.

And so I've been through this twice.

Very involved in the arts communities in two cities and now very involved in the recovery, the support, trying to get attention, money.

Yes.

And people around the world to understand what has happened here.

It is not typical in any way other than we are left with all the damage and the heartbreak of a hurricane.

Yes, yes.

And to, of course, add insult to injury, Right.

I mean, Asheville was supposed to be a safe place, right, from hurricanes.

No one expected a hurricane to hit Asheville the way it did.

New Orleans, obviously, you know, known for maybe getting whacked every once in a while with a hurricane.

Of course, you don't expect the levees to break either.

And so Katrina made, you know, really made a horrific impact, and as did Helene.

And so here we are trying to shine a light, you know, consistent light on these.

On these catastrophes, on these stories, on these restoration efforts, because, of course, tomorrow there's going to be another natural disaster somewhere, unfortunately.

And I don't necessarily literally mean tomorrow.

I'm just saying we're in this age of natural disasters.

And so it's incumbent upon us, right, to continue to tell these stories and showcase the issues and the rebuilding efforts.

And artists, for so many reasons, are often on the front lines of these disasters for all kinds of reasons that we get into a little bit in this podcast later.

Fundamentally, artists are creators who have visions to rebuild.

And so they took the lead in many ways in New Orleans, and they're taking the lead, of course, in Asheville.

And the Tale of Two Cities exhibition, you know, is, yes, you're something you've been spearheading in so many ways.

But of course, it takes a village.

It takes a team.

You have this amazing group of people that I had the privilege of sitting down with on this podcast and talking with today.

And we're going to get into this interview, but today, you know, because we're talking to three amazing humans.

We're talking to, of course, our dear friend, colleague and friend of the show, Asheville artist Ken Katara.

We're talking to New Orleans artist Jan Gilbert.

We are talking to the head of the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, Andrew Rogers.

And so it's a fantastic conversation.

Talk a little bit in your own words about these incredible people and their involvement in this exhibition.

Well, here's the background, and it's a really interesting one.

And frankly, a privilege.

Of course, we were out of Asheville for quite a while and came back to no electricity, no water, all the same things that typically happen.

And I got a phone call from an old friend from New Orleans that frankly, you know, hadn't seen in 20 years, maybe more.

But her family have built this incredible academy and gallery space in New Orleans that teaches just like the old concept of an art academy, traditional and now contemporary art.

And they've taught thousands of artists in New Orleans over the years.

Her name is Diane Wininger.

And the executive director of this New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts is a wonderful man named Andrew Rogers, who will be on the podcast, who is truly a Renaissance man.

I mean, he is an artist himself.

He is a curator of this exhibit along with Jan Gilbert and Ken Katara.

And he is a teacher and most professorial in his understanding of art and how to understand it, but also to grasp the intent, the privilege and the experience of a piece of art from all different sides, you know, who made it, who bought it, what the provenance is.

So this is the group I'm working with.

What Diane said to me is we want to help the artists in Asheville and the River Arts District.

Can you make any suggestions as to what we can do?

And I said, give me a few days and I'll get back to you.

And it occurred to me that I was very privileged to have lived and to continue to live in these two outstanding centers for arts and craft in America.

And also because I have worked in the earliest days in creating the arts, the Warehouse district, as they call it down there, and the central business district with very special project I was involved in.

And also the preservation movement and all those things way back in the 70s that now is a cultural center.

It's where people want to go if they want to see art, if they want to go to hip restaurants and all of that.

Yes, that's where it is.

And.

So I knew the history.

I know the history.

I know what it's taken.

So there was.

There are all those stories to be told.

And I said to Diane, look, we love New Orleans.

And you summer in close to Asheville, up in the mountains of Highlands.

And I said, these are the two places you and I both love the most and know the most.

And our family history goes way back, way, way back into the last century in both places.

And so this is part of our bones and it's part of our heart.

I said, let's do a partnership.

I said, we need mentorship.

We need to know what to do first, second, third, and most importantly, we need to know what not to do.

What things took you time and money that never should have happened.

And to learn about the history of how New Orleans turned around, their economy and their tourism and their culture and craft is the story we're going to tell.

Because now the Southeast region of the United States is overwhelmed with what I call disaster porn.

Yeah.

And the fastest way to resolving that is through the heart and the culture and the soul of the city.

Honestly, I don't know what these two cities would be like if you took away the culture, the heart and soul of those cities.

They would just be another tourist town.

Yes.

And so we are reviving the economy.

We have over 20 Asheville artists who will sell their work.

And whatever they sell, they keep.

They need to survive so they can stay in Asheville and continue to do the beautiful art and craft that they do.

And both New Orleans and Asheville lost about 50% of their artists immediately after these hurricanes.

And most of them have gone back to New Orleans and more.

And that is the long term vision that A Tale of Two Cities is trying to tell.

It's about spirit, hope and resilience.

What it took for the arts community to learn again, to thrive and to keep the spirit alive for all the people of their communities.

And we're trying to do that and they're showing us the way.

So this is not going to be anything but upbeat, but it tells a very important story.

And hopefully down the line with other states that are having the same issues, we'll create a playbook.

So none of us have to start from scratch.

We have a roadmap and that's what we need.

Well, a roadmap indeed.

And Tale of Two Cities is one part of that roadmap.

And this idea that everyone's coming together to heal.

And I think that's what, that's what art does and that's what artists.

That's one of the things art does and artists do, right?

They help communities heal.

They help, art helps.

It's a salve right on the wounds of our, of our minds and our hearts, our souls.

And so the Tale of Two Cities is a, is, is this very special endeavor.

And you know, today we're just, you know, so grateful, Louise, that you came out of retirement to be here.

We have this incredible conversation with Jan Gilbert, with Andrew Rogers and King Katara today.

I want to get into this interview, but before we do, are there any parting words or anything that you'd like to say, Louise?

Yes, definitely.

I want to talk for a second about the River Arts District, the artists that are involved in this project when you go online, and I hope that you will give everybody the way to do that.

Yep.

You can go to New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts.

You can go to Artsville usa.

My little pet that you've made grow so fast.

You can go to River Arts District online and you will see two things.

One is a press release that tells you this whole background and story succinctly and two, it gives you a series of events in both New Orleans and Asheville.

So if you want to have an incredible experience, come for the events in both cities.

We are talking today about the exhibit and the events in New Orleans.

But there's going to be lots going on in Asheville and we were targeting anybody who's within a three hour drive time to come in the weekend of September 13th, either city and have a blast and join the spirit and be inspired because that's what we're doing.

We're working Hard.

But you are our friends.

You are our neighbors.

We.

We want you to come and join in this incredible partnership that we're building.

And next year the exhibit will be in Asheville.

That's so exciting.

That's wonderful.

That's a bit of detail.

I did not know that next year we're going to have it in Asheville.

So that's wonderful.

I know I will be there as I will be in New Orleans.

Louise, I can't wait to see you there.

We're going to dance.

You and I have not danced together.

Oh, honey, I am quite the dancer.

I just hope to keep up, that's all.

I believe that wholeheartedly.

Well, I will look forward to that, my friend.

And thank you for being here today.

Lots of events and if anybody wants to send an email directly through artsvilleusa.com through Morgan to me.

Have any questions?

We looking now for reduced hotel rooms and we will give a tour on Sunday, a bus tour to show you where New Orleans is now and where it was 20 years ago.

That's.

Yeah.

Well, that's.

Yeah, that's going to be incredibly poignant and wonderful and thank you for that.

And Louise, I can't wait to dance with you in New Orleans.

Without further ado, I think we'll get into this fantastic conversation that I had with our dear, dear friends Ken, Jan and Andrew.

Here we go, guys.

Stay tuned and listen to this fantastic conversation.

Thanks so much, Louise.

Love you.

Anytime.

From Asheville.

Jan Gilbert, Andrew Rogers, Ken Katara.

Welcome to Artsville usa.

Thank you.

Great to have you all here today.

We have such an amazing and important topic at hand to discuss today.

A Tale of Two Cities exhibition.

Such a special program that you all are putting together.

Jan, for our listeners, talk about what this show means to you.

You know, thinking before getting on, I thought about what are the things that quickly that I learned and how to speak today.

You know, one of the important things is that I learned that short term, midterm and long term took on a whole new meaning that needed clarification.

When you're, you know, talking about many things.

Time just became at a standstill, I suppose.

And so here we are 20 years down the road and it's very easy to reflect back to that original time and only a year.

Not to say that other artwork wasn't made during that time.

But, you know, those years, three years made a difference.

And of course, 20 years makes another big difference.

So I just hope that we can impart a sense of what being part of a large community means and give some hope.

Is probably, in a nutshell, what I would like to say that.

Love that, Andrew.

How about.

How about for you?

Yeah, that's a great question.

Personally, I mean, I think I arrived in New Orleans after Katrina and to somebody, that was why it was so important to me as a director of the school year, to include Jan or someone that had lived, you know, as a curating partner in the exhibition, someone that had lived through the storm.

Also, you know, the angle from the academy as the director here, but was the fact that, you know, after storms such as Katrina and Helene that have devastating effect on communities, we often hear from scientists and from politicians and from community members about how what worked, what didn't work, how could we do it better next time?

But we very rarely hear from artists and how these storms affected them and how they respond.

And it's critical because ultimately a community cannot heal without its culture, and the artists are the culture bearers of communities.

And so I think that this exhibition, A Tale of Teach Cities, sort of begins to answer and maybe ask that question at the same time of how do we do that?

By looking at many artists from New Orleans who have responded over the last 20 years to Katrina and to other hurricanes, and by looking at our artists from Asheville who have responded in different ways and just continue to create or not.

Right.

Where are we now 20 years hence after.

And where are we a year after Helene?

And then I think from the academy's perspective, there are very few academies left in the country.

I mean, really, you can count them on two hands.

Fine arts academies.

Thank you for that, Andrew.

Ken, what does this show mean to you?

Well, first, I mean, the hand extended by the New Orleans folks is truly one of gratitude, I guess, also just being that I'm also a native, I was born in Louisiana, I've been through storms, family, through Katrina, through Rita, Laura and so on, you know, you just grow up with that.

Then you don't expect it.

That of course, happen in.

In the mountains as it did.

But we now know that those type of events are becoming a little more normal these days.

Just to one, meet everyone in New Orleans, new faces and all that, and have that camaraderie and community and then collaborate on something where creative minds piggybacking on what Andrew and Jan saying that piggybacking on that idea of culture, of producers, of what artists can, I don't know, depict through the events, it Just means so much to me that we can participate in this.

I wish it could be much larger, but we just don't have the space for it.

So it is truly one, like I said, of gratitude, of community.

And it means a lot to me and to all the people that I've spoken to here in western North Carolina.

Wonderful, wonderful, Jan.

When you think about the kinds of stories that this exhibition, A Tale of Two Cities, is meant to tell, can tell, will tell, aspires to tell.

Each artist has their own very special point of view.

Chandra McCormick and Keith Calhoun.

To me, they're a married couple, both independent photo artists.

They lived and documented their community at large, really, including Angola prison and the docks of Louisiana.

They lost their studio.

They lost everything.

And they were in the process of cleaning up their throwing things away, and their son was on the phone and said, do not throw away your negatives.

Don't do that.

Give them to me and I'm going to freeze them and arrest the deterioration.

And they proceeded to gradually, I suppose, incorporate this layer of devastation into these magnificent works of art.

And then the nice yes to the story is their works were included in the Venice Biennale, in the New York Times.

I mean, they've really, really come to a new level of appreciation of their works.

I mean, who would think such a thing could happen, you know?

And so it's just inspiring to me, even here, you know, seeing the people, but also the stories.

I love that stuff.

That's incredible.

Andrew, you know, what say you about this idea of story and narrative around this show?

Yeah, I mean, it's an interesting question, I think.

And that was why it was important for us to include a lecture element.

So we're going to have some speakers all at this exhibition.

But just to give you a perfect example, I mean, one of the photographers involved in the exhibition, Frank Rell, he's a beautiful local photographer.

I mean, he's got this incredible story of coming into the city after the storm, and the National Guard people were trying to get him out with assault rifles.

And it's just everyone, all of these artists have these incredible stories of the human side of these storms that we really don't think about.

And also for many of them, what it costs to capture and to creatively respond.

Right.

I mean, Frank made the choice to risk a lot to go in and kind of document the damage to these communities because it was important to him.

It was important to the city and to the country, really.

I mean, ultimately, people needed to see these things.

And so in our exhibition, we have one of these images, which is absolutely stunning, captured that he got in that kind of situation.

But just like Jan was saying, all of these artists who lived through the catastrophe of Katrina and Helene, they all have their stories.

What I would like to note just briefly is we tried because we had the 20 years of the experience, we did try to pick artists that showed works, even though they might have made works right after.

Gianna Napoli's a good example.

She did Flood Wall.

She picked up drawers from every neighborhood, wrote the addresses, corresponded, built an archive of this database and attempted to contact the people.

But this was one whole series that traveled around the world.

But we also.

She's continued.

And so she's making the Death of the Wetlands piece with these ducks.

It's been interesting to show various.

And I think the years will denote some interesting awareness is all I wanted to know.

Well, Ken, I mean, you are, I believe, both a curator and an artist in the show.

You have a piece or pieces in the show.

When you think about what you're contributing to this exhibition, what is the story you're trying to tell with your work?

I was already working on kind of narrative within the painting in this.

It's called Overtopping.

And that of course denotes that when a levee, when.

When the waters overtop a levee and begin to flood.

And of course what happens when you overtop a levee, oftentimes the levee, of course, begins to deteriorate, failing like it did in New Orleans, Katrina flooding into our neighborhoods.

Overtopping also is kind of a.

It's like when one group of people also kind of want to think themselves better than other people as well.

So it has kind of a double entendre, both.

Both about weather and also about race.

Because, you know, I grew up with hurricane stories.

To the foundation, which by the way happened again from Hurricane Rita.

So that same house was leveled twice.

And I don't think it's going to be rebuilt this time.

So the narrative comes in is that something I've lived with all my life is like you live in a kind of state of preparedness once August hits.

But it's also one about resilience.

Right.

We now hear that word a lot these days about after the fact of these weather events, of communities that are really strong and pull together.

And that's also that component.

It's like, what do you do?

You know, we can't control everything.

You know, we know we have to learn what we can and cannot control.

But the aftermath of that is that you go out and you help your neighbors.

People will see that in the painting itself.

Natural disasters hit.

We hear a lot in the news and the media about how that oftentimes the poor are most devastated by these natural disasters for any number of reasons.

Might be because they don't have a car to evacuate, for example.

You know, artists are oftentimes impoverished themselves.

The idea of the starving artist is classic in its stereotype.

And so you have artists that are hit by these natural disasters, you know, in a way that is quite profound and acute.

And yet here they are in the aftermath with a.

With.

With a set of eyes, a set of an intellect that I guess empowers them and allows them to look at the devastation and start thinking about, okay, how do I help?

How do I contribute?

What can I do?

When Katrina hit, you know, there were artists there left behind.

They didn't evacuate, maybe couldn't evacuate.

Maybe they stayed behind purposely.

But then they started taking action and they started, you know, reclaiming materials or documenting what have you.

And we have all these incredible stories.

Because, of course, the flip side of that is artists are the bearers of culture.

They create something out of nothing, and they start to rebuild just by their nature, right?

By creating.

When Helene hit Asheville, I wonder to what extent that was historic.

Many levels.

One of those levels being have so many artists been devastated and displaced at once before Helene?

Thousands of artists were impacted by Helene.

I think that may be historic.

I don't know that so many artists have ever been devastated by one natural disaster at one time.

What is it about artists that you, in your experience, what is it about artists that allows them to take this trauma and transcend it?

What is it about the way artists see, the way artists think that they can look at devastation like Katrina or Helene and then see hope and see the opportunity to create and rebuild.

What do you think, Jan?

Well, I'll try to be brief because.

This is a big story.

I've been doing this for 40 years, and early on, I would say art was about giving things a new life, Whether it's loss of a family member, whether it's loss of who we thought we might be, many, many losses.

So by the time this came around, and I've worked with other artists and writers, and, I mean, we've really made a study of this, focusing on this idea.

So when this came, we felt we were really situated and had learned so many lessons about this theme that we really could offer some Sense of how to collect, how to recycle, how to learn from, share, what collaboration meant.

And that really is a very big word that, you know, I hope to share and I hope this is.

I mean, we are collaborating, you know.

I mean, Ken's a brother now, you know, and I mean, really, the people who have been involved in this, so these are just lessons learned, I think, that go way before this type of disaster.

Andrew, what say you?

Yeah, that was.

By the way, that was a fantastic question.

But I think, you know, I think we have to be a little bit careful.

And so I want to answer this in two pieces because I want to talk about.

A little bit about.

I think one of the rules of the show, which is to highlight exactly what you were talking about, which is that artists can be sometimes some of the most vulnerable in our communities.

But then the other question, which was that, you know, what is it about artists that help us kind of respond?

And I think that there are certain people in the world, and again, this isn't like this way, and I think it can be taught because I'm an educator, but, you know, it's just being sensitive in a different way, in a special way to the environment around it.

And so when people like that, responding to a disaster, you know, really incredible things can come out of it, you know.

And I'm thinking with film, about pieces like, I mean, you know, just some of the greatest, you know, some documentary.

I mean, there's work that has responded to disaster and is really keyed into human illness in the way that we can't comprehend when it's happening.

So we look to artists after the fact to respond to it.

Right.

So there's.

That's the piece, I think, of what's special about artists responding.

Now, the other piece, which I think is very important, is that artists can't respond if their studio is underwater and they don't have any money or any food.

And I think it is beholden upon communities to understand that and to help support these people.

Right?

It is, I think, beholden upon private entities, public entities, you know, and part of what we're doing with the show is to support it.

But these folks need more support.

And I'm sure, and I know that the artists in Asheville need more support.

And I hope that one of the things that comes out of this exhibition is a little bit of knowledge about that, you know.

Well, Ken, as an artist from Asheville, you know, I'm going to ask you the question in a slightly different way, because a year ago, you were Essentially a year ago, you were on the front lines of this natural disaster, Hurricane Helene, and you were one of the artists that were impacted and many of your friends were impacted.

How did you respond?

How did you take action in that moment?

What were you inspired to do those first few days?

First was understanding the brevity and the impact because of course we really had no information on the interior of Asheville.

And we learned just a couple of days later that pretty much every major highway had been blocked, so there was no coming in or no getting out.

I went in to stay with my ex wife and just because out of more kind of practicality, we checked on the neighbors, elderly neighbors, make sure everyone, you know, no houses were damaged because no one had electricity, no one had water.

But just to check on the surrounding area.

Michelle's mother is Alzheimer, pre Alzheimer's, and so she lives outside of Asheville.

So we were trying to get a phone line, so we started walking.

We were told that we'll go to a fire station, you'll have some cell, some cell service there.

There was nothing there.

We went to another and to.

And we were walking around.

But as we were walking, sometimes crawling, having to go under trees, wires, you know, down the power lines and so on, that's when it really began to sink in about the devastation that had occurred.

And we hadn't even gotten down to the river yet.

And so it was a lake.

And so you're looking at, you're looking at like, wow, I just, I used to ride my bike on this road which is now 20ft underwater.

And so then it's like, all right, first, how about water?

How about, you know, food?

How about once again checking in on everyone, making sure everyone is not only physically well, but mentally well?

Because that was the part that really began taking its toll once people began to understand the impact.

It's just like, how do you deal with this?

You know, our brains sometimes are very limited in that scope.

We finally made it out to Michelle's mother's home out near Waynesville, and she had only lost power for maybe two days.

She had a caregiver with her.

Fortunately, she had fresh water.

So we started just filling up big, big water containers and bringing them back to Asheville to neighbors and anyone who, who needed fresh water because the water trucks were still slow in coming in.

I think we finally opened one interstate two days later.

And then the, the 140 west didn't even open up for six to nine months.

So it's just, even still, you're trying to grapple With.

With that sense of, I don't know, devastation.

It's still.

Sometimes if you stop and think about just really, really think, talks about permanence, impermanence, you know, mortality and so on.

I was fortunate I didn't.

I mean, I lost a few paintings down at the Marquee, but I know artists who's lost entire studios.

And like you're saying, from Asheville River Arts District up to Marshall and a lot of communities in between.

You know, artists, we tend to inhabit places that most normal people don't want to because they are susceptible maybe to floods or they're susceptible to or crime or what have you.

Sometimes.

New York's a prime example.

You know, people used to squat in all the different areas of New York City, and then finally that.

That become a really cool place to hang out, and now they're being gentrified.

So artists, we've always learned how to do that.

And I think that's kind of set within even school.

You know, we're told, you know, we doubt our work.

We're told that sometimes, you know, it's gonna be really hard to make it as an artist once you get out.

So you have to really prepare yourselves, you know, come up with a certain fortitude and courage and resilience to keep, you know, keep waking up day in, day out, like, all right, what do I do?

I don't really have two nickels to rub together, so why don't I just make a painting?

It's the potential to at least make something, to produce something that maybe someone would want to purchase as that kind of keepsake.

That's right.

And going back to artists struggling, what have you, they inhabit these areas because usually the rent is affordable, or they, as you said, might squat in some place that no one is going to live in because, you know, it's a.

It's a tough area.

But artists, because they create and bring positive energy to plighted areas, those areas get, you know, reborn and some reimagined and new life, new energy, new new economies pop up.

And I think ultimately, I mean, that is the story of New Orleans, isn't it?

I mean, that is the story of post Katrina, not just the artists, but the community coming together.

I mean, of course, New Orleans is singular and in the United States for so many reasons, I guess.

And you guys are the experts.

I'm not, but I could imagine that in New Orleans, culture is currency.

People come there for the music, for the food, for the art.

And so artists were, after Katrina, I'm guessing, on the front Lines of helping New Orleans begin to be reborn and rebuilt.

Jan, talk a little bit about your memory and years in the rebuild and how art has helped lead the charge.

Well, we were away for the first two months.

We happened to have been in Chicago for that weekend, and then we were in D.C. for a couple of months.

But that didn't stop us.

We started to plan as many other people were doing, and we were part of a thing that happened in December, which was called Right here in New Orleans, a conference which brought people recognized that they needed to bring residents back to be here to talk and be part of this conference.

But it was architects and many people of different persuasions and skills.

And what was amazing, and this was just one little microcosm, but when people started meeting, these networks began to take hold.

And that is another.

When I say some of these other words, you know, networking really is.

It's just so bountiful what can occur.

And there were a lot of breakdowns in what was happening with all the bureaucracies.

But I feel like I was able to witness how these other networks of communities and artists and the neighborhoods and slowly, slowly began to take hold.

And people would get very upset at how many blanking meetings it required to get anything done.

I mean, it was astounding.

And so if you didn't have a threshold for that kind of tolerance, you were in trouble.

But, you know, talking just.

That's what it took.

Andrew, what is your memory of those.

Of those initial weeks and months and years of, of how artists and the arts helped take the lead in the rebuild and the reimagining of what New Orleans would become?

But, you know, my personal experience with, with Ida and other storms that have been more recent have had substantial effect to the city, is that once folks get past the immediate concern of survival, I think it's harsh.

It's no one's fault, but there's a real competitive spirit up there.

Everybody's going to 110% at 110% of the time.

And I think competition, competition sometimes clouds collaboration.

People don't want to work together because they're sort of afraid to.

But down here, there is this.

This incredible spirit of collaboration between institutions and entities and people.

And I think that's one of the things that, that helped the arts culture come back in, you know, and, and I, you know, I would say I think we're still coming back.

It's 20 years I think we're still coming back.

I think different.

Different perspective there, but.

But that is my perspective on that.

Well, Ken, speaking of Asheville and Hurricane Helene, obviously much fresher wound.

The trauma is just a year old almost.

What is your memory of how artists in Asheville more broadly responded and are responding and how are they doing now and today, a year on?

Well, there are a number of entities.

One, one, we have a really good city council, and I would appreciate what they're doing.

But we had the River Arts District, RAD and rada.

That's of course, they were the mainstay within the river, who lost everything.

What they're working on is right now they're running, operating maybe about 5, 50 to 60% reopened.

Most of that's on the upper levels, like the higher levels away from the river there.

They have hired a consultant, a planner to come in.

And we'll start with some charrettes here soon, you know, inviting community artistic input on what do we want this reimagined RAD district to look like.

You had the arts council, who's also been raising funds and of course divvying out some of those funds.

The art museum put on a huge exhibition, salon style.

I forget how many, 300, 400 artists.

Everyone's really working to help one another out right now because Asheville's been known for many years now, several decades, as an arts destination.

And it's high, it's huge tourism.

A lot of artists really bank on those tourists coming in and with trolley cars and so on.

So they really want to get back up and running.

So there are a number of festivals running.

A hotel called the Radical opened up just about a year or so ago, and they are going to have a welcome center for the RAD district and as a temporary spot where people can come in, gather information as at least a central kind of focal point through that.

So there are a lot of people, private businesses, public, who are all coming together to reimagine what Asheville and in particular arts culture is going to look like.

There are a number of music, you know, music venues down there.

They're trying to reopen and get themselves going again.

So it's just almost looking at like, all right, how can I help in doing something like this?

And I think that this exhibition goes a long ways in putting that kind of spotlight and focus on what artists can do in these situations.

In a word, you know, we've said this word collaboration a lot.

One word that I don't know that we've mentioned is the Word.

Contribution.

Contribution.

And we.

I mean, we.

That's what we're talking about.

We haven't used the word contribution necessarily, but that's what we're talking about.

Artists contribution.

Right.

To their community.

And, you know, Jan, in a word or two, if you could take a very complex idea and make it simple, what.

In a word or two, what do you think the essence of an artist's contribution is in.

In a.

In a time of need like this?

Well, words, patience.

I mean, creativity.

We haven't really even said that per se.

You know, the visioning.

Visioning is what we do.

That is what we do, whether it's absurd, whether it's fantasy.

You know, my friends have accused me that I'm way out there when I'm telling them about something, and I say, I want to be out there.

You know, those are my few words.

I love that.

Andrew, what say you?

Yeah, Jan's piece, I love.

I mean, offering creativity.

I think empathy is another one.

I think that, you know, I consider myself an artist, I'm an arts administer, but I think one of the pieces that strive to offer others is empathy.

A lot of my colleagues and friends who are artists here, you know, you have to.

And one of the interesting things about empathy, and I think why art teaches it, is that to create a work of art, you are always interested in how the viewer, another human being, ultimately will interpret it.

And so you're always forced to get outside of yourself and think about another person right at the core of empathy, right?

Getting outside of our own worlds and considering how it would be to walk down the street in another person's shoes.

What was their life like?

What were the challenges in capturing the image?

You wonder about the people that lived in this home and the memories and the experience of, are they all right?

How can I help?

So I think through the very act of creating and binding artwork, we are engaging in empathy.

And I think that that's one piece of what art can offer.

Ken.

They took all the good words, all the platforms.

It's the problem.

Big third.

There's still.

Still a word that no one's mentioned that I will mention.

But go.

You go right ahead, Kit.

No pressure.

I don't know.

I was going to kind of zoom out from like 30,000ft philosophically, you know, and just.

But I think, you know, control, right?

What we control, what we can't control, and then how we react to that, our own actions.

And I think empathy kind of circles around this idea of the golden Rule.

You know, when a situation you treat Others that you want to be treated.

And because when you're down to basic fundamentals and you aren't worried about sometimes the larger trappings, then it's just about a face to face conversation and dialogue.

That's exactly.

That's a big, big, big one.

And so to me, it's just like, how then do you have those conversations?

And so that's what we started here.

And so that's what I'm really appreciative of.

Guess what?

You're all right.

A.

Everything you're getting at ladders up to something that I really believe artists primary contribution that artists make in these times of trauma is healing.

They help us heal.

Art helps us heal, Artists help us heal.

And they help us through their creativity and their collaboration, their contribution and their empathy and their compassion.

And this exhibition, a Tale of the Two Cities.

Speaking for myself, I just hope that it helps people heal and what.

Love that, right?

I mean, trauma is, is, is.

I mean, it happens to everyone.

You know, my.

I mean, we live here in la.

You know, obviously we were traumatized in January with the fires.

You know, we're always worried about a big earthquake, you know, but then when the global pandemic hit, we were all impacted by that.

And it was.

This is a poor example, but, you know, I know that Netflix helped me get through the pandemic a little bit.

And, you know, all of those movies I watched were made by who?

Oh, artists.

Right.

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

And so the tale of the Two Cities.

What I love about this exhibition, there's so many things I love about it, but New Orleans was traumatized and its artists help it heal.

And then Asheville was traumatized and New Orleans reached out to help Asheville heal and the artists healed.

Now you guys are coming together for this amazing exhibition to talk about this very stark reality we're living in, which is one of more natural disasters, traumatizing communities and creating a space for a conversation that allows people to ponder what the role of art and artists is in these situations.

And certainly one of healing and restoration, preservation of restoration, you know, it's all baked in, right, Jan?

Perfectly said, Scott.

Thank you.

Well, I'm glad you went into restoration because that's what.

When you were talking about healing because, you know, thinking about mental and physical, you think, you know, I've gone through, through therapy before.

I remember years back, and the therapist was like, you know, what are you thinking right now?

How's that affecting your body?

And then how do you go then move into that restorative area.

And that's very, I guess, similar on a larger scale to what our cities are doing.

Right.

We have to think about that, the mental aspect, the physical, and then how do we repair that?

And the healing part.

So very well put, Scott.

Yeah, no, I love the healing piece.

I mean, to do, to speak to film.

I mentioned earlier I was escaping my mind.

Now I remember it.

So I'm thinking of the Holocaust, a terrible event.

And I think of that moment in terms of this, for me was, you know, the girl, how incredible.

He illuminated the dress.

Right.

The red dress, just to highlight the humanity lost in this terrible event.

And so that artistic choice highlighted that for us as viewers.

And so, yes, one would hope that we can achieve that with some of the paintings and the photographs and the wonderful artwork we've curated in our exhibition.

Thank you for that, Andrew.

Jan, as we sort of wrap up today, I want to give everybody a chance to sort of offer parting thoughts and feelings.

But before we get into to that, Jan, give us the sort of the nitty gritty details of the exhibition itself, the who, what, where, when, why and how of it all.

Well, I'm going to ask my partner, Andrew, to help me with this as well, because the Academy is really the parent to this.

Yes.

And I have been particularly involved in curator as the New Orleans component and of course, consulting with my partners and Ken representing the North Carolina Asheville component.

So we are opening the exhibition September 13, which is strategically placed right in the center of the 29th, being the anniversary of Katrina and Helene being the 27th.

Is that right of September?

And there will be several other components.

Andrew, do you want to hop in here?

Or as you mentioned, the lectures.

Yeah, of course.

Yeah.

So Jan was mentioning the big kickoff of the event is Saturday, September 13th, and we're going to have the Academy is a beautiful kind of big classical southern building sitting on Magazine street in New Orleans.

We've got a great big front parking lot space which we're going to have live performances, hopefully from both New Orleans and Asheville bands.

We're going to have some great food and libations.

So it's going to be a great experience.

We're going to have some speakers that night as well, that are going to be talking a little bit prior to the opening, which starts at 5pm and runs through 8, probably to 9.

Then the previous day, Friday, September 12, we are having a soft opening where we're also going to be inviting the public and guests.

And this will have.

We'll have some additional Speakers as well at that event.

So for more information, it's important, just always go to our website, Noafa.org New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts.

And that's where you can find the most up to dated information with the names of all of our speakers.

We're going to be doing some really exciting workshops as well that are going to be in connection to this exhibition.

So our fall registration, which is going to come out August 18th, actually on our website, you'll be able to see some workshops by some of the actual artists that are in the exhibition, which is really exciting.

So they're going to be teaching some of our students this fall some of their tricks and practices.

And frankly, the whole exhibition will be on view online for many of the people who won't be able to travel there for really six months or so beginning in September, first through the end of the year.

And again, all that information will be on the NOAFA website.

Yeah, yeah.

And we're going to have.

We will be recording all our speakers, so.

Exactly.

So folks in Los Angeles or Asheville can see any of the speaker series.

And we will document the exhibition as well.

Ken, as we wrap up here today, what are you thinking and feeling about this important exhibition as the sort of strategic Asheville partner and artist and curator?

What's on your mind and heart right now?

Well, first I'd like to mention that there are a good number of artists who are planning to travel down for the opening because we talked about dates and so on, and that because it's strategically placed in between, that our artists can travel down, participate, meet all the incredible New Orleans folks and have that, once again, some conversations and dialogues on the similarities or nuances or differences.

And then of course, a couple weeks later, everyone will be back in Asheville on the 27th, of course, to commemorate that.

I just see this as a moment of, I know, transcendent transformation.

I keep thinking about matter a lot and it and loss that, you know, as I'm aging, thinking about, before long, you know, I'll be lost out there to the ether.

But do we lose things or does that matter just transform into something else?

And I think that's why I keep thinking as an artist that oftentimes we recycle, we repurpose, and just to somehow bring, elevate certain aspects of our lives.

And I think this is what this exhibition is doing.

It's elevating all of us to really rethink our roles in society and how we can influence them and then even bring more people into the conversation.

Well, and that's such a great point to end on this idea that all of this work, all this incredible hard work, effort, energy, is really about building a doorway for people to enter into conversation.

It's an invitation, right, to engage our fellow neighbors, citizens, what have you and start a dialogue about these very important topics.

Because, of course, without dialogue, we can't make any progress and we cannot heal without talking to each other and being in dialogue together.

And I think that's one of the other things, right, that art and artists do.

Dialogue, conversation, understanding, and to Andrew's point, empathy.

From there, we can rebuild and restore these incredible communities as New Orleans has done and as Asheville is doing.

And so, Jan, Andrew, Ken, I want to thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedules.

I know you guys have so much going on and I just am so grateful that you are here with me today to talk about this important show.

You know, obviously Artsville USA is thrilled to play a very small part in this important endeavor.

I thank you all for coming on the show today, today.

Thank you, Scott.

Thank you, Scott.

Thank you so much.

Wonderful, wonderful.

Pleasure is all mine.

We'll see you soon.

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