Artists Aid the Gulf Coast

Newcomb Art Department faculty members Teresa Cole and Sandy Chism are participating in Gulf Aid Art: Artists in Action, a fundraising exhibition of Louisiana artists responding to the Gulf oil spill, today and Saturday (June 18–19) at Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, 400-A Julia St. in New Orleans' downtown arts district.

Both Cole, who teaches printmaking, and Chism, who teaches painting, are associate professors of art, and Cole is chair of the art department.

The exhibition will feature new works by more than 25 Louisiana artists who were challenged to create a new print edition as a response to the oil disaster. Each artist has created a limited edition print of 10 that will be sold both in the gallery during the limited-run exhibition and online via the gallery's website.

In an effort to make the work accessible to the general public and raise as much money as possible, the prices of the works will range between $100 and $500, with the potential to raise as much as $80,000.

Gallery owner Jonathan Ferrara and artist Dan Tague, both arts activists, conceived of the exhibition as a way for the visual arts community of New Orleans to respond to the disaster.

Gulf Aid, a nonprofit corporation established in response to the oil disaster, will receive all proceeds to provide relief to the Gulf Coast fishing community and to address the long-term challenge of restoring and protecting America's coastal wetlands. The organization held a benefit music festival on May 16.“Musicians have done their part and now visual artists are going to do their part as well to respond to this terrible disaster,” Ferrara said. “We have to use our creativity to speak up, comment, criticize and make our voices heard.”

The exhibition is open at the gallery through 5 p.m. on Saturday and continues online throughout the summer.