Grace Episcopal Church
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WATERLINE EXHIBIT Some views of the exhibit. Click on picture to enlarge.
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August 2007
Waterline
a photo installation by Bette J. Kauffman - Artist's Statement
My intent is to recreate to the extent possible the ubiquitous, equalizing and emotional power and effect of the actual flood line in the city of New Orleans. The photographs were selected from approximately 575 exposures made during five trips to New Orleans April 1 through June 10, 2006. This photo installation consists of 8 x 12 photographs mounted on white foam core and installed edge to edge with only the waterline in each photograph aligned. This exhibit is interactive. Marking pens are available for you to record responses to the photos on the foam core above and below the photographs. Do you recognize a location? Write it on the foam core. Do the photos evoke thoughts or feelings about what happened in New Orleans? Write them on the foam core. If you wish to write a longer response to the photos, writing materials are available. I am gathering Katrina stories-all kinds of Katrina stories, those of survivors and those of people who never lived in New Orleans but whose lives have been affected by Katrina. So if you have one and are willing to be interviewed, put your name and contact information on one of the 3 x 5 cards provided. (Be sure to print so that I can read it!) The purpose of this installation is to raise awareness and understanding of the devastation of a wonderful and irreplaceable city, New Orleans. I am persuaded that many people-most people-who have not been there and walked through neighborhoods of ruined homes simply do not get what happened. I fear that collectively, we lack the political will to ensure that New Orleans-all of it, not just the French Quarter but all of it-rises again. That being said, should you want to buy a piece of Waterline, that is possible. See the framed series of three photos on the easel outside the door for a sample of what I could do. For the technophiles: The photographs were made with a Pentax 35mm film camera. The film was processed by PhotoWorks in Seattle, WA, and they also printed the enlargements from high resolution scans of the negatives. The photos were cropped with a paper cutter and are mounted on 3/8-inch foam core with Krylon spray adhesive. The photographer: Bette J. Kauffman is an associate professor of communication at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. She received her B.A. in Journalism (1980) from the University of Iowa and her M.A. (1982) and Ph.D. (1992) in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania. She has professional experience in still photography, videography, journalism, and public relations. She has exhibited photographs in The Bowl Room Gallery of the Iowa Memorial Union and in the School of Journalism at the University of Iowa, and has won awards in underwater photography competitions. Her honors thesis used photography to study cross-cultural uses of public space, her Master's thesis studied children's ability to interpret and analyze news and advertising photographs, and her doctoral dissertation was an ethnographic study of women artists.
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July 2007
Ecumenical
Prayer Quilt Ministry Helps the
Episcopal
Diocese of Louisiana Mobile Respite Van in Greater New Orleans
Grace Episcopal
Church in New Orleans has been a Prayers & Squares Quilt Ministry Chapter
for several years. Prayers & Squares is an international,
interfaith outreach ministry that combines the gift of prayer with the gift of
a hand-made and hand-tied quilt. Unlike many other organizations that make
quilts for charitable causes, the purpose of Prayers & Squares is not to
make and distribute quilts, but to promote prayer through the use of quilts.
The motto is: "It's not about the quilt; it's all about the
prayers." Each knot on the quilt represents a prayer.
Deacon
candidate, Charmaine Kathmann, from Grace Church, NO, placed a request to all
chapters in the international prayer quilt ministry to send prayer quilts for
the people in Greater New Orleans after the flooding following Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita in 2005. Thus far, over 500 hand-made quilts have been
sent to Grace Church and they are being distributed to people from the ODR
(Office of Disaster Response) Mobile Respite Van in the lower 9th ward and in
St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana. The churches who have sent the quilts
are from every Christian denomination and are coming from cities around the
USA and Canada.. Gateway Community Church in Escondido, CA has sent
numerous quilts, as well as Calvary United Methodist Church in Jackson,
Michigan, Palisades Presbyterian Church in San Diego, CA, Alliance Church in
Shallow Lake and Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, Chambers Hill United Methodist
Church in Harrisburg, PA, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Polson, Montana,
Nicola Valley Evangelical Free Church in Merritt, British Columbia, and Joy
Lutheran Church in Gurnee, Illinois. There are 587 chapters of Prayers
and Squares worldwide and many of these chapters have participated in the
quilt ministry in New Orleans. The colorful ministry is much needed in
the desperate and barren environment in the 9th ward in New Orleans and in
Mereaux, LA in St. Bernard.
People really
appreciate the prayers and there have been some amazing stories (all recorded
in a log book by Kathmann). One prayer quilt was given to a lady in the
9th ward who was about to undergo surgery. Prayers were said on her
behalf and the knots were tied outside the mobile van. On the day of the
surgery, all the nurses and doctors also tied knots and said prayers over the
quilt. This lady has made good recovery and her daughter comes by the
mobile van to give updates on her mother’s each week. In addition to
the home-made quilts, the prayer quilt churches have sent hundreds of blankets
to keep the people in New Orleans warm this winter. The people in
Greater New Orleans feel truly loved by all of the kind people who worked so
faithfully to make the quilts. We are a blessed people to have such an
outpouring and expression of Christ's love for us as we rebuild our
lives, our families, our homes, our churches, and our community.
Prayer
Quilts/Blankets/Supplies were received at Grace Church New Orleans from:
Christ Lutheran Church, Pacific Beach, CA First Methodist Church, El Centro, CA Grace Episcopal Cathedral, San Francisco, CA Foothills United Methodist Church, La Mesa, CA Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, La Mesa, CA Margaret Johnson, La Mesa , CA First Community Church, Columbus OH First United Methodist Church, San Diego CA St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Auburn, WA T. Berninotoz –The Calico Cat, Washington State St Andrew’s –by-the-Sea United Methodist Church, Hilton Head, SC Chambers Hill United Methodist Church, Harrisburg, PA Sedona United Methodist Church, Lancaster, CA Lancaster United Methodist Church, Lancaster, CA Millie Mealey, San Diego, CA St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church , Polson, MT Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, San Diego, CA Williamsburg United Methodist Church, Williamsburg, MI Nicola Valley Evangelical Free Church, Merritt BC Canada Gateway Community Church, Escondito CA First Presbyterian Church, Bethlehem PA Christ Our Savior United Methodist Church, Quartz Hill, CA Nancy Fredo, Nacogdoches TX (Quilts made by Seattle ladies for Katrina victims) Los Altos United Methodist Church, Long Beach CA Community Church of Poway, CA Grace Episcopal Church , Newington CT John Wesley United Methodist Church, Charleston SC St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church, Sants maria CA Pat Yamin, Brooklyn NY Owen Sound Alliance Church, Owen Sound, ON Canada (Sender lives at Shallow Lake) June McNamara, Fort Myers, FL First United Methodist Church, Santa Monica, CA New Day Baptist Church, Baltimore, MD Lake Orion United Methodist Church, Lake Orion, MI Palisades Presbyterian Church, San Diego, CA Tierasanta Lutheran Church, San Diego, CA Joy! Lutheran Church, Gurnee, IL Grace Episcopal Church, Middleway, WV Calvary United Methodiat Church, Jackson MI Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Ckarksville, TN East Bartlesville Christian Church, OKK Mt. Liberty Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, TN St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Sedona, AZ Crossroads Community Church, Fishers, IN
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Sewing Machine Project at Grace Church
Most recent trip in April 2008..... Articles in the Times-Picayune
See the website of the Sewing Machine Project
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The Restoration of the Ascension Mural
Mr Flattmann is visible at the top of the scaffolding cleaning the mural. (click image to enlarge)
One of the most famous features of any of the Episcopal Churches in New Orleans are the John McCrady murals in the nave of Grace Church on Canal Street. McCrady was a noted Southern Regional artist who ran an The John McCrady Art School on Bourbon Street for several decades until his death in 1969. Scores of mid-century artists were trained at the McCrady School. He was the son of an Episcopal clergyman and many of his paintings feature religious themes. Grace Church has two very large McCrady Murals. The Eucharistic Mural above the sanctuary was completed in 1954, and the Ascension Mural in the rear of the nave was completed by his student, Alan Flattmann, in 1972. Thirty-five years later, the Ascension Mural is being restored by Alan Flattmann, who painted the mural as a young artist in 1972. Mr. Flattmann was one of the last students of John McCrady, and he painted the mural from a study by McCrady which had been completed shortly before the artist's death in 1969. Although high above the water line, the Ascension Mural in the nave of Grace Church sustained significant mold damage in the flooding following Hurricane Katrina. About four feet of water sat in the nave of the church for two weeks. An evaluation was conducted a year ago by noted art conservator, Helen Houp of Dallas. She was recommended by the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Kimball Museum in Fort Worth. Mr. Flattmann was engaged to do the restoration, which entails detailed cleaning and retouching some portions of the mural and adding a protective coating of varnish. This process which began in late June 2007 is anticipated to last about a month. The Eucharistic Mural painted by John McCrady in 1954 did not sustain any damage during the flood. The difference is that the Ascension Mural was painted directly on an outside wall which was susceptible to condensation buildup and mold infestation during and after the flood, while the Eucharistic Mural was painted on a specially built wall with a ventilated space behind it to prevent precisely this problem. Alan Flattmann has an artistic career spanning over 40 years. His most recent publication is ALAN FLATTMANN'S FRENCH QUARTER IMPRESSIONS. He and his wife live on the in Madisonville on the North Shore, where he has an Art Studio.
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