Angela Gregory Memoir Release Party

Inside of Baton Rouge's very first "skyscraper," the Watermark Hotel, once the Louisiana National Bank, the walls are adorned by eight 1948 murals depicting cotton farms, cypress trees draped in Spanish moss, a mother pelican and her nestlings, and Louisiana State University. 

Louisiana artist Angela Gregory (1903–1990) had been commissioned to create imagery connecting Louisiana to the banking industry through depictions of the state's various commercial endeavors, and the result painted a picture of 1948 Louisiana that is, in many ways, still so pertinent today. 

[Read more about Angela Gregory and the Watermark Hotel in this article from our November 2016 issue: "The Jewel of Downtown".]

This month, the renowned artist's memoir, A Dream and a Chisel: Louisiana Sculptor Angela Gregory in Paris, 1925–1928, published under the University of South Carolina Press, will be released at a special celebration held at the Gregory Restaurant (named for the artist) inside the Watermark. Co-Author Nancy Penrose will present a discussion on the book, along with contributing Angela Gregroy historian Susan Hymel—who will focus on Gregory's art work in the Capitol Region. Both will also be available for book signings. 6 pm. Free to the public. angelagregoryart.com. Call (225) 408-1800 to register. 

Five more events will be held in the Baton Rouge/New Orleans regions to celebrate the book's release: 

February 10: Author book signing, reading, and presentation on research and the roles of archival materials used for A Dream and a Chisel  at the Main Library at Goodwood. 3 pm. 

February 12: Author reading and book signing at Octavia Books in New Orleans. 6 pm. 

February 14: Author book signing, reading, and presentation at the West Baton Rouge Museum, where a number of Gregory's works are displayed. 12 pm. 

February 19: Author reading, presentation, and book signing at Tulane University's Woldenberg Art Center, Freeman Auditorium. 6:30 pm. 

February 21: Author reading, presentation, tour of Gregoryworks, and book signing at Dominican High School. 6 pm.