New Orleans has opened its doors to the art world, showcasing both local and international talent while bringing cultural awareness to the city.
Prospect.3, or simply P.3, features the work of 58 artists in 18 venues around New Orleans – the expanded offerings of the international contemporary art biennial is expected to garner even greater awareness and recognition than in previous years.
P.3 opened on October 25 under the direction of Los Angeles-based Artistic Director, Franklin Sirmans. Sirmans has guided P.3 along several curatorial themes, including; the “New Orleans Experience”, “Seeing Oneself in the Other”, “The South”, “Crime and Punishment”, “Movie Going”, “The Carnivalesque”, “Abstraction” and “Visual Sound”.
P.3 will run for 13 weeks, finishing on January 25, 2015.
Utilizing some of New Orleans renowned art centers – including the New Orleans Museum of Art, Contemporary Arts Center, Ogden Museum of Southern Art – P.3 exhibits and events will also be featured on college campuses and at neighborhood cultural centers.
This year P.3 is introducing a satellite program, P.3+. This program highlights and promotes concurrent exhibits by 300 emerging and established artists throughout the course of the biennial – around 70 art exhibitions, projects and events have been put together by artists, arts organizations, co-ops, curators, and advocates.
The idea of Prospect New Orleans derived from the traditions of international exhibitions – such as Venice Biennale – which showcases artistic practices from around the world with the purpose of contributing to the cultural economy of New Orleans and the Louisiana Gulf Region.
In previous years, Prospect New Orleans has had a mixed response.
Prospect.2 ran during the same period in 2011-2012, and featured 27 artists at 16 venues in New Orleans and Lafayette, a drop from Prospect.1. P.1 was held during 2008-2009, featured 81 artists at 24 venues throughout New Orleans and attracted 42,000 visitors – 50 percent of which were from out of town – generating over $23 million for the local economy.
Prospect.1.5 New Orleans focused on 50 artists from New Orleans and Southeast region during 2010-2011 – this smaller rendition attracted 29,000 visitors.
P.3 is currently in full swing; for a full listing of scheduled events and exhibitions visit www.prospectneworleans.org
