Arin Black

Blue Avocado •

Is Diversity as Good for Business as it is for Communities? New Study Says Yes | Blue Avocado

Primary to the missions of nonprofit organizations is making communities stronger. Advocates for nonprofits tout the importance of diverse communities and social safety nets because they are the right thing to do. But is a multi-faceted, inclusive community also good for business? We've certainly tried to say so. How many times have nonprofits crowed over our organization's economic impact to impress potential partners or funders? We in the sector want to believe that our efforts have merit ac
Matador Network •

9 myths about RVs that need to be debunked

I NEVER THOUGHT I would love RV living, but when a work project with a documentary film company put me on the road in a recreation vehicle for a three-month stint, I discovered just how incredible an RV trip can be. My summer spent in a 26-foot Phoenix Flyer was one of the best experiences of my life, and it became only the first of many RV adventures. While RV buzz is spreading, outdated assumptions might be keeping you from the driver’s seat. Don’t let these inaccurate perceptions stand in th
The Write Life •

Want to Speak at Writing Conventions? How to Write a Great Pitch

As publisher-backed press tours dwindle in an uncertain publishing age, authors are asked to do more to sell their books. But whether you’ve penned the latest undiscovered bestseller or dabble in more academic fare, writers and book professionals of all stripes can find new audiences for their work through an often-overlooked venue. Literary festivals and conferences are a wonderful way to target market your writing while networking with other writers, publishers, and agents — especially for a
Jen Violi •

Fauxstalgia: I want to go Home –

I’m no stranger to fauxstalgia. Being Finnish, Irish and French, a modicum of daily ennui is practically a genetic requirement. I often find myself longing for a place I have never been. Unlike those who yearn for college years or a long-ago vacation, I long for a place I simply refer to as home. In saying this, I mean neither the place where I was born, nor those that followed. I’ve lived in some great cities: Paris, San Francisco, New York, New Orleans, and now Philadelphia, but it’s not tha
GoNOLA.com •

Then and Now: Book Events Commemorate Katrina's Five-Year Mark

Five years ago I put a photograph, a book from a French art exhibit I’d attended while studying art history in Paris, a pair of black and white chevron slingbacks, some running shoes, and my two dogs into a car and drove out onto the highway at three in the morning. I wasn’t alone. I had my friend Jen with me, and an endless line of cars exiting the city. I had no idea how drastically my life would change. Everyone who was here, or who knows someone who was here, or had been here before, has the
GoNOLA.com •

Words about Wormwood: SOFAB talks about the Green Fairy

Can you even imagine a world without art? A world where the doors between the readily accessible knowledge of living and the hidden, shadowed side of human understanding are kept shuttered; a world where individuals spend their days going to work and riding in cars and standing in lines, and where there is no contextualized beauty to mitigate the monotony of it all. I can’t. And that’s why I celebrate anything that helps in the process of creating paintings and books and sculptures and dances. I
GoNOLA.com •

No Wilted Flowers: Getting Down and Dirty with the Arts in NOLA

If it weren’t for the tremendous, oppressive temperatures that failed to dip until well into the evening, the thousands of attendees at last Saturday’s White Linen Night on Julia might have been likened to snow. Patrons dressed in all variances of white converged on the NOLA arts district to drink, socialize, and steep in the city’s finest art offerings in what has become one of summer’s most anticipated events. White Linen always falls during that time of year when summer clenches on with her g
GoNOLA.com •

Roch and Roll: Explore The "Other" New Orleans Art Scene

While the Ogden, CAC, and NOMA undoubtedly offer a stellar array of new exhibitions – from the old masters to the latest national names in contemporary art, and Julia and Magazine streets proffer many great new voices on the scene, New Orleans’ art also seeps into some lesser-known corners of the city. Step outside the French Quarter and through the Marigny to find a burgeoning arts district in the St. Roch neighborhood. The St. Roch corridor of galleries present an edgier, more do-it-yourself a
GoNOLA.com •

Get Real: New Orleans Independent Press Tells It Like It Is

New Orleans yields a number of great talents. No doubt, our parade-loving culture has produced some ultimate papier-mâché artists, and we’ve got cooks and jazz musicians and character galore. But New Orleans breeds another expert as well: the independent publisher. Maybe it’s the moxy that’s required to brave a string of hurricane seasons, or the gumption that comes from navigating the cities less-than-smooth streets, but our city has a surprisingly large number of independent publishing houses
GoNOLA.com •

Run to Glory!

One of my favorite things to do on a steamy summer morning in New Orleans is to dress up in white (with a little red accent here and there), go down to the Quarter with thousands of my mostly drunken countrymen to run from bat-wielding women on roller-skates. That’s why I’m so excited that July is here. That means San Fermin de Nueva Orleans is upon us, and that means the Encierro – the running of the Bulls. For four years, a group of upstart lads have led thrill-seekers of all stripes in the Th
GoNOLA.com •

Wonderful Anomalies: New Show at CAC is Picture Perfect

I wonder if anyone else remembers when the circus came to town with a Unicorn?  Like so many young girls born in the shadow of the rainbow-colored, psychedelic 70s and reared in the excessive 80s, I was obsessed with unicorns. I plastered them on my walls and read books about the best way to actually find one. I planned trips to upper Canada where unicorns were said to roam free in the meadows, and I willed myself towards a pure heart, so that if I did make it into unicorn territory, the wonderf
GoNOLA.com •

BACK TO SCHOOL

Although Summer is just beginning, now is the perfect time to get back to the books – or rather the pencil, paintbrush, or darkroom. I’ve always been interested in art. As a child, I would entertain myself for hours by drawing pictures of dancing bananas and then making up elaborate narratives to go alongside the images, and although I won the “Young Authors Award” when I was seven, my inspiration for the story of My Pet Hamster came from my desire to work up image after image out of crayon and
GoNOLA.com •

Summer Discoveries

This weekend was one of those times that really felt like summer, and not just because of the liquid honey humidity that hung around us, but because there was a spontaneity and lightness all around. I’ve been working a lot, and haven’t had time to enjoy myself, but this weekend reminded me how great New Orleans can really be. On Friday night I attended an opening for photographer Libbie Allen at the newly curated Jupiter Art Projects in the Marigny. Housed across the street from the R Bar, wher
GoNOLA.com •

Season of Flight

With this past week’s weather, it seems like summer is officially upon us. And while spring is the season of rebirth, summer (especially in New Orleans) is a time to steep, to hunker down in the viscous air and dig in to visceral climate. Of course, given that our summer lasts, oh about half of the year, sometimes one needs a break from all that. Right now, I’m looking down the long road of humid, lazy days and wishing for just one last leap into the light. A new exhibition at Jonathan Ferrara’
GoNOLA.com •

Getting Cozy With David Sedaris

Sure. Everyone’s family is crazy and everyone’s life is nuts. But no one makes that insanity seem more delightful than essayist, David Sedaris. Blending a combination of insight and hilarity, Sedaris chronicles his purely American take on his own lackadaisical ambitions – as a son, a contemporary artist, a Santa’s helper, an ex-pat in a provincial French village. His cunning satire and keen observations turn the most mundane aspects of the modern world into something worth crowing about. Reading