ARTIST AND TEACHER VIDHO LORVILLE OPENS KIDS SHOW

On Saturday, November 6, The Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans, 900 Camp Street, opened an exhibit of a cross-cultural collaboration project between the children of New Orleans and Haiti entitled "Aye-Ti Mounn Yo."  This roughly translates to "Yes to the people and children of Haiti." The exhibit features a photo-transfer mural on canvas, video and drawings organized by artist Vidho Lorville and photographer Clifton Faust.

The mural project documents the strength of children in New Orleans and Haiti in the face of overwhelming disaster. Students in a summer program at a New Orleans charter school were educated about the dire situation in Lorville's Haitian homeland. Lorville and Faust then guided the class in writing about their experiences during Hurricane Katrina and their reactions to the earthquake in Haiti. The resulting mural project traveled to Haiti with Lorville and teaching artist Whitney Raynor where it was completed with children in orphanages in Port-au-Prince and Jacmel. The final work is a testament to the unifying power of shared experiences across continents, languages and cultures.

"Aye-Ti Mounn Yo" will be on view through January 9. The gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11 am - 4 pm.

CLASSIC ARTIBONITE STYLE PAINTINGS NOW AVAILABLE FOR SALE

We just added two paintings in the classic Artibonite style to our site. The first is a splendid Saincilus Ismael Erzulie Danthor and the second a charming market scene by one of his students Mues Henry Yves. As most collectors of Haitian art know, Saincilus Ismael is one of the most forged Haitian painters. However, we are quite confident about the authenticity of this painting. It was purchased in 1995 from Mrs. Gwen Grant Mellon in her shop at the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles.