Awards honor 2 Tulane "cultural assets"
The Hogan Jazz Archive at Tulane University proudly displays its Community Arts Award from the Arts Council of New Orleans. The award was designed by renowned artist James Michalopoulos. (Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano)
When the Arts Council of New Orleans celebrated its 38th annual Community Arts Awards recently, two Tulane University organizations were among the six honorees chosen “for their artistic excellence, inspired vision, unique achievements, perseverance and continuous commitment to the arts and local community.”
The Hogan Jazz Archive and A Studio in the Woods both received awards from among a group of 130 nominees, said Kim Cook, president and CEO of the arts council.
The jazz archive, part of Howard-Tilton Memorial Library at Tulane, was founded in 1958 to perform oral history fieldwork on jazz in New Orleans. Bruce Boyd Raeburn, its curator and director of special collections, said the archive recently gave back to the community by posting online hundreds of interviews of the city"s seminal jazz musicians. The interviews are part of Music Rising"s Musical Cultures of the Gulf South curriculum website.
The award recognizes “Tulane"s foresight in being the first academic institution to so honor the accomplishments of the men and women who created jazz in New Orleans,” Raeburn said.
A Studio in the Woods, the only live-in artists" retreat in the Deep South, is a Tulane facility located on seven acres on the Mississippi River in New Orleans. The sponsor of artists" residencies centered on environmental themes, it is dedicated to preserving the endangered bottomland hardwood forest and providing within it a retreat where visual, literary and performing artists can work. It is affiliated with the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane.
At an event on Dec. 3, other awards went to the Young Men Olympian Junior Benevolent Association, the Zion Harmonizers, Mardi Gras Indian Chief Howard Miller, arts activist Jeanne Nathan and gallery owner Arthur Roger.
“If we"re doing our job well, we"re shining a light on the arts and culture of New Orleans for the city,” Cook said. “Its future rests on the health and well-being of our cultural assets.”
