Katrina on Exhibit

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept.  23, 2010) –“Katrina: Artistic Response” is a three-part event featuring artists and art exhibits that focus on the hurricane that destroyed much of the Gulf Coast, including the city of New Orleans, five years ago.

Local and national artists’ works that deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are already on exhibit in the Tuska Gallery (located in the University of Kentucky Fine Arts Building) and the Rasdall Gallery (located in the UK Student Center). They will be the backdrop for two lectures on Thursday, Sept. 23.

The event, which includes tours of both galleries, begins at 5 p.m. when Charlie Campbell, curator of “Aftermath,” will take the audience on a personally guided tour of his exhibit now hanging in the Tuska Gallery of the Fine Arts Building. “Aftermath” was created in honor of Katrina's five-year anniversary as an artistic reflection of the disaster and with the hope that it might provide a clearer vision of the events and how they changed our lives. Developed by artists who were New Orleans residents at the time of the tragedy and current residents of the city, this part of the program presents an intimate portrait of personal loss and recollection. 

The event continues with a short walk to the Student Center’s Rasdall Gallery, where Amanda Rambo of the Student Activities Board (SAB) will discuss “The Katrina Collection.” In the creation of her exhibit, Mississippi Gulf Coast artist Lori K. Gordon found artifacts that tell the history of New Orleans, Katrina and the chaos that ensued and, in the showing, discovered that beauty can be found in the strangest of places. Some of Gordon’s work may be found in the Smithsonian Institute and the Katrina Museum among other well-renowned art houses. 

After the tour of “The Katrina Collection,” at 6 p.m. in the Student Center Cats Den, associate professor Liz Swanson in the School of Architecture in the UK College of Design will discuss artistic reactions to Katrina, the post-Katrina era and the rise of new art and architecture in New Orleans. Swanson is an author, architect and a contributor to the “Aftermath” exhibit. She will share her personal experience of the tragedy and how it shaped her understanding of innovative design solutions for communities and development of buildings stressing social, cultural and environmental issues.

This exhibit and artist tours and discussions are a collaboration between the Fine Arts Department, the Student Center Director's Office and SAB. This collaborative event is free of charge and open to students, faculty and staff.