Cover by Stephen Kimball ; Story by Patrick Dunne, photos by Rebecca Beacham.
Country Roads 2006 Cover and story about a creative revival in Arnaudville.
In the April 2006 issue of Country Roads, Patrick Dunne wrote about the creative revival taking place in Arnaudville.
This story was selected by the Country Roads magazine editorial team as the representative piece for 2006 in the archival project "40 Stories From 40 Years"—celebrating the magazine's 40th anniversary on stands. Click here to read more stories from the project.
Much has happened since this article was written about Arnaudville in 2006, and yet—much is the same : George Marks's placemaking faculties are still geared to 100, and Arnaudville continues to grow as an eclectic hub of artists and community—now centered around NUNU Arts & Culture Collective, which emerged from the Town Market. We've written a few stories in the meantime, including this one in 2011 and another in 2014. And you can find the latest happenings—exhibits, language tables, workshops—filling up our Country Roads events calendar.
The meandering road does not quite prepare you for what is to come. Here Highway 31 turns lazy and follows the writhing bayou through meadows and ancient oak groves, past collapsing barns and a few regrettable little modern mansions. Finally the route inexplicably stalls in front of a group of low buildings that were once a gas station and auto parts shop. The energy field definitely changes. Compasses have been known to spin, car motors go dead, and finely strung minds lose their senses. You have arrived at the Town Market, and this is the turf of artist George Marks and his fervid co-conspirators. There is a plot to bring Art to Arnaudville, and against the odds, it seems to be succeeding.
Marks is part magician, part pyromaniac, consummate puppeteer and total artist. In mid-December, with the help of his friends and the collusion of a small coterie of believers, he set fire to Bayou Fuselier. His Fire and Water spectacle (called be Feu et I'Eau in this bilingual part of the country) included floating bonfires on the water, music on the banks, banjos and drums, fiddles and accordions. It brought out townspeople and attracted plenty of others from the surrounding areas. There were city folks from Baton Rouge and Los Angeles, Lafayette and Paris, France—even as far away as New Orleans. The curious and the cognoscenti arrived on foot, on horseback and pick-up truck. Even the contrary who came out on their porches just to see what the ruckus was, couldn't resist joining the festivity. "There were lots of people that night," George concedes modestly, not an accountant by nature. Others estimated the crowd at close to five thousand.
All this enchantment is only part of what's going on. Marks, a handsome Louisiana artist in his thirties, has canvases hanging in collections across the United States. He regularly shows at Ann Connelly Gallery in Baton Rouge, The Grand Contemporary in Lafayette, and Blue Gallery in Three Oaks, Michigan. Three years ago he was New York-bound and then, like many children of the Acadian countryside, he was pulled home by a sense of responsibility to an ailing parent and, truth be told, a little nostalgia. "Lots of people can't wait to run away from the small town of their childhood. I loved the place—it taught me how to transform the commonplace into the fabulous."
He came back to Arnaudville peaceably, but has been kickin' and hollerin' ever since. This is no blind rage about missing Chelsea but an out-and-out celebration of what he sees as the incomparable value of small town life for the artist. More importantly, he is convincing this once sleepy crossroads of the Bayou Teche and Bayou Fusilier of the value of the artist for a town. After little more than a year, Town Market—founded with his artist-nephew Jeramie Rivette, his sister Roxanna, and his mother Rita—has become an epicenter of activity.
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Story by Patrick Dunne ; Photos by Rebecca Beacham
Page 1 of “Pentecost in Arnaudville” published in the April 2006 issue of Country Roads.
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Story by Patrick Dunne ; Photos by Rebecca Beacham
Page 2 of “Pentecost in Arnaudville” published in the April 2006 issue of Country Roads.
Town Market is more than a gallery, although it is that. It's more than an artist's co-operative, which is what it has also become. In fact it is a clearinghouse for town projects, a "real estate" agency for artists looking for space, and a watchdog for the preservation of the town's old buildings and ambience. Most especially it has become a place where people meet and laugh and eat. "We've tried to impose some rules," George's voice grows seriously deep, "you know—no argument about politics or religion. Of course that doesn't always work in Cajun country." For sure there is plenty of art criticism. George bears with good humor local old ladies' judgments on the composition of his paintings, but when a neighbor of his mother's volubly insists he get rid of an exposition of voodoo dolls, he threatens to have one made of her.
Evening art openings at Town Market seem to erupt without schedule, everyone knowing about them telepathically. There are children and pots of Louisiana food. Old folks and old fogeys can't help but smile and tap toes when someone spontaneously pulls out a fiddle or jumps up to dance. Outside on a parking lot turned plaza, wood sculptor Kelly Guidry is carving a figure that will fascinate his infant son as much as a city slicker thinking about his collection. Carroll Herbert, a blacksmith from Leonville, has a fire-breathing sunflower beside him while he pounds out iron fantasies. Inside Town Market nothing is predictable. Likely as not, a stranger will come up, chat familiarly, and leave with a warm hug. Marks is comfortable mixing art with artisans and crafts. Architectural fragments, antique textiles, and modernist paintings all share space. A pile of local handmade soaps is racked beneath the delicious still life paintings of Florine Robin.
Arnaudville is no stranger to artists. Vincent Darby, renowned Louisiana landscapist, has been working there for years. Kathleen Whitehurst, a multi-media artist who has recently returned, dreamed about this for decades. In the aftermath of the hurricanes, a number of displaced artists emigrated here, and Betty Roy, president of the Chamber of Commerce, quickly found temporary housing for them. Today she is as comfortable in a studio as a bank office. "Storm energy!" Marks declares. It's so infectious that it has drawn international fashion designer David Dart to plan a house here. Even the city council has begun to see the point of it all. Recently they agreed to sell the old municipal waterworks to sculptor William Lewis for a residence, studio, and museum. His works are in a number of celebrity collections. Melanie Oliver, president of Russell's, the region's leading grocery, has begun hanging school children's art in the aisles and has made it an open secret she plans to redesign the store to fit into the historic character of the town.
Things are happening so fast everyone is a little breathless. If George Marks is the fuse, Debbie LaGrange, whose family has prospered in these parts for more than a century, is continually striking the match. Her enthusiasm is enough to start a revolution on her own. "It's boredom that kills small towns like Arnaudville—and believe me we're not bored here anymore." Articulate and passionate, she sees art as one way to re-engage young people. "Creative energy cuts across every line: age, riches and race. It can save souls! Art is an alternative to the negative distractions of drugs and alcohol." George and his apostles are too busy for self-congratulations, they're off to make another hundred conversions.
Explore what all of this energy has brought to Arnaudville in the almost-20 years since this article was written at nunuaccollective.homesteadcloud.com.
