 Claire Beauchamp Claire Beauchamp was born in Cincinnati, grew up with one foot on a bison farm in Kansas, and has since transplanted to New Orleans, Louisiana. She was part of the Tulane University Glass Studio where her interest in materiality and construction technique pulled her into an installation-based practice that often references mental health. She juxtaposes inviting textures and ethereal materials with gaunt figural portrayal, fraying edges, exposed stitching, etc. This points to a sense of unease around her own identity- simultaneously pushing away and reaching out for Midwestern roots. This is especially poignant at a time when there is so much disgust for the behavior fostered by patriarchal, white, rural America. Beauchamp's current work focuses on the ways in which femininity and womanhood intersect with our changing landscapes. In New Orleans Beauchamp has shown work at the Contemporary Arts Center, Carroll Gallery, Parse Gallery, Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center, among others.  William DePauw William DePauw received his BFA in Painting from Northern Michigan University in 1996 and his MFA in Ceramics from Tulane University in 2004. He has held the position of Professor of Practice and Ceramics Lab Tech in the Newcomb Art Department at since 2006. Depauw’s creative practice, broadly speaking, is based on the observation of objects as abstract form. Inversely, He is interested in how inherent references to the familiar or material place objects into contexts, histories, and various other narratives. His work explores the contradictory relationship between image and object, form and reference. The pieces displayed in the gallery are part of a larger series worked on from 2010 until 2014. They are three dimensional collages constructed from mold formed porcelain. Patti Dunn | Tchoup Industries www.tchoupindustries.com Tchoup Industries’ mission is to build bags that support our Southern Louisiana community, that have a reduced impact on our natural environment, and that instill a spirit of exploration. Exploring is about being curious for knowledge in a physically active way. We believe an explorative spirit can provide opportunities for understanding and conscious self-awareness. Through building durable packs and travel bags, it is our goal to inspire a sense of exploration in everyone. We are passionate about using the synergies and resources of our thriving local community to produce relevant, socially-conscious products. We are fully aware of the catastrophic effects of oil on our natural environment in Southern Louisiana. This is why we opt to use as many repurposed, natural, and eco-conscious materials as possible to create our products.  Sarah House www.sarahhouse.net Working primarily with ceramic materials, Sarah House creates abstract sculpture and installations inspired by the fractal mathematics of nature. Fractals are the patterns by which the universe has organized itself. She says, noticing them fills her with a profound feeling of interconnection with nature in all its facets and forms; in making works inspired from this theme, House aims to instill the same sense of awe and wonder in the viewer. Her ultimate goal is for the audience to then notice these patterns all around them, and feel they are connected to something greater than themselves.
House earned her BFA from Tyler School of Art, and her MFA from Tulane University. She has participated in numerous Artist in Residence programs internationally, as well as within the United States. House is a Windgate Fellow, a Nyburg Fellow, and has been recognized globally for her work while participating in exhibitions across Europe, Asia and North America. She currently resides in New Orleans creating works in her Mid City studio.  Abbey Kuhe In E.O. Wilson’s Biophilia, the author reminds the modern reader that the long evolution of homo sapien occurred within an environment we have only very recently differentiated as “nature”. In the 100,000 years since our species emerged on the Savannahs, it has only been the last 100 that we have begun to concentrate our populations into cities. Biophilia is the evolutionary imprint that “nature” has had on our genome – it is our urge to affiliate with other life forms. It is our LOVE OF LIFE. Abbey's ceramic work is a consequence of this evolutionary and biological urge. As a newcomer to New Orleans, she found it difficult to navigate the Southern Louisiana wilds. Alligators, venomous snakes, stinging caterpillars and flesh eating bacteria are all new species to the artist. In preparation for a carving, Kuhe pores over natural history books, wildlife guides, and scientific illustrations to cull visual information and as a result begin to metabolize the biological systems of this place. It is through this cultivation of intimacy with flora and fauna that the artist finds fuller embodiment of human-ness. Recently, snakes have occupied a particular place in this process as she more deeply plumbs the medicine it makes available to us. There are countless journalists, scientists, psychologists, and conservationists publishing on the salubrious effects conservation and intimacy with “nature” has on our physical, emotional and spiritual health. Creating these tributes to the sanctity of this intimacy (and donating a significant percent of my proceeds to wildlife conservation and sustainability) allows Kuhe to simulate this relationship in our urban environment.  www.postmedium.com/laurarichens Laura Richens is an exhibiting artist, working primarily on paper, in printmaking, drawing, and hand-made books, exhibiting in various group exhibitions and projects, some under the imprint of her Vanishing Point Press. Her exhibitions include various group shows at the CAC, Delgado Community College, NOCCA, SUNO, Loyola University, Tall Grass Arts Association (Park Forest, IL), Coastal Carolina University (SC), Barrister’s Gallery, Antenna Gallery, The Front, Zeitgeist, the Brooklyn Lyceum, the Bereznitsky Gallery in Berlin, Germany, and the Mermaid Lounge. Laura is also the Curator of the Carroll Gallery in the Newcomb Art Department of Tulane University. She teaches two classes in the art department each year -- Visual Arts in New Orleans, and the Senior Studio Art Capstone – and serves as the faculty advisor to the Tulane Art Club. She has previously worked as the Assistant Curator of Visual Arts at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, and as Registrar of the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Laura received her BA in Studio Art at Rhodes College, and her MA in Art History at the University of Memphis. She has taught letterpress and relief printmaking at the Penland Center for Crafts in North Carolina, and numerous workshops in a variety of media around New Orleans. For many summers, Laura taught the kids’ summer camp at A Studio in the Woods, combining her love of art and nature. Laura was one of the founders of the Draw-a-Thon, the annual 24-hour drawing marathon organized by Press Street Collective and Antenna Gallery. She was also a founding member of the Staple Goods Gallery and Art Collective.  Asante Salaam Born and raised in New Orleans by conscious change agent parents, Asante Salaam has been an artist since birth. Her first artistic memory of a signed, dated drawing was created at six years old. Her visual art making expanded over the years to include composing mixed media assemblages, designing custom hairstyles and garments, as well as collaborating with other artists. Since 1997, Asante has explored numerous healing modalities and personal development techniques while experiencing the power of artistic practice. As a creative strategy leader, Asante Salaam develops art, culture and design principles, practices, and products. She works with people to produce advantageous collaborations, fruitful processes and catalytic outcomes for organizations, businesses, and communities. Asante managed programming for the City of New Orleans’ Office of Cultural Economy from 2011 through 2018. In that capacity, she facilitated opportunities to increase income and quality of life especially for artists, culture producers and cultural economy stakeholders in New Orleans. She additionally served as Interim Director of Cultural Economy. Her creative output includes developing collaborative, leverageable, transformative training and development initiatives. Asante’s artistry grows from reverence for the exquisite ordinariness of living life. Her artworks offer reflection and celebration of the juicy beauty of women, nature, spirit, love, life and creative processes. Her work includes crafting visual records of healing and transformation, shaping experiential installations, capturing treasured moments in the midst of everyday activities and rendering portraits from her imagination. Asante has produced commissioned art, plus shown her artwork in solo and group exhibitions. In this creative realm, she has collaborated with Rwandan women and local women artists of New Orleans’ creative community on a custom jewelry project for “O” magazine; and produced commissioned art for “Perseverance”, a book of inspirational poems and essays. She melds handwriting, language and images into artist books designed to heal, inspire and transform in alignment with intentionally creating and living heaven on earth. Asante holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her artwork lives in numerous private collections. Asante is passionate about liberating the human spirit and living a lush life. She believes in magic and folks being more excellent with each other. She travels the world and calls New Orleans home.  Katie Schmidt Katie Schmidt, is a global traveler, philanthropist, and experienced designer. A California native, Katie holds a B.A. in Drama from the University of California, Irvine, and M.S. in Luxury and Fashion Management from SKEMA Business School in Sophia Antipolis, France. She has extensive experience working as a costume designer as well as working in the fair trade industry. In 2012, as the Director of a fair-trade organization, she visited India. After seeing firsthand the many benefits of fair-trade, Katie decided to create her own women’s fair-trade clothing line - Passion Lillie.
Passion Lillie is a women's fair-trade and eco-friendly clothing line with a mission to empower artisans across the world by creating dignified employment opportunities. It uses colorful artisanal hand block printed and handwoven fabrics in modern, streamlined silhouettes.
Schmidt does all the designs, patterns and samples by hand. First the concepts for the silhouettes are created, then fabric is manipulated (pinning it on a dress form and using lots of math) to create a pattern; she then creates a paper pattern for all the different sizes and a final fabric sample, so this one design can be made multiple times. The patterns are then sketched out in partnership with block printers and weavers in India. The entire design process takes 9 months for a collection of 20 different styles. Katie works with a team on the stitching in order to meet the demand for the product. Schmidt is proud to have been able to support many different artisans with fair wages, from New Orleans to India.  Erica Nellie Smith Erica Nellie Smith is a Louisiana native and graduate from Southeastern University where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2012. She had a focus in printmaking and taught herself paper making and bookbinding while there. While managing an art supply retail space she has enjoyed experimenting with other materials and trying different bookbinding processes. the books are created with the needs of an artist in mind, providing different paper types and appealing decorative covers, as well as a flat laying binding. Her prints are primarily linocuts and inspired by natural elements, some of which have found their way onto the books.  www.jennaturner.net Jenna Turner was born and raised in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. She graduated from the Alberta College of Art and Design in 2011 and went on to complete artist residencies at Medalta in Medicine Hat, AB and at Red Deer College. In 2014 Jenna received her Master of Fine Arts degree from Tulane University and taught ceramics for two consecutive years. In 2015 Jenna traveled to South Korea to attend the Gyeonggi International Ceramics Biennial where she was an exhibiting artist and presenter. Most recently, Jenna received an Alberta Foundation for the Arts Individual Project Grant to return to Medalta and complete a year-long artist residency and exhibition. |
Our Artists
Our Artists