PRESS RELEASE DETAIL

For release: IMMEDIATELY

Release Date: 05/21/2007

EBR MAYOR’S OFFICE LINKING DISPLACED NEW ORLEANIANS WITH ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Melvin L. “Kip” Holden is helping two artists locate New Orleans residents displaced to the Baton Rouge area to participate in an oral history project that will accompany a major exhibit at the State Museum this summer.

“Floodwall”, a wall of drawers 120 feet long and eight feet tall was constructed of drawers salvaged from flooded homes in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with each catalogued by address.

On the heels of a successful exhibition in New York, the exhibit will open at the new State Museum in Baton Rouge on July 13th before traveling to Europe next Spring with the stories gathered from participants.

“The artists are searching for the owners of the drawers to gather oral histories to accompany the exhibit,” Mayor Holden explained. “We are encouraging those who relocated to Baton Rouge to connect with the artists and join us for the opening of the exhibit at the State Museum in Baton Rouge.”

Displaced residents can visit www.floodwall.org to see if their address is included among the drawers recovered in New Orleans. Artists Rondell Crier and Jana Napoli and oral historian Tatiana Clay are the creators of the project.

FLOODWALL Exhibit website: www.floodwall.org

###