Voices of Witness at Artspace

How sorry I am that all my friends, acquaintances, local artists...everyone who wasn't present....weren't at Artspace tonight. You missed a marvelous evening of storytelling about the Great Depression by the magical voices and words of Jeannine Pasini Beekman, Angelique Feister, Thelma Harrison and Myra Davis.

I sat, entranced, as I listened to individual's tales and also the impact of the WPA, CCC on North Louisiana lives. I grew up in NYC and heard about the selling of apples, the long bread lines, etc., but here in Louisiana, the Depression and the federal programs brought about so many changes different from metro city experiences. Tonight I heard about reforestation, the building of safe, good schools w. added facilities like bathrooms and gyms, the building of rural paved roads, how those beautiful homes on Barksdale AFB were meant to look like a French village from a birds eye view, how the natatorium at Northwestern, buildings at Grambling, La Tech, Northeastern were completed during this era. And all the aforementioned were transmitted through the voices of these talented Scheherazades.

And Chef Michael had fresh yummy cookies, pies...of course I had to sample those, forsaking my pre-cruise diet. I did videotape about 10 minutes of the performance: look at YouTube under Artsmaven75 tomorrow.