"Beyond Katrina … Healing Through Poetry and Art” will be on display Nov. 9 through Dec. 14 in the Benedict Hall Gallery at Sweet Briar College. An opening reception featuring poetry readings, and the music and food of New Orleans will be held 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9.

Born in the shelters of Central Louisiana following the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, the traveling exhibit was the brainchild of the Arts and Healthcare Initiative of the Arts Council of Central Louisiana.

Titled “Chaos,” this drawing was done by a 4-year-old Katrina evacuee.
After finding the area flooded with hurricane evacuees, the Initiative teamed up with dozens of professional poets and artists to bring healing arts to those living in shelters. Many of these evacuees were living in the Rapides Parish cities of Alexandria and Pineville, La.

“This is primarily where we facilitated arts experiences,” Judy Ginsburgh, program coordinator, said. “Our Arts and Healthcare Initiative trained artists to go into these shelters on almost a daily basis. We facilitated visual arts, journaling, creative writing and poetry, music activities and brought some live performance into the shelters.”

“Flood” was drawn by a young child with the help of one of the program’s adult volunteers. Program Coordinator Judy Ginsburgh says it’s one of her favorite pieces.
The team’s goal was to help people get “beyond” the fear, anger and hopelessness of Katrina by telling their stories through images and words, Ginsburgh said. The project, which began with “journeying walls” where people could express their feelings through images and words, appealed to people of all ages.

“Often, it would begin with the children who were naturally inquisitive and wanted to be entertained,” Ginsburgh said. “And the parents and grandparents would gravitate over to see what was going on.”

“Hand in Hand” was drawn by an adult evacuee of Katrina living in one of Central Louisiana’s shelters.
In the two months following Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of poems, quotes and images were collected, expressing a wide range of emotions. These works, along with pieces by some of the program’s professional artists, make up the approximately 40-item exhibit.

For her innovative efforts, Ginsburgh was awarded the Blair Sadler International Healing Arts Award in April.

Gallery hours are Sunday, Monday and Friday 1-5 p.m. and Tuesday through Thursday 1-9:30 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, contact Rebecca Lane, Sweet Briar art galleries director, at (434) 381-6248 or rmlane@sbc.edu.

— By Suzanne Ramsey, SBC staff writer