Contemporary Arts Center

We will hire a Consultant to study the new population of the Greater New Orleans area following the hurricanes of 2005. This consultant will assess socioeconomic and demographic makeup of the new population, and their interests and cultural needs. This will allow the CAC to program to meet those needs and to reach out to our new community members. CACNO is dedicated to Community Activities and Activism that will support the New Orleans community in rebounding. This includes hosting community events, and serving on advisory and steering boards formulating the policy that will determine the future of the arts and culture in New Orleans. We are also welcoming displaced arts organizations into our space and providing them with the organizational infrastructure they need to work. To serve our mission, CACNO continues to be committed to presenting excellent visual arts and performing arts programming that serves the community and supports local artists. Our visual arts programming will include the 2006 Louisiana Biennial, an exhibition of the late Keith Haring's work, a career retrospective of Louisiana artists Willie Birch, and other exhibitions based on community research. Our performance programming will include the NEA JazzMasters on Tour Series, presenting the jazz greats of our time. We will host an international performance festival, the 13th and 14th annual DramaRama (a juried marathon weekend of Louisiana theatre and dance performances), and the 7th and 8th annual Confederacy of Dances (a showcase of the year of New Orleans original choreography). We are developing a new music series CubaNola, that focuses on the Latin influences of New Orleans music. Finally, we will launch the New Orleans Center for Art and Technology (NOCAT). This is a replication of the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild and Bidwell Training Center of Pittsburgh. NOCAT will offer two main curricula of training. We will provide low-income, high-risk secondary students with arts training that has been proven in Pittsburgh to motivate them to finish school and go to college. The second curriculum will train underemployed adult New Orleanians in skills that will make them invaluable to the economic redevelopment of the city. This will start with construction training, and will branch out to film and video, urban management, and other fields yet to be determined.