Artist's Stories

"Not only did I lose some art supplies but I lost my teaching position leaving me with little money to replace supplies with."

Jenny
New Orleans artist.
Has been displaced to an artist residency. Trying to get back to New Orleans to reclaim livelihood and work in the arts again.

"Having lost my home and studio while being underinsured has left me in a very tight spot. If it were not for private contributions from friends and foundations offering assistance, I would have lost hope."

Christopher
New Orleans artist.
The floods that followed Katrina pushed over seven feet of filthy water thru his studio and home. Just about everything was lost. All sculpture tools, books, drawings, cameras and personal photographs are gone.

"My family and I got out safely. Just about every thing else was lost."

Dinerral
Co-leader & snare drummer for the Hot 8 Brass Band.
Dinerral lost his home and all his recording gear, including a Yamaha Motif 6 keyboard/workstation. He is married and has 3 kids.

"I cannot begin to replace my lost instruments because of the costs of trying to secure living accommodations for my family."

Harold
Saxophone player, teacher, composer, arranger for the Sonny & Cher's TV show in the 60's.
Harold's home and all belongings were destroyed in the flood.
Harold is not able to house the instruments and equipment he needs to work in music again. Due to the loss of his home and storage space, Harold can no longer afford living space large enough for the tools of his trade.

"I am not able to house the equipment I need due to loss of space I could longer afford."

Gary
Art professor at Southern University at New Orleans.
Used sculpture/ceramic/glass studio at Southern University at New Orleans. Studio contained several large ceramic kilns, potters wheels, a slab rolling table, a clay-mixing and pugging machine, various ceramic tools, a bronze-casting furnace, metal-casting tools, a supply of silicone bronze ingots, an electric glass furnace, glass re-heating furnaces, a glass kiln, all necessary glass-blowing and forming tools, a large sand-blasting cabinet, and all sorts of carving tools as well as electric and hand tools... EVERYTHING was lost in the flood. Consequently, there is no longer an art department at Southern University at New Orleans and no plans at this time for re-establishing one. Gary's art production has come to a complete halt. Along with Southern University at New Orleans' art studio being destroyed, Gary has been spending all his spare time re-building his home, which was also flooded. In addition, the roof of Gary's private studio was blown off and thousands of dollars of damage were done, mostly to artwork and drawing/painting supplies.

"My gratitude will be immense for anything you can do to help."

Sandra
Photographer.
Sandra and her husband, an abstract painter, lost everything in their studios in Katrina. Nothing was covered by insurance. Thirty years of work and documentation, cameras, darkroom equipment, Apple computer, Epson printer and scanner, supplies and materials, etc... They are still displaced and traveling back and forth from the coast and New York. Sandra's only access to a computer is at libraries or community business centers.

"There is so much we need to replace and so much we can never replace."

MaPo
Sculptor and Assistant Professor at Xavier University.
MaPo and her husband Martin, also a sculptor, both received enormous damage to their studios. MaPo was able to salvage most of her tools but lost everything electric; including drills, circular saws, and her kilns. Her husband not only lost all of his equipment, but his studio was destroyed as well.

"Katrina has affected every aspect of my life."

By making a donation today you can help these and hundreds of other artists and musicians begin to create again.