There's A Lot To Learn About Art
Looking at the art that is literally stacked in Jackson Square gives you many different images in your mind about the architecture of New Orleans, what the artist was thinking when they created the painting, photo, etc., and also makes you wonder if any of the art is copied and unoriginal or inspired by other art/artists. I learned that a lot of artists focus on painting Architecture in the French Quarter, the St. Louis Cathedral, People playing instruments, Cafe Du Monde, and the Cemeteries in the area. All of these photos/paintings appeal to tourists because they are all popular to visit because of the history and uniqueness of New Orleans. Many of the paintings were popping with bright colors. There were also pet portraits that were interesting and also probably popular among tourists because it may remind them of their pet whom they miss at home. There were also deconstructed paintings that were more abstract and I remember learning about abstract art in my art 301 class at school. They were a mixture of wood with colored paper that ran together to create different geometric shapes if you look at it from farther away. I learned that art can quite literally be anything. There is no definite definition because it is subjective and objective at the same time. In New Orleans much of the art is created by spray painting on building walls and painting murals on walls as well. There is even an entire building that has been dedicated to putting art up on every inch of building that is there. Can you imagine how beautiful an entire building covered in and out with art would be?
Art Lines The Gates Of Jackson Square
On Royal Street, and throughout New Orleans there are many talented artists. Specifically there are many artists that hang up their paintings and photos in Jackson Square. Marybeth and I traveled down Royal Street to search for art that inspired us. I took this photo of my favorite piece of art that I found in New Orleans. It was created by a European artist who is deceased. The workers at the gallery couldn't tell us much more, other than the fact that these paintings were expensive to purchase. I like this painting because I have always wanted to visit Italy where the houses are literally right next to the water. I like how you can see the buildings muffled reflection in the water. The colors that were used are repetitive, and the trees are all kept together which creates a sense that the mountains in the background go on forever. The city looks abandoned. The canoes are not docked anywhere and it helps tell a story. I made up a story about how the ripple in the bottom lefthand corner is from a larger boat and the residents living in the city were fleeing their homeland because it was about to be invaded. They took all of the canoes and left them floating in the water away from shore so they couldn't be followed. I picked this painting out of all of the others (which is about twenty) in the gallery because this one drew my eyes in with the way it looked. Most of the other paintings consisted of floral/flowery arrangements.
Music Is The Soul of New Orleans
When we visited the Jazz Museum I learned a ton of information about how the city of New Orleans celebrates and expresses itself through music. Professor Longhair was the artist from one of the exhibits in the museum. We learned that he originally started playing the piano with keys missing, and he was able to come up with songs that were still incredible and popular. Pictured below are a few other artists describing what instrument they play and what music means to them. The music I heard in the streets made me feel the need to dance and sing along, even if I didn't know the lyrics to the songs half the time. I learned that Louis Prima wrote a song that is performed in the Jungle Book. I learned that African Americans used to gather in Congo Square to make music, listen to music, and dance on the Sundays that they didn't have to work. The emotions that I felt as the music was streaming through the streets of the French Quarter can be described as happy, giddy, nervous, and excited. The music back home in Illinois is not played live on the streets, unless you attend a concert. It is played on the radio. I prefer Jazz over the Blues which has a slower beat and in my experience makes me more tired than alert and excited. The hardest part about listening to music is that you never know where that music is going to make you think about. Some of the older music that was played reminded me of music that my grandmother would like and sing along with, and that was difficult and sad for me because she passed away this past Summer. I learned a lot about Louis Prima and Professor Longhair's musical career at the jazz museum. I had little to no idea that Louis Prima was responsible for creating a song that the chimpanzee in the Jungle Book sings originally. I learned that many performers in New Orleans don't have the money to make their music career better (through education, mass production, etc) than simply singing on the streets, so some of these performers are that much better at what they do than some of these artists we listen to today who have had the privilege of getting an education in music or being noticed by a big production company.
Music Is The Voice Of The City
There is music played/performed on every street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. My favorite player was a man who was playing many instruments all at the same time. He had a drum, harmonica, guitar, and singing all at once. Music is how the locals express themselves. If you step into any shop, bar, club, restroom, there is music playing. Most of the time there are people who are dancing in the streets along with the music. This morning in particular there were trumpets parked outside of Cafe Du Monde performing. All of the music is loud and can be heard from a couple blocks away. Another performer that was incredible in my opinion is the woman playing with roughly five other people. She had a clarinet and could hold a note for over a minute at a time. Anytime you thought that she was going to run out of air, she'd keep the same note going. The other time that I think music was impactful for the entire city was during the Joan of Arc parade when the drums were being beaten on to further dramatize her being burned with fire. The music in the bars is more pop culture current music rather than jazz music like what's heard in the streets. The difference between music coming out over speakers versus music played live is astonishing. The live music hasn't been fine tuned and "gone over" before being released into the world. The live music is practiced and learned over time, and is difficult to perform when you have more than one person performing.
Learning and Trying New Things Is Important
This experience has taught me a lot. My favorite part about this trip was going on the alligator airboat tour. I got to hold a baby gator named Dollar, and even though it wasn't a very "safety first" experience considering my face was inches from his mouth, it was still my favorite. My favorite part of the class was learning about the unique history of New Orleans and about topics like Hurricane Katrina, Yellow Fever, and Fires that eliminated eighty percent of New Orleans at one point in time. I learned that even though we are focusing more on how Katrina impacted New Orleans, there have been a few other hurricanes that have also done massive damage. I learned that the people of New Orleans are friendly, they love jazz music, they are very accepting towards many different types of people. I learned that staying home through college and not having roommates in an apartment or dormitory was the right thing to do because living with people that you just met for an entire week is difficult but also entertaining. I learned that I take my personal time for granted because we were with someone at all times. I also like to sleep in instead of wake up early, but if I have to get up early I can. I also learned that I take my form of transportation for granted, because if I had to walk everywhere in Peoria I would never leave my house. I learned to be less afraid of trying food that is different from anything I typically eat in Illinois. All in all, I feel like I am coming out of this experience with more knowledge and the capability to come out of my comfort zone more often.
Leaving The Big City
Today as we say goodbye to one of my favorite cities in the world, we were instructed to go to our favorite place in the city and take a photo. My personal favorite place was the St. Louis Cathedral because it stood out the most. It is massive and one of the first things you notice around Jackson Square. It's even more beautiful on the inside once you walk in with paintings on the ceilings, stained glass windows on the walls, and an incredible alter surrounded by history. I have been keeping track of where we have been on this trip in order to tell my friends and family who plan to come to New Orleans someday where the best places to eat, stay, and hangout are. To someone wishing to visit New Orleans, I would say that Bourbon Street is the most lit up and lively street in the French Quarter. Frenchman Street is where you will find the best music and majority of the locals because tourists usually hangout more on Bourbon. You must visit the St Louis Cathedral, The Presbytere, and take a couple hours later at night to visit some of the "haunted" areas in the city. The food that is indigenous to New Orleans is definitely worth trying, especially if you are not from the South and haven't ever visited before. Make sure to bring an umbrella if there's even the slightest chance of rain. Wear walking shoes, because it's easy to walk the entire French Quarter in a day because there's that much to see and do. The souvenir shops all have relatively the same items, so search for better (lower) prices especially because they're all only a few doors down from each other. All in all, my trip here was one of the most exciting, breathtaking, and mesmerizing things that I have done in my lifetime.
Today I Visited The Oldest Building in New Orleans
Today we toured the St. Louis Cathedral, the Ursuline Convent, and the Pharmacy Museum. In the inside of the Cathedral we got to see the different art/paintings/stained glass that was on the walls and ceilings. We got to see the alter, and hear how the bishops are buried below it when they pass away. We got to see the paintings and stained glass windows that covered the walls and the ceilings. In the Ursuline Convent we got to learn about how the sisters helped educate young women and how they were some of the first nurses to the royal hospital in New Orleans. In 1788, the fire that left over eighty percent of the city burned, did not harm the Ursuline Convent. We were told a tale of how this came to be. There is a statue by the name of "Little Sweetheart" that is roughly twelve inches tall that the sisters prayed to, to keep the fire away from them, and it worked. As the fire was getting closer, they put the statue in the window and the flames blew back and the fire was put out by the wind. At the pharmacy museum we got to see how "doctors" back in the early 18-1900's helped their "patients". We learned that back then there was really no licensing laws that were in place, so if you wanted to practice medicine you easily could. Many of the medications from those times were things that took an immense toll on the body. These doctors were trying to rid their patients of whatever was going on in some of the most violent ways possible. For example, doctors were shoving mercury down the throats of people who suffered from yellow fever. Back then, we didn't have any idea of what was going on. Nowadays, medicine is different and it requires you to have a license and we have figured out the ways in which hand washing is essential for not transmitting disease. We got to see how the old instruments that were used for things like eyeball donation, abortion, going to the restroom while in bed (bedpan), worked. I am grateful to live in a time where the human race knows more about disease today and where we have the potential to come up with newer and improved ways to survive. The moment that impacted me the most was when the tour guide at the pharmacy started talking about how doctors back then and still to this day use leeches to help with reconstructive surgery's because they help with the clotting process and help vascularization. This reminded me of the Grey's Anatomy episode where George O'Malley had to put leeches on a patient to do exactly that, promote healing and new tissue formation by optimizing vascularization. The patient went crazy and wanted to keep one of the leeches that was used in the end because he heard that they just throw them out afterwards. I mostly enjoyed the pharmacy because it was nice seeing where health care was at one point in time, compared to what it had developed into now.
