Editor’s Note

A Note from Bev – Cocktails, Fresh Starts & Follow Ups 

We are so excited to feature “Cocktails for KID smART” for our January cover! Thanks so much to our cover models: Event Chairs Krystal Hardy-Allen, Norman Barnum and Jeanette Weiland; Graham Ralston representing presenting sponsor Regions Bank; and Executive Director Elise Gallinot Goldman! This fabulous fundraiser will be on March 10, which gives you plenty of time to become a sponsor for this important creative schools program that takes place in over 14 New Orleans Public Schools!

KID smART engages children in hands-on arts-integrated learning to ensure that all students have access to a holistic and arts-rich education. The photo on the cover was taken at one of their partner schools, Edward Hynes Charter School in Lakeview.

“Cocktails for KID smart” will be held in the Shops at the Contemporary Arts Center complete with live music, hors d’oeuvres and cocktails! Sponsors and patrons will receive limited edition giclées by Featured Artist Ron Bechet and Featured Emerging Artist Brent Houzenga. To purchase your ticket call 504-940-1994 or visit KIDsmART.org. 

Now that it’s January, our thoughts turn to getting fit and turning over a new leaf! Turn to our “Raising the Bar on Fitness” for a glimpse into the offerings of the New Orleans wellness scene. From infrared-heated workouts to plunge baths and oxygen therapies, there’s so much to learn!

What’s Hot features beauty products to make your new year better from your scalp to your soles. 

Our editorial team worked hard on our “Registry of Charitable Events: January-April 2022”, but it’s only as good as your input! You don’t want to compete with another fundraiser on the same night, so if you don’t see your event listed, email Morgan (Morgan@MyNewOrleans.com) and fill out our online form today (MyNewOrleans.com/submit-a-charitable-event)! 

Last month we featured Walker Beery’s nonprofit Kids Join the Fight, and we’ve heard from some of you on how you’re raising money for this important cause. Even though this brave little boy has passed away, his family and support are continuing the fight. Isabel Schmidt told us that her daughter, Ellie Schmidt, realized that she could get teens to join the fight by donating their babysitting funds to KJTF. She did it on her own in September 2021 and then got teens from all over New Orleans to babysit and raise funds for pediatric cancer research and families currently in cancer care. They raised about $2,600 in one weekend! Congratulations to Ellie and all of her friends!

Good luck on your New Year’s Resolutions!

Editor's Note

Beverly Reese Church

 


 

Bevsnote
Photo by Delphine Diallo

 

 

Join Prospect.5 at StudioBE, the famed creative hub of Brandon “Bmike” Odums, to celebrate the closing of “Prospect.5: Yesterday we said tomorrow.” The P.5 gala is the sole fundraising event during the three-year exhibition cycle. The evening will honor individuals and groups who have made important contributions to New Orleans’ contemporary art community and to Prospect, and will include an incredible live performance by five-time Grammy nominated trumpeter and composer Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, pictured here, and food from the city’s top chefs. Learn more and purchase your ticket today at Prospect5.org.

 

 


 

On the Cover
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Photo by Jeffery Johnston

Event Chairs Krystal Hardy-Allen, Norman Barnum and Jeanette Weiland; Graham Ralston representing Presenting Sponsor Regions Bank; and Executive Director Elise Gallinot Goldman for “Cocktails for KID smART” taken at Creative Schools partner Edward Hynes Charter School – Lakeview.

“Cocktails for KID smART” is an annual fundraiser in support of KID smART’s Creative Schools program. KID smART engages children in hands-on arts-integrated learning that encourages creativity, problem-solving and social-emotional development. Creative Schools programming takes place in over 14 New Orleans public schools, ensuring that all students have access to a holistic and arts-rich education.

On March 10, supporters will gather at The Shops at the Contemporary Arts Center to enjoy live music, hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. Sponsors and patrons will receive limited edition giclées by Featured Artist Ron Bechet and Featured Emerging Artist Brent Houzenga.

To purchase your ticket call 504-940-1994 or visit Eventbrite.com/e/cocktails-for-kid-smart-tickets-156009038233. For more information about KID smART go to KidsmART.org and follow them on social media @kidsmartnola.

Special thanks to Development Director Heather Nelson for her invaluable assistance

 


 

A Note from Morgan – Holiday Happenings

For most people the holidays have past, but in New Orleans we’re just warming up. With Twelfth Night here and Carnival approaching, our holiday season is just getting started. Whether or not we have the parades New Orleans Mardi Gras is known for, Carnival cannot and will not be canceled, especially this year. (If you have any doubt of this, just ask our own expert and historian Errol Laborde.)

The new year always brings thoughts of rebirth and fresh starts, and this year is no exception. 

Wellness has become a buzz word encompassing anything that might improve our lives, but it has also become a pressure. We’re told that to be happy we must be certain we’re balancing every part of our bodies, minds, spirits, calendars, family, friends, work, home, etc. Frankly, trying to achieve this balance is exhausting!

So I say forget it. 

This new year I’m embracing the madness. I’m choosing to see the Lucky Charms on the floor of my car as a reminder of the road trip we took last month and not as a sign that I really need to vacuum. To look at a canceled lunch with a friend as an opportunity to call my mother and rest my body. To hug the little moments close and let the bigger picture go hazy a bit (remember those Magic Eye posters?). 

As Carnival takes over more and more of our time in the coming months, my plan is to schedule in some wellness (the sound baths and Lymphatic Foam Rolling Class + Infrared Sauna I learned about from our fitness feature this month sound quite tempting) but not become overwhelmed by an attempt at balance. If I want to eat fried chicken and King Cake, I’m going to do it, and not because I’m going to promise to only eat quinoa and celery after. I’m going to dance to marching bands and cheer the dance troupes until I lose my voice. And if parades are canceled again, I’m going to cue up some Wild Tchoupitoulas and throw beads to my kid from the couch. And I’m going to nap without guilt; napping, it’s not just for babies anymore!

This month includes our “Registry of Charitable Events: January-April 2022.” Recently if was brought to my attention once more (this happens every couple years) that it’s a very long piece and not horribly interesting to read or look at. And I get it. But doing our best (there are many of us that work on these pieces) to make certain that every nonprofit event gets its fair share of space to entice you to buy a ticket, go to their event and support their nonprofit is of exceeding importance to me, and to Avenue. So I’m asking you: How should we improve the “Registry?” Should we keep it as is but add some photos from years past or images from upcoming invitations? Should we just list the basics and put the event descriptions online? I’d love to read your ideas and work on implementing them before the next “Registry: May-August 2022.” Please email your thoughts to Morgan@MyNewOrleans.com.

If you’re driving down St. Charles Avenue and you get distracted about 2125, I wouldn’t blame you. Christian Shane Properties, now the “only luxury real estate brokerage on the Avenue” has recently redone the Grand Victorian mansion, made it their headquarters and has even made the ballroom available for special events. Learn more at ChristianShane.com. 

From beauty products to make you glow to workouts to make you sweat and all the nonprofit events you can handle, this issue has everything you need to decide what wellness looks like to you. 

Happy New Year and Happy Carnival Season!

Editor's Note

Morgan Packard Griffith

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