Exhibit Opening

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

5pm-9pm CT

Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design,

1725 Baronne Street, New Orleans LA 70113

Join the Tulane School of Architecture's Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design on September 18, 2024 for the opening of What Matter's Here.?!

This immersive exhibit, supported by the National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program, centers on material legacies throughout the Gulf Coast, exploring histories of resource extraction and showcasing transformative uses of steel, clay, glass and sand.

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

What Matter's Here.?! emerged from a desire to create connections among local artists and designers working to understand and reimagine the Gulf Coast's relationship with its industrial past and ecological future. The project brings together the work of artists paris cyan cian, Giancarlo D'Agostaro with Spackman Mossop Michaels, and Virginia Hanusik, alongside the work of Tulane School of Architecture students and faculty, and contributions from community partners.

From steel pipelines repurposed as scaffolds for new growth to creative applications of clay and glass in ecosystem regeneration, the exhibit invites us to contemplate the degree of distance between extraction and rebirth, between unbridled human ambition and mindful coexistence with our environment.

The work displayed in What Matter's Here?! is not merely a showcase of past or present harm, but a starting point for speculating about more optimistic futures for the Gulf Coast region. How might we rewrite the material languages of our built environment? Discover new forms of beauty and performance from the remnants of extractive industries? And reimage building as a catalyst for ecological regeneration and social repair? In this space where raw materials meet radical imagination, we invite you to reconsider what truly matters. Join us in this exploration of matter and meaning as we collectively sketch the contours of a more just, conscious Gulf Coast, defined by different metrics of abundance.

We extend our gratitude to our community partners and the participating artists and students who have brought this vision to life. Special thanks go to the Tulane School of Architecture and the National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program for their ongoing support and collaboration.

Questions?  Please reach out to Liz Camuti, ecamuti@tulane.edu, and Small Center's main email baronne@tulane.edu.