The American Dream Denied: The New Orleans Residents of Gordon Plaza Seek Relocation

Life among life-threatening pollution is observed across a new exhibition at the Newcomb Art Museum. In The American Dream Denied: The New Orleans Residents of Gordon Plaza Seek Relocation, the residents of Gordon Plaza, a residential neighborhood built atop a toxic landfill by the City of New Orleans in 1981, have collaborated with students from the Critical Visualization and Media Lab (CVML) led by Tulane sociology and environmental studies professor Christopher Oliver, PhD. The show—melding art, social history, and critical visualization—aims to raise awareness of the residents' fight for fully funded relocation after they were promised the American dream and received its reverse. As Gordon Plaza resident Shannon Rainey describes it, “we feel enslaved in our own homes.” The show will be on view at the museum from August 21 until December 14 with an evening opening reception on Thursday, September 5. Admission is free. (504) 865-5328 or newcombartmuseum.tulane.edu.