Cooley House, Monroe, LA

Front and side view of the Cooley House 

I was invited by Helen Vanderhoeven to meet at the Cooley House at 1400 South Grand Street in Monroe, LA with a group of wonderful women.  Laverne Bodron and Jorenda Stone spoke to the group about the Cooley House.  The talks covered the background of Monroe in the 1920's, the Cooley family and the architect Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Marion Mahony Griffin who was also an architect.  The talk included a tour of the house which is currently being restored and is on the National Register of Historic Places in the US.  The house is especially significant because it represents a mixture of Griffin's designs in the US and in Australia.

http://www.cooleyhouse.org/

Walking along the levee in Monroe.  Yachts and houseboats docked here and there on the Ouachita River. Here someone's meditation spot nestled in the lush landscape.

Findings from walk. The smell of pine needles, birds chirping. Spider lillies and chestnut hulls. Spider Lily bulbs were brought to United States from Japan in 1854.

New business cards.  I will be actively collecting recordings and portraits for the next 6 months.  Trips to Alexandria, Arnaudville, Keatchie, Maringouin, Evergreen, Plain Dealing and Ruston very soon.

Creating a base in northern Louisiana to work from for about 6 months. Will be in the Alexandria area in a couple of weeks collecting stories and portraits. Then on to Keatchie, Lake Charles, Arnaudville and other places. 

A book of my recent photographs can be seen on issuu.com 
http://issuu.com/galleryjatad/docs/garden_pdf

This book is a precursor to work that I will be doing in Louisiana - documenting flora and fauna on my trips around the state.  I plan to create a book of those images as well.

If you are interested in purchasing Garden, copies can be ordered through Gallery Jatad or directly through Blurb.com.

I have been working on plans for a long term stay in Louisiana to allow myself time and better access to gather portraits and record personal histories.  

Two curators who are working in Louisiana and currently doing amazing things in the arts there are Benjamin Hickey at the Masur Museum and George Marks in Arnaudville.  

More on them and their work later.

George Marks

Benjamin Hickey (3rd from right) photographed by Eduardo Sarmiento