Many arts organizations pay lip service to the idea of bringing art to the community. But that’s actually where Nari Ward’s work first takes shape.
The Jamaica-born artist is the Nadine Carter Russell Chair for the LSU College of Art and Design this year, which includes a lecture in March and a 22-piece exhibit at the LSU Museum of Art downtown opening this month.
Ward, who is known for large, gritty, site-specific pieces based on found objects like liquor store signs and fitness equipment, will also bring his creativity into Old South Baton Rouge to work on projects there with students throughout the spring.
“We came up with a couple projects connected to the neighborhood and the people there,” says School of Art Director Rod Parker. “He’s taking the preparation very seriously, and we have people here working on gathering the raw materials.”
Ward has visited the city regularly in recent months to develop ideas, collaborating with the Museum of Public Art in Old South, the Arts Council and Center for Planning Excellence—all organizations working on revitalization efforts in the neighborhood.
The idea of collaboration isn’t entirely new for this residency. Previous chair Peter Shire exhibited works at three LSU galleries and also partnered with Of Moving Colors dancers on a performance using some of his sculptures.
But Ward’s residency is tied to civic engagement in a way the College of Art and Design hasn’t tried before.
A recent National Endowment for the Arts grant helped the Arts Council initiate some ideas of using the arts and culture to help boost the neighborhood, focusing on the blocks around the old Lincoln Theater on Eddie Robinson Sr. Drive. Kitty Pheney, director of new initiatives for the School of Art, says the school saw it as a perfect opening for its participation.
“One of our goals right now is to create more opportunities for civic engagement among our students and faculty,” Pheney says. “[Ward] works so much with identity and history and repurposing items, it seemed like a great opportunity for us to get involved in this project.”
While the scope of Ward’s projects was still evolving at press time, he had already scoured the site of the old WJBO radio station in Old South, gathering 164 bottles and other trash that would be used in an installation. He was also planning a photography project featuring residents of the neighborhood.
Parker says they wanted to make sure whatever route they took for Ward’s projects would reflect the community. Assisting him in some of these projects will be students in associate professor Malcolm McClay’s advanced sculpture class.
Ward has worked in Louisiana before, creating an installation in the abandoned Battle Ground Baptist Church in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward for the Prospect 1 art biennial in 2008. His work featured damaged weight-lifting equipment piled inside a huge diamond-shaped basket in the center of the church, surrounded by walls of fliers from around the community.
His first solo exhibition in Louisiana—and his first back in the United States following a yearlong fellowship in Rome—Ward’s show at the LSU Museum of Art opens Feb. 7.
