Local Artisan Designs Bicentennial Jewelry
By Debbie Glover
St. Tammany News
Published on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 12:09 AM CST
Local artisan and gemologist Anne Dale discovered a new gemstone that will be used as part of the official jewelry commemorating Louisiana’s bicentennial this year. A brown pelican with a LaPearlite belly was selected to represent the state for ... read more →

LCEF is excited to announce our 2011 Economic Opportunity Fund grantees. Funding was awarded to 13 Nonprofits, 6 Businesses and 13 Self-Employed Individual Cultural Producers. A total of 183 applications were submitted. We congratulate our complete list of grantees  below and look forward to their reports and progress on their opportunities!
Here are our grantees with ... read more →

Individual and Business Success Stories
Adrian Deckbar (Orleans Parish) Individual – “Because of the book, my local gallery took me more seriously…resulting in a higher status for the work, my prices and the value in general.”
Opportunity funded: Re-branding Adrian Deckbar: Creating a cutting-edge, fine arts publication to showcase current contemporary landscape works in conjunction with a ... read more →

Dinner guests at Stacey Greco’s home in Hahnville were forever saying her remoulade sauce was so good she should sell it. Don Militello heard much the same thing from fellow tailgaters outside Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge whenever he broke out his olive salad-style “olive mix.” So did Gentilly resident Monique Hodges, when she started ... read more →

As a resident of Baton Rouge, what comes to mind when you think about a weekend in New Orleans? Naturally, answers will vary, but many veer toward booze, bachelor parties, and the sort of general mayhem that you wouldn’t try at home.
Why do we associate the Crescent City with that sort of mayhem? Has it ... read more →

This is the time we love to lounge around the pool and entertain. But this morning we’re going to kick your patio parties up a notch! Chef Gaye Morrison Sandoz with Tony Chachere’s is here to spice up our Summer!
She’s showing us how to make Pulled Chicken with Pepper Jelly BBQ Sauce:
Watch the video and ... read more →

We recently received 2010 Interim Updates, and we are happy to report that most of our grantees are   steadily moving forward. For many, sales of their products or services have more than doubled, and exceeded original estimates. One grantee in particular, Chef Reece Williams, has surpassed all expectations—including his own.
Without giving away trade secrets ... read more →

Cypress Reflections #2
Adrian Deckbar is a New Orleans painter who has found grace, beauty and expression in dark shadows and filtered light deep in South Louisiana’s wild Honey Island Swamp and in remote hollows of the Ozarks in northern Arkansas. Deckbar moves easily among acrylics, pastels and oils to create large compositions of what she ... read more →

“I can not thank you enough for the support I’ve received from you and your organization. It feels like such a beautiful gift for which I am deeply grateful…It is great to know that someone cares enough to reach out to so many of us at such a vulnerable time.” ... read more →

Acadiana Arts Council (Lafayette Parish – Nonprofit) – “We have held bi-monthly workshops and have had feedback that approximately 65% of artists involved felt they were at last given access to services locally that were not available to them before. Because of the costly nature of print materials, our on-line, web-based self promotion tools allow ... read more →

Sarah Dunn Art (Orleans Parish- Business) – “I cannot even begin to tell you how beneficial this grant was to our success…With our first full shipment of 300 scarves, we sold out in one month!…We had an incredible response to the originality and ingenuity of our products. I have been asked to print bolts of ... read more →

Armand Joseph Richardson (St. Tammany – Individual) “The proceeds from this grant enabled me to make prints that the director of the festival came to see while in New Orleans to sign talent for this summer’s festival. On the basis of what he saw I was brought over to Ascona to do a showing of ... read more →

MQVN Community Development Corporation (Orleans Parish – Nonprofit) “Students have performed and will perform at festivals, events, and mass services. The opportunity for students to perform has increased due to interest in traditional Vietnamese music. In addition, the music program has continued beyond the grand date and will continue as an extended program… 50 students attended the program and over 15,000 audiences attended the concerts.”

Virginia Kelly (St. Martin Parish – Individual) “The grant money was extremely helpful and thank you for awarding it to me… I now have better visibility for my artwork and myself. I was featured and interviewed on KRVS in September. I have received more inquires about my work and a few comissions.”
Amount received: $2,460.00
Income received ... read more →

Shreveport Regional Arts Council (Caddo Parish – Nonprofit) “Cafe’@artspace has seen continued growth in its catering business, in addition to daily lunch business in the cafe’. The catering business has almost doubled over the same period of the previous years… We expect the earned income stream to continue to grow as the cafe’ is moved ... read more →

Bluebird Art (Orleans Parish – Business) “The grant not only helped to advance the work of Bluebird Art, but it brought valuable creative learning opportunities to youth who have limited access to the arts… The mobile lab enabled Bluebird Art to produce independent productions on a larger scale and expand fee-for-service income streams. This year ... read more →

Backbeat Foundation Inc. (Orleans Parish – Nonprofit) “This grant has been a vital part of a larger project, The Living Cultures Project. The tour, brochure and website were components of a program that included workshops/seminars to help cultural workers to benefit more from their creative efforts… The brochure has been utilized by the Treme ... read more →

Southern Food and Beverage Museum (Orleans Parish – Nonprofit) “This grant allowed us to establish our first symposium. We are already planning a much larger symposium for 2010, with 3 times more participants and an expo by supporters… This grant really was crucial in allowing us to create an annual event that will raise ... read more →

Louisiana Artists Guild DBA Louisiana Artworks (Orleans Parish – Nonprofit) “As Louisiana ArtWorks set up a temporary retail store for a special event and advertised the location online via our website and weekly e-blasts, the organization was surprised by the level of interest and sales… The opportunity to develop and market the store was incredibly ... read more →

New Orleans Creative Glass institute (Orleans Parish – Nonprofit) “The website has raised NOCGI’s profile locally and nationally. Members of the public have been able to use the site to see what classes they would like to take. Additionally, every member of the New Orleans glass community has gained a presence on the ... read more →

Louisiana Alliance for Dance (East Baton Rouge Parish – Business) “We have increased our membership, redesigned our website, attracted new board members, and reached audiences that we had not tapped into before… This experience has been a valuable step for our organization and we are seeking to employ a part time associate director. This ... read more →

Kerry Easley Unlimited (Webster Parish – Business) “This has been a tremendous opportunity for us and our community as we have been able to offer a much needed service! We are now photographing 3 schools and have plans to get 3 more in the next year… We have been able to donate photography services ... read more →

Institute of Community Development (Orleans Parish – Nonprofit) – “We have brought attention to the various musicians, artists, craftsman, and nonprofits that are party of the rich cultural presence in the Treme community. We have been featured on all news channels, in various local newspapers, and the Preservation in Print magazine. We are ... read more →

Cote Blanche Productions (Lafourche Parish- Business) – “…we used the in-progress beta version of the website to help secure part of the shoot of a feature length T.V. movie…we were able to mount both new and long-dormant material produced by our company, offering much of it for sale for the first time, as well as ... read more →

Brad Arender (Ouachita Parish – Individual) – “The one-on-one workshop with Karen Kuhen was invaluable…I had a Rayville woman contact me to teach her daughter photography lessons. She said she thought she would have to travel to Dallas to get someone of my caliber. This is a direct reflection of the time spent with Karen ... read more →

Frank Andara (St. Charles Parish – Business) – “I have increased my retail base due to my exposure at the craft fairs.” “I am in negotiations with a company, that handles internationally, the gift shops in the Sheraton, Hilton, Intercontinental, Embassy and Marriot chains.”
Amount received: $2540.00
Income received as result of opportunity funded: $5,000.00
Grant funded: ... read more →

St. Tammany Arts Association (St. Tammany Parish – Nonprofit)- “…most successful grant in our ability to make us self sufficient.” “…we have already exceeded the projected $8000.00 per year in rental revenue and it has only been 7 months since we received our grant contract. Our projection for next year could easily and ... read more →

Ellen McCord (Terrebonne Parish – Individual) – “Because of my e-commerce website the viewing of my work has increased by 6500%… The response has been extremely positive and life changing for my career as an artist.…This e-commerce website has given me a priceless tool to express my passion for my work as well as networking ... read more →

Sarah Dunn Art (Orleans Parish- Business) – “I cannot even begin to tell you how beneficial this grant was to our success…With our first full shipment of 300 scarves, we sold out in one month!…We had an incredible response to the originality and ingenuity of our products. I have been asked to print bolts of ... read more →

David Gallent (East Baton Rouge Parish – Individual) – “This printer has given me the opportunity to take my photography and graphic design to a whole new level”…”I was able to get the eye of the curator of the Shaw Center for the Arts”…” and was granted permission to install a gallery of my ... read more →

(Orleans Parish – business) “The LCEF grant provided us with the seed capital to pilot our FATI programming, which has generated these successful events. Most importantly, the FATI model proved to be a viable, sustainable income generating program that has continued into 2010, now as a completely self-sustaining activity that no longer needs outside ... read more →

Adrian Deckbar (Orleans Parish – individual) – “Because of the book, my local gallery took me more seriously” “…resulting in a higher status for the work, my prices and the value in general”
Amount received: $2,500.00
Income received as result of opportunity funded: $16,200.00
Grant funded: Design, Writers, Books ordered, Entry fees to exhibit.
Gained exposure: Nationwide.