Neil Alexander
Lucianne and Jose Carmichael purchased the 7.88 acres of A Studio in the Woods in 1969, and since then, the property has served as a haven of creativity and environmental preservation.
In 2006, amid the wreckage and despair left behind months earlier by Hurricane Katrina, a tiny swatch of forest on the West Bank welcomed the lost and displaced artists of New Orleans.
A Studio in the Woods had long been used as a refuge and artistic incubator—first by the Carmichaels, who discovered the 7.88 acres of wild, endangered wood for sale in 1969, then by the artists that they invited in once the site became a nonprofit retreat center in 2001.
But through the studio’s month-long post-Katrina Restoration Residencies, the magic of the Mississippi River’s bottomland hardwoods became all the more apparent. “The metaphors of it all were just so profound,” explained Managing Director Ama Rogan. “These woods are perfectly adapted to storms, and in fact need them to thrive and survive. Artists were so affected, were weeping in the woods.”
The apparent power of natural environments, particularly this one, spurred an artistic movement in the wake of the regional devastation as artists set out to define the collective concerns of our moment. Since 2006, A Studio in the Woods has dedicated its artist residencies—over one hundred now, ranging from writing to painting to dancing—to environmental and social themes.
In 2019, fifty years after Lucianne and Joe Carmichael spotted the property on a picnic, A Studio in the Woods is fostering the work of six artists and collaboratives in Adaptations Residencies, which will explore a future which requires adaptations, large and small, to a changing climate.
Such work not only reflects a collective, generational reaction to our heating, changing planet, but also stimulates conversations and ideas for life in our future world—all fostered by simply placing thinkers and artists in a natural environment that exists simultaneously despite and for them.
On November 16, the Studio’s mission to connect nature and ideas will be brought to life and made available to the public for its ninth annual FORESTival celebration, featuring work and interactions with resident and alumni artists, live music, panel discussions, and other educational fun.
Visit astudiointhewoods.org to learn more about the retreat.
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