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Salad Days Student Art Exhibit now on display at City Hall

Salad Days are here again!

After a few years off due to the pandemic, the Salad Days Juried Exhibition of Student Art returned this year with an opening reception and award presentation on Friday, March 10. The 32nd annual exhibit, featuring the works of St. Tammany Parish students from kindergarten to 12th grade, is currently on display in the George Dunbar Gallery Gallery at the Slidell Cultural Center at City Hall.

“We are incredibly blessed to have so many talented students here in St. Tammany Parish and I would like to congratulate all the Salad Days artists,” said Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer. “I invite everyone to come to City Hall and see these amazing works of art.”

This year’s juror is Victoria Allen, an editorial illustrator, artist and art teacher. A former Salad Days student, Allen started painting when she was young and had work accepted into local and regional exhibits. Her more recent work has been showcased, recognized, and received awards in numerous exhibitions and competitions both statewide and nationally. Allen graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in Illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design, and then worked in New York City as an illustrator with Imaginary Forces. In 2020, she received her Master’s in Mass Communication and Certificate in Strategic Communications from Louisiana State University. She now works as a Social Media & Creative Strategist for TILT advertising agency in Baton Rouge and is also an Adjunct Professor of Visual Communication at LSU Manship.

Salad Days entries are divided into four age categories. First, Second, Third and Honorable Mentions are awarded in each category.

Category A (5 – 8 years old)

  • 1st Place – Laura Chin, Flamingo
  • 2nd Place – Matthew Landry, Blue Jay
  • 3rd Place – Jack Tomasich, Monet of Flowers
  • Honorable Mention – Dru Chagnard, The Lost Alligator
  • Honorable Mention – Laura Chin, Springtime Bears

Category B (9 – 11 years old)

  • 1st Place – Ashley Mannin0, Blue and Me
  • 2nd Place – Owen Davenport, The Wolf and the Starry Night
  • 3rd Place – Aaliyah Atamanyuk, Pretty in Pink
  • Honorable Mention – Albert Bernard Jr., The Prince of Rails
  • Honorable Mention – Dylan Landry, Bruce the Moose
  • Participating artists – Joseph Bordes, Amelia Chin, Rhyan Higginbottom, Morgan Roberts, and Olivia Yi

Category C (12 – 14 years old)

  • 1st Place – Hana Wall, To See Clearly
  • 2nd Place – Hana Wall, Cursing Imagination
  • 3rd Place – Max Stark, Tiger
  • Honorable Mention – Melanie Clapp, Dog
  • Honorable Mention – Cambrie Roger, A Glimpse of Peace
  • Participating artist – Camille Hicks

Category D (15- 18 years old)

  • 1st Place – Zoe Boudreaux, Fishy Business
  • 2nd Place – Abigail Gumpert, Misery Loves Company
  • 3rd Place – Connor Carollo, Chess with Grandpa
  • Honorable Mention – Kaiden McKleroy, Apres la nuit
  • Honorable Mention – Ella Steele, Serendipity
  • Participating artists – Kate Marks, Nhi Nguyen, Alexis Cierra St. Romain, Rylie Richards, and Isabella Vindell

The Slidell Cultural Center is located at 2055 Second Street, on the first floor of Slidell City Hall. Gallery Hours are Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 12 to 4 p.m. Gallery viewings are by appointment only by calling the Department of Cultural & Public Affairs at (985) 646-4375. Same day appointments are available. Admission is free.

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St. Patrick’s Day Parade is Sunday, March 12 – Olde Towne Street Closures Announced

In preparation for the Olde Towne Merchant Association’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 12, several streets in the Olde Towne area will start closing at 6:00 a.m.

For public safety, any vehicle that is left parked along the parade route after 6 a.m. on Sunday, March 12, will be towed at the owners expense.

This includes sections of:

  • Bouscaren St.
  • First St.
  • Erlanger Ave.
  • Fremaux Ave.
  • Teddy Ave.
  • Front St.
  • Carey St.
  • Cousin St.
  • Robert St.
  • Brakefield St.
  • Guzman St.
  • Bryan St.
  • Cleveland Ave.
  • Bilten Ave.
  • Mayfield Ave.
  • Old Spanish Trail
  • Lee St.
  • College St.
  • William Tell St.
  • Ciruti St.

Please refer to the parade route map to see the affected streets.

The Slidell Police Department will begin closing down streets along the parade route to vehicular traffic at a later time. Please do not congregate in the streets until all the streets are closed.

 

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Olde Towne Streets closed March 18 for Elite Fishing Block Party

In preparation for the Elite Fishing Weigh-in event and Block Party on Saturday, March 18, several streets in Olde Towne Slidell will start closing at 8:00 a.m. This includes sections of Bouscaren, First and Cousin streets.

The City of Slidell is happy to partner with Elite Fishing Series, Louisiana Northshore and Olde Towne Slidell Main Street for this event on Saturday, March 18, from 10 am to 6 pm. Admission is free.

Once bollards are in place, any vehicle that is inside the perimeter will not be able to exit Olde Towne until after 6 p.m., when the bollards are removed. Once bollards are in place, no vehicles will be able to enter or leave the closed off areas in Olde Towne.

For more information about this event, please visit https://eliteredfishseries.com/tour-stop-2/

 

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St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Olde Towne Slidell

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Elite Fishing Series – Weigh-in Block Party

Join Elite Fishing Series, Louisiana Northshore and Olde Towne Slidell Main Street for a block party on Saturday, March 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at First and Cousin streets in Olde Towne Slidell!
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“George Dunbar: Mining the Surfaces” public screening

The City of Slidell – in partnership with WLAE, George Dunbar, the Olde Towne Arts Commission, and Olde Towne Slidell Main Street – will host a special screening on Thursday, March 16, at 6 pm at the Slidell Municipal Auditorium. Admission is free.
“Mr. Dunbar has made Slidell his home for many years and his inspiration can be seen throughout our community,” said Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer. “George was an integral part of creating the Slidell Commission on the Arts and the city’s Cultural Affairs Department, designing the gallery for the original Slidell Cultural Center, and creating a rich cultural atmosphere here in Slidell.”
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Olde Towne Preservation District Commission

Agenda Packet (PDF)

Information about the Olde Towne Preservation District Commission

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Slidell hosts George Dunbar documentary screening on March 16

Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer is inviting the community to join him for the public screening of George Dunbar: Mining the Surfaces, a new documentary from WLAE-TV, on Thursday, March 16 at 6 p.m. at the Slidell Municipal Auditorium. The screening is presented in partnership by George Dunbar, WLAE, Olde Towne Arts Commission, and Olde Towne Slidell Main Street. Admission is free.

The documentary features world-renowned artist George Dunbar and covers his expansive career as an artist.

“George has made Slidell his home for many years and his inspiration can be seen throughout our community,” said Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer. “He was an integral part of creating the Slidell Commission on the Arts and the city’s Cultural Affairs Department, designing the gallery for the original Slidell Cultural Center, and creating a rich cultural atmosphere here in Slidell. I hope that everyone joins us March 16 to celebrate George.”

From WLAE-TV: “From the early days of Abstract Expressionism in New York, working with giants like Franz Kline and Willem de Kooning, showing with the former, his body of work has run like a river through the varied series and mediums over time. George Dunbar’s love of New Orleans, his inspiration derived from the landscape here, his place in the rise of modern and contemporary art in the area, and his rare approachability as an artist of voluminous contribution, are the substance of this long overdue documentary on the man and his work.”

The Slidell Municipal Auditorium is located at 2055 Second Street in Olde Towne Slidell. Doors open at 5:45 and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Admission is free.

For more information about City of Slidell news and events, please visit MySlidell.com and the “City of Slidell, Louisiana” on Facebook.

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George Dunbar: Mining The Surfaces- Slidell Premiere

Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer is inviting the public to join him at the Slidell premiere of a new documentary about Slidell artist George Dunbar. George Dunbar: Mining the Surfaces will premiere on Thursday, March 16, 2023 at 6 p.m. at the Slidell Municipal Auditorium. Admission is free.

From the award-winning executive producers of the documentaries Fats Domino–Walkin’ Back to New Orleans and A Tribute to Toussaint comes the latest documentary by WLAE-TV and LAE Productions.

For those who know the artist and his work, this name brings a career, a work ethic, a personality, a journey into vivid focus.

Like his art, George Dunbar is a gift to the world of beauty he inhabits. Across the decades he has been in constant motion, and like the landscape he lives and works within, his work, his style, have ever ebbed and flowed in a myriad of directions. His works have been called sumptuous, vigorous, immaculate, and an effort toward perfection.

From the early days of Abstract Expressionism in New York, working with giants like Franz Kline and Willem de Kooning, showing with the former, his body of work has run like a river through the varied series and mediums over time. The sculptural and gilded forms he is known for take on a refined ethos with a sublime weightiness and permanence. The precise, architectural, if not liturgical works of scale, from the “Coin” series, are both modern, and convey a profound history the viewer “knows”.

George Dunbar’s love of New Orleans, his inspiration derived from the landscape here, his place in the rise of modern and contemporary art in the area, and his rare approachability as an artist of voluminous contribution, are the substance of this long overdue documentary on the man and his work.

Collectors cannot get enough of him or his work; some have entire homes filled with only his work, the varied series across the decades. To speak with him, it is immediately clear, “the work is the thing.” For Dunbar the calling to art is about the art, with no regard to the misappropriated and all too common search for fame and recognition. He has indeed received his fair share of renown, among collectors, museums, institutions, and beyond,yet, the everyday pursuit of the art still drives him, now into his 90s. He has outlived so many artists of his time, and no doubt, his art will live on in the future, receiving an ever growing sense of appreciation and passionate pursuit.

The Slidell Municipal Auditorium is located at 2056 Second Street in Olde Towne Slidell Doors open to the public at 5:45 p.m. and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

 

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