Law school grad goes green with creativity

Aminta Conant, who graduated from Tulane Law School in May, leaves a lasting T Wave fashioned from Mardi Gras beads. (Photo by Ali Mansfield)

Look closely, and you can spot emblems from Carnival krewes — a lyre from Orpheus, a Muses “M” as well as an Endymion fleur de lis — and a tiny alligator embedded in the artwork.

Conant said she crafted the intricate mosaic in Tulane green, blue and white during spring break of her second year of law school using beads that she, friends and classmates collected.

She and her boyfriend, James Dumont, who also received a J.D. from Tulane Law School in May, presented the piece to David Meyer, dean of the law school, after graduation as thanks for what she called “three wonderful years” at Tulane Law School.

Now adorning a second-floor hallway at Tulane Law School, the beadwork is a festive expression of the Green Wave excitement that has been sweeping across campus with the start of the fall semester, the Sept. 5 dedication of the new Yulman Stadium and the long-anticipated return of football to campus.

Artwork at fairs and parades she attended while in law school prompted Conant to create her own works using Mardi Gras beads. She fashioned a handful of other New Orleans-inspired bead designs. Art has always been an important outlet for her, she said, and she is currently working on a ceramic mosaic.

After graduation, Conant and Dumont moved to the Bay Area of California, where they recently took the bar exam.

Ali Mansfield is a communications and marketing coordinator in the Tulane Law School.