Scott Hutcheson would normally be the go-to guy for questions about the New Orleans art community. As the chief operating officer of the New Orleans Arts Council, a private, nonprofit group promoting art as economic development, he knows plenty about artists, galleries and museums in the city.
But not even Hutcheson was fully equipped to answer questions in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Hutcheson had to run from the wrath of the hurricane leaving behind his home of 14 years, keeping him out of touch with loved ones.
“Cell phones aren’t working,” Hutcheson said. “I left my laptop on the floor of my house.”
But Hutcheson did not dwell in his troubles for long. He moved to quickly try to establish help for the art community in New Orleans.
“We’ve asked people to get in contact with us, and they have, certainly not everyone, but we are working for that,” Hutcheson said. “We are slowly building a database of who’s where.”
 
Background
As Hurricane Katrina approached, museums and galleries around New Orleans braced themselves for a category five hurricane. Curators and museum workers tried their best to get important pieces out of harms way.
Lara Gautreau, the education curator at the LSU Museum of Art, said every major museum has an emergency plan in case of a storm.
“For our collection, it’s housed in an interior space, no windows, no outside access to our collections area,” Gautreau said. “It’s climate controlled with back up generators. We’re not really in danger of being damaged in any kind of a storm like that.”
David Dombrosky, contemporary arts manager for the Southern Arts Federation, said he doubts many museums realized the magnitude of what was going to happen, and what damage they might sustain.
“It was a little bit more reactionary,” Dombrosky said. “Part of that is in the South, we go through hurricane season every year, so I think you don’t expect something of that magnitude, because it didn’t happen last year, it didn’t happen the year before, and I’m not saying we’ve become complacent. I’m just saying we didn’t anticipate the magnitude and impact.”
Dombrosky said SAF has been bombarded with calls from artists who have lost everything.
“We have artists who called saying ‘I’ve been displaced. I had to evacuate. I lost all my work. I don’t know how I’m going to start again.'”
Hutcheson said many artists have not yet been able to return to their studios.
Jill Rawnesley, director of Preservation Services at the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia, has been trying to link people with sources for help in conservation and preservation of artworks.
Rawnesley said pieces that may not have been damaged during the initial storm are still in serious danger.
“Damage occurs when something gets wet as it’s drying, and damage will occur with the continual conditions until it ends,” she said. “Exhibit cases might get weakened, and then they fail. They are still in danger through the whole thing, but they are in different types of danger.”
Rawnesley said the museums are facing a costly time of repair.
 
The arts make money for Louisiana
Victoria Hutter, communications specialist for the National Endowment for the Arts, said it is imperative to get the arts community back in business in the South because of it’s economic impact.
“The arts and culture [community] count for 7.6 percent of Louisiana employment,” Hutter said. “That’s 144,000 jobs statewide, 57,000 in New Orleans.”
Hutter cited NEA statistics showing that culture contributes $1.1 billion to the state each year.
The organization is the largest annual contributor of funds to the art world, and could be one of the major branches of relief for non-profit organizations.
Hutter said museums have suffered damages in the millions.
“For instance, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts Institute gave us an estimate at the end of September of $5 million in losses,” Hutter said.
In the past the NEA has reached out to help art communities damaged in the wake of hurricanes.
In 2004, the organization raised $100,000 for art communities devastated by the four hurricanes that hit Florida.
In order for the NEA to receive the extra money it needs to aid affected organizations in the Gulf Coast area, it must petition Congress for the additional funds.
Hutter said she fully understands Congress has plenty of obligations at the moment.
“Congress has a lot on its plate at the moment, and I don’t know when our request will be reviewed,” Hutton said.
For those artists and organizations, there seems to be little answer as to where to turn at the moment.
Shirley Trusty Corey, President and CEO of the New Orleans Arts Council said she is working to create a database of resources for artists in need, but at the moment there is no real place to begin searching for relief.
“There is no centralized answer,” Corey said. “FEMA and the Red Cross have been the first line to go to, and that’s just dealing with disaster relief.”
Corey said Hurricane Rita slowed down the process even further.
“The biggest damage was just the timing of the thing,” Corey said. “It postpones the timing of everything.”
Corey said her main concern is making sure arts culture is included on lists of budgets in rebuilding New Orleans.
“We’re trying to think as imaginatively and as far in the future as possible,” Corey said. “To position the arts so they are to have place in those resources, in those lines, make sure they have a place saver on every list of resources. We’re trying to stand in all those lines, to be relentless. That’s what we are doing constantly.”
 
Arts in Baton Rouge
For artists and some collectors, returning to the city may not be an option or even desire.
Corey said she felt some people might not return to New Orleans because of emotional and physical damages.
“There will be some people who will be unable to return,” Corey said. “They physically don’t have a place to return to or don’t have enough to make a living.”
Kathy Randel, a New Orleans-based performance artist, said many of her friends have decided to take up permanent residence in Baton Rouge.
“I’ve gotten e-mails from friends who’ve gotten in houses,” Randel said. “I think [people staying] is a strong possibility.”
Randel said she feels the hurricane could have positive effects on the art world across the state.
“Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu has been pushing for a cultural move across the state,” Randel said. “On some levels this could be a blessing for the state.”
With a new crop of artists and culture buffs in town, Baton Rouge is hoping to showcase and expand on its existing art community.
Gautreau said the Baton Rouge art scene is alive – it just goes unrecognized.
“It definitely is a chance for us to shine,” Gautreau said. “When [the LSU MOA] opened in March, a lot of Baton Rougian’s comments were ‘Where did you have all this stuff? Why did Baton Rouge hide these great collections?'”
Not only is the LSU MOA hoping its own collections will dazzle visitors, the museum is currently playing host to pieces on loan from New Orleans residents.
The museum is housing several pieces from a private collector in New Orleans, one of which is an original John Singer Sargent “Mrs. Edward Burckhardt and her Daughter Louise” from 1885.
However the museum is not only housing private collections, but it is also taking an active part in the community at large.
Gautreau said the LSU MOA has been working with several other local organizations to get the community up and running.
“We’ve been working with a number of art organizations, with the Arts Council of Baton Rouge, sending artists into the shelters and doing things in the communities,” Gautreau said. “It’s in the planning stages still.”
Gautreau said the LSU MOA and other art venues hope to offer anyone a chance to experience the art scene in Baton Rouge. But with the damage from the storm still fresh on many minds, it may be too early to tell what will become of the art scene in Baton Rouge.
 
Arts will come back
Not everyone is ready to permanently relocate, and many are determined to see the New Orleans culture return.
Hutcheson speaks optimistically about the future, citing works in progress as a means to rebuilding.
He said the Art Council of New Orleans was in the process of building a 93-thousand square foot visual art complex called Louisiana ArtWorks. The combination of studio working space and viewable gallery is intended to serve as a means of increasing New Orleans already strong cultural standing – and could be a relief for some artists who have lost so much in the wake of the hurricane.
Hutcheson said the art economy would be quick to respond because it needs very little infrastructure to return.
“You give an artist a venue and an instrument and they can produce that work and that economy starts back up immediately,” Hutcheson said. “There is great hope in getting it up and running quickly.”
Randel said she expects the art scene to rebound because of the determination of those from the city.
“A lot of artists want to get back as soon as possible,” Randel said. “But not just artists but New Orleanians. New Orleanians are fierce.”
Randel said she was in Colorado during the hurricane, but was itching to get back into the city.
“I plan to be in New Orleans and be an integral part of rebuilding,” Randel said.
Hutcheson said he believed most New Orleans artists are going to return to the city, and he has faith the scene will return, different of course, but hopefully for the better.
Contact Kim Moreau at [email protected]