Ebb & Flow
Ebb & Flow is based on the premise that Southern Louisiana can be seen as a microcosm of the global environment, manifesting both the challenges and possibilities inherent in human interaction with urban and natural ecosystems. 2011-2014
The series titled Ebb & Flow: Dialogues Between Art and Water was the evolution of our Changing Landscapes residencies and reflects a movement to refocus our artists’ energies from the post-Hurricane Katrina landscape to the worldwide importance of water as underscored by the 2010 oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. The call was open to artists of all disciplines who had demonstrated an established dialogue with environmental issues and a commitment to seeking and plumbing new depths. Ebb & Flow was based on the premise that Southern Louisiana can be seen as a microcosm of the global environment, manifesting both the challenges and possibilities inherent in human interaction with urban and natural ecosystems. We asked artists to describe in detail how the region would affect their work, to propose a public component to their residency and to suggest ways in which they would engage with the local community.
View Ebb & Flow Residency Catalog
Ebb & Flow Residencies were sponsored thanks to generous support of The Surdna Foundation and The National Endowment for the Arts. This program was supported by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council. The grant was administered through the Arts Council of New Orleans. The Artists-in-Residence program was supported by a grant from the New Orleans Theatre Association (NOTA).
Ebb & Flow Residents
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Sebastian Muellauer Creative Design, 2014, Germany Muellauer used his residency to make advances on his Open Research Buoy (ORB), an open-sourced, community-driven project that aims to develop technology which will help monitor and research endangered water ecosystems. He met with scientists and environmental specialists to assess… -
Monica Haller Media Artist, 2014, Minnesota Haller created a “field station” in a gutted home in Plaquemines Parish, enlisting the help of local geologists and sedimentologists, in order to learn more about the transitory eroding spaces that face Southern Louisiana’s coast. She gathered together experiments, photos,… -
Megan Singleton Visual Artist, 2014, Missouri Singleton created an installation of sculpture and pulp paintings investigating native and invasive flora that clutch Louisiana between the fingers of their roots. The works transformed natural materials into art using hand paper making techniques and clay and referencing maps… -
Daniel McCormick and Mary O’Brien Installation Artists, 2013, California McCormick and O’Brien worked with local grassroots environmentalists to invent a reusable cage to protect cypress seedlings from invasive rodents, placing dozens of these cages along the coast as a remedial art installation. Rigorous in their research, the artist team… -
Isabelle Hayeur Visual Artist, 2013, Canada Hayeur used special equipment to shoot over/underwater photography in polluted waterways, creating evocative images from the unusual perspective of the waterline that were then exhibited on four billboards on major thoroughfares across New Orleans. Born in Montreal, Isabelle Hayeur is… -
Laurel True Visual Artist, 2013, Louisiana True created a series of sculptural mosaic forms that float on the surface of water, interacting with the environment through light, movement and reflection. The sculptures were made from elements collected from both the urban and the rural landscape, including… -
Emily Corazon Nelson Visual Artist, 2013, Louisiana Nelson used her residency to collect and commission images of water landscapes in Southern Louisiana rendered in oil-based media. She then subjected the images to Corexit, the disperant used in the Gulf during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill cleanup. Emily… -
Rebecca Snedeker Writer and Filmmaker, 2011-12, Louisiana Snedeker’s residency was crucial in the formation of Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas, a book of 22 imaginative maps and essays she co-authored with Rebecca Solnit. She spent her time recruiting writers for the book, writing an essay on… -
Katie Holten Visual Artist, 2012, Ireland Holten researched the historical, current, and projected ecosystem of New Orleans and the Mississippi river delta, through site visits and engagement with local communities and expressed these scientific and ecological investigations through sculptures and works on paper. This work formed… -
Nina Nichols Performing Artist, 2012, Louisiana Nichols produced costumes, puppets, and props for an operetta titled The Vanities of the Poor, set on the banks of the Mississippi River. The show debuted during A Studio in the Woods’ FORESTival. She received a grant to take the… -
Sarah Quintana Composer, 2012, Louisiana Quintana used water as an instrument in composing and recording a dozen new songs. She transformed her studio into a mixed media sound installation with a number of professional and home made instruments for a collaborative performance. She invited the… -
Andy Behrle Sculptor, 2012, Hawaii Behrle explored issues of erosion and accretion with a living installation sited on the grounds of Longue Vue House and Gardens. The piece took the form of a mausoleum covered with mud and the seeds of native plants which slowly… -
Benjamin Morris Writer, 2011, Louisiana and Mississippi Morris took every opportunity to go out in the woods absorbing great botanical detail and spent his studio time creating allegories based on the changing forest ecology for a new book of poetry titled Ecotone, which was published by Antenna/Press… -
Roy Staab Installation Artist, 2011, Wisconsin Staab used driftwood, willow branches, bamboo, bloodweed, and other natural materials found onsite or nearby – even footprints – to construct ephemeral artworks in our pond and on the banks of the Mississippi River. Roy’s residency culminated with a piece…