Two year Anniversary

As some houses are rebulit and repaired, some remain in
the same state of disrepair. Ninth Ward, August 2007, Michael J. Sax www.flickr.com/photos/michaelsax/sets/72157601639387493/

Two years ago today Hurricane Katrina, the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the US, made landfall in the Gulf. The most severe loss of life and property damage occurred in New Orleans when the levee system failed catastrophically hours after the storm moved inland.

The system failed in 53 different places. Nearly every levee in metro New Orleans breached as Hurricane Katrina passed east of the city, subsequently flooding 80% of it. Much of the city and many area of neighboring parishes were underwater for weeks.

Two weeks after Katrina, President Bush, in Jackson Square, pledged to the nation a massive reconstruction. "Bureaucracy", he said "is not going to stand in the way of getting the job done for the people". Now two years later a bureaucratic stranglehold is choking off its recovery. Huge amounts of money have gone to waste, while so called leaders are mired in scandal, corruption, and fighting all the way down the line.

In the past year as all the failures have come to light Bush visited New Orleans twice and didn't even mention the great city in the State of the Union address last January.

Much of New Orleans still looks like a wasteland, with businesses shuttered and houses abandoned. Basic services such as schools, libraries, public transportation and childcare are at half their original levels and only two-thirds of the region's licensed hospitals are open. Workers are often scarce. Rents have skyrocketed. Crime is rampant.

I am shocked, I am dismayed. That this country's leadership is so bankrupt and has strayed so far that the welfare if its own people has become unimportant. To be willing to throw away the cultural richness and human dignity of a once great city is beyond my comprehension.

It is my mission and my goal to help bring some humanity back by connecting to this terrible tragedy through art.



The Lost World-There are no trailers, no signs of FEMA,
no construction crews or anyone around at all. This is the Lost World.
New Orleans, May 2007 www.flickr.com/photos/9735372@N03

ONLINE GALLERY
The address for the online gallery where I will be posting artwork during and after the New Orleans trip will be
www.bluezeppelin.com/gallery/yikesstudio

Till the next blog...
~Suzanne

Fundraising Bracelet available online

Hi, I wanted to let people know that the handmade fundraising bracelet "Home" is now available for purchase online at Etsy. They make it very easy to purchase items through their secure server, can accept all major credit cards and PayPal.

THANKS TO THE SPONSORS
I am thinking it would be nice to list everyone who has made this trip possible.
Please let me know if you would like your name listed on this site as a sponsor.

ORGANIZING THE TRIP
I am in the process of getting my itinerary together as far as what I will be doing each day. Here are the things I am planning at this time. Painting at the Common Ground Wetlands Restoration Project, painting at the Eco Green building site, Painting at the volunteer center. Painting at a Habitat for Humanity site (met the Bangor Habitat for Humanity volunteers at the Folk Festival in Bangor last weekend-They sell an adorable "House" pin to raise money!).

If anyone knows about anything else I should check out, please let me know and I will do my best.

Have found a fantastic place to stay in New Orleans on Craig's List. It is a weekly rental that has a kitchen and plenty of room for my art supplies!

The dates are cemented in for Oct 10-17. Probably not long enough but it looks like that is what is affordable.

News
Will have some interesting info about Wetlands Restoration here soon.

Thanks for your support--Suzanne

Great Things are Happening in NOLA!

A single-family, eco-friendly home from
Global Green USA and workshop/apd's New Orleans project.

I Wanted to post a pict here about Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, Global Green and Brad Pitt and the creation of the first of the Green houses in Lower 9th. This is an amazing project financed by Pitt and HomeDepot. The Holy Cross Project consists of 5 single-family homes, an 18-unit apartment building, and a community center/sustainable design and climate action center.

As part of my trip to New Orleans I plan to visit the construction site, do some drawings and will upload photos of this fantastic project.

Global Green USA and New Orleans – an Overview
After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the inadequate response of the US Government, Global Green USA made a dedicated commitment to sustainable building in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. As part of that commitment, Global Green, in partnership with Brad Pitt, sponsored an international design competition during the summer of 2006, with more than 125 entries competing to design a zero energy affordable housing development in the Holy Cross Neighborhood of the Lower 9th Ward. Matthew Berman and Andrew Kotchen of Workshop/APD in New York created the winning design. With the Home Depot Foundation as lead sponsor, Global Green is now working with Workshop/APD and a dedicated and highly skilled team of sustainable design and building experts together with the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association to translate the winning development proposal into a reality.

Charles Allen Speaks
08-16-2007
The Holy Cross Project symbolizes renewal and rebirth of the Holy Cross/Lower 9th ward community. Given the fact that this community housing/multi-use project is very modern and state of the art in its appearance and technological design/features, it sends a strong message to the world that the people of this community have fully embraced sustainable redevelopment and wish to serve as a model community in this regard. We in this community wish to no longer be seen as being relegated to substandard conditions for living and working in this community. We want nothing but the best. And, we wish to proclaim commitment to helping preserve the global environment.

-- Charles Allen - President of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association

FILM
If you haven't seen Spike Lee's film "When the Levees Broke" try to see it soon.

TRIP UPDATE
looks like the dates will be Oct 10-17. Not a lot of time to cover everything but I plan to get as much packed in as possible. Might not be sleeping much as I intend to create as much work there as possible.

Thanks for all your support
--Suzanne

Please Help me get to New Orleans

Barge (on right) that broke through the levee in the
industrial canal destroying neighborhood.



Protester in the Lower 9th.

Hi and Thank You for Visiting My Blog.

This is where I will be posting updates on fundraising for the NOLAProject and when I arrive in New Orleans I will be blogging daily from there as well.

What is The NOLAProject??

At the end of Sept '07. I plan to be in New Orleans Lower 9th ward to create a body of work that will help to raise awareness of this tight knit community after the devastation of hurricane Katrina. After 2 years these folk are seeing a very slow rebuilding of their neighborhood. Phrases like "ethnic cleansing" don't seem like they are far off the mark. Through the work of non-government relief organizations there is hope that this once vibrant, close-knit community will come back.




Common Ground Relief volunteers with founder Malik Rahim, center
of standing group.

I plan to create my work along side volunteers for Common Ground Relief, a group of volunteers working very hard, everyday, in the area. Besides doing drawings, paintings etc. I will be blogging and sending photos every evening to let everyone know what I have been up to and what I am seeing. I think it is esp. important for us northerners to try to get a sense of this. I can't not go--I have to know!

"The recent hurricanes not only devastated much of the city of New Orleans, they exposed long-standing injustices faced by the residents of the lower income, African American communities. It is estimated that over 275,000 housing units were destroyed and efforts to clean up, repair or open livable housing has been slow. In New Orleans Parish, nearly 40% of the community earns under $20,000 per year, and more than 70% of the households are headed by a single parent. The literacy rate in New Orleans is roughly 39%. It is critical, therefore, that the immediate needs of the community are being met while long-term strategies to stabilize the community are initiated." ...from Common Ground web site



Two examples of the beads in the Home bracelet

The Bracelet
I have decided to create a bracelet to help raise money for this trip. I am calling it the "Home Bracelet" and it symbolizes the importance of home for all of us. The little house in the bead has a lot of stormy, swirly patterns symbolizing the flood waters in New Orleans. The beads are all unique and made entirely by myself. I hope you will decide to help and buy a bracelet.

The Art
While in the lower 9th ward. I will be doing paintings and drawings of the scene before me. These will later all come together to form a show complete with written notation. The idea is to try to communicate what is happening down there in a visual way. It is my goal to help people connect with the residents of the lower 9th. Check out my Maine paintings at www.yikestudio.com

To all who have purchased a bracelet--THANK YOU SO MUCH! I hope you will enjoy wearing it.

Please check back soon as I will have more info and important links.

Suzanne