NEWS
GOOD PEOPLE
HISTORY
LIFE HACKS
THE PLANET
SCIENCE & TECH
POLITICS
WHOLESOME
WORK & MONEY
Contact Us Privacy Policy
© GOOD Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Reclaiming Katrina

Temporary art exhibitions bring life back into gutted houses and desolate neighborhoods.


One of the many legacies of Hurricane Katrina is "that smell," a stench of mildew and rot reminding all New Orleanians that, two years after the storm, whole blocks of their city remain in a state of disrepair. Reconstruction delays have left fissures in once close-knit neighborhoods, so in an attempt to reconnect New Orleans residents to desolate areas still awaiting rebuilding, a local artist named Robert Vicknair founded Neighborhoods, a program that transforms gutted houses into art galleries for a night. The first Neighborhoods event-there have since been two others-occurred in the decimated Lower Ninth Ward in June, 2006. Inside the shell of a house, a few feet from a levee holding back the Mississippi River, about 80 visitors with flashlights shone their way through the exhibition. More than a year after Hurricane Katrina, the power was still out. But, says Vicknair, "That night, the neighborhood just lit up."

More Stories on Good