Studio at Colton
The Hip Hop Orchestra!
CANO’s principal project of 2009 was the establishment of the Studio At Colton; a program which converted a vacant public school building into artist studios and office space for creative professionals and cultural community organizations. In exchange for free space, tenants were required to offer free project-based arts training and educational programming to the youth of Katrina-flooded, long-disinvested neighborhoods including the 7th, 8th and 9th ward neighborhoods surrounding St. Claude Avenue, and parts of Central City in New Orleans.
Throughout the year of operation, Studio At Colton provided space and hosted multiple exhibition, presentation, and retail opportunities for over 160 artists, cultural community groups, and non-profit arts and education organizations, and served hundreds of students through technical and vocational training
- image from Coleman Warner’s 6/10/09 article at nola.com
and arts enrichment education in multiple creative disciplines including music, performance, theater, the visual arts, graphic design, industrial design, film and video production, set design, architectural and landscape design, building arts, culinary arts, internet media, ceramics and upholstery design. This unique interdisciplinary approach allowed students to experience an array of creative skills and trades through project-based instruction.
CANO also provided extensive marketing services on behalf of creative producers in the program by building a web site, preparing and distributing news alerts, releases, e-blasts and a “meet-up” site to build audience and market for their products as presented in the school, and in off-site presentations. A directory of participating artists was also available at the cano-la.org, and studioatcolton.org.
Studio At Colton was a Prospect.1 Biennial exhibition site, which brought nearly 20,000 international arts lovers, patrons, tourists, and local residents through the building to view world-class arts installations alongside a showcase of Studio At Colton-hosted locally based cultural projects and programs.
The Recovery School District (RSD) was an incredibly generous partner in the program, supplying over $1M of real estate and a year of utilities to CANO free of charge. In turn, RSD benefited from the program, as inaddition to offering free after-school arts enrichment education, CANO’s positive reactivation of the vacant building received frequent press in local news and rebranded the former school in the minds of residents citywide. CANO’s lease for the Colton School building terminated in August 2009 as RSD began renovations to return the building to use for two primary schools.
- Photo by Jerald White
Studio At Colton met three goals: to present the work of local creative producers and demonstrate the extent of creative talent in the city during the Prospect.1 Biennial; to foster collaborative, innovative work between artists of different disciplines; to educate youth on potential future educational and career opportunities based on their creative talents. In exit reports, artists frequently mentioned the importance of the networking and opportunity to work with youth.
Reestablishment and development of the unique and successful Studio At Colton model- community arts education in a creative, interdisciplinary studio environment, is a principal project for CANO in the coming years. Several CANO artists are already assigned classrooms in functioning schools to test the model of incorporating studios into working schools, a model that may be developed system-wide in New Orleans, along with incorporation in neighborhood-based community centers and the free-standing CANO Creative Studio program.
