First day in New Orleans starts in the woods

I didn’t expect that on the first day of my visit in New Orleans I will encounter the magic of the Mississippi River bottomland hardwood forest. A Studio in the Woods is located at the nexus of the City of New Orleans, a larger 5,000-acre bottomland hardwood forest, the Mississippi River’s lower reaches, the Gulf of Mexico, and the largest swath of alluvial wetlands in North America. This place runs an amazing residency program and hosts artists, scholars, researchers who focuse on contemporary and historical climate changes, especially investigating the legacy of Mississippi River. Among them is Margaret Pearce whom I had a chance to hear yesterday and, who in her research “Mississippi Dialogues” maps public opinion about flooding into an Indigenized map of the Mississippi River. Although I saw the place for a few hours and covered in evening’s darkness (wish I could see more of the incredible nature), it gave me a strong sense of community work and dedication. Hoping to return there!

A Studio in the Woods