All that a city will ever allow you is an angle on it—an oblique, indirect sample of what it contains, or what passes through it; a point of view.
Native Louisianan, born and raised in New Orleans, artist and crafter Allie Siegel noticed a recurring issue in the DIY world of crafting and artisanship, “bitches be crazy!” No, but seriously, Miss Siegel noted, “there is a whole lot of creativity going here, but when people cross over from knitting to painting, or jewelry design to print making, it feels more like competition than collaboration and that’s not right. I want us to help each other out and build on our innovative energies to construct a creative microcosm for alternative, DIY, off-center creatives.”
Miss Siegel will do just that. Collaborating with other artists and imaginative businesses, she is opening a creative space – a gallery, for those in need of titles; an artists co-op, for those in need of structure; essentially, “a space for workshops, events, and showcasing the creation and exchange of all arts.”
Launching with the notorious New Orleans’ Rock Art Circus on November 11 2012, 900 Franklin Avenue, where Franklin and Rampart meet in the Marigny, Siegel’s space spotlights group shows the second Saturday of each month, in line with St. Claude’s art walk. Expect monthly events, collective workshops, and so much more.
Allie Siegel studied fine arts and began her creative career in the early 2000s. However, she discovered her entrepreneurial spirit fleeing Katrina beleaguered New Orleans. “In Austin they had these craft-space companies, and I knew we could do something like that here – but better, truer, New Orleans proper.”
