Elyse Defoor, Lori Gordon and Natasha Trethewey Speak at Spruill

Please join us this Saturday, August 28th at 12 noon for Katrina: Five Years of Reflection: An Artist Talk with Elyse Defoor, Lori Gordon and special guest, Natasha Trethewey.


Atlanta artist Elyse Defoor will be presenting her body of work, X.U.ME, her visual reaction to seeing her beloved New Orleans destroyed. The grim Xs were first a code used by search and rescue teams after Katrina. Defoor's work reproduces these markings to capture the haunting emotion of post-Katrina New Orleans. Learn more about Elyse Defoor and her work at her website.

Mississippi Gulf Coast native Lori Gordon will describe her mixed-media work. When Katrina struck in 2005, uprooting Gordon's home and life, she returned to her art using the materials available to her - namely, rubble and found objects. She re-crafts storm debris into assemblages, such as the shaman figures currently on view at our gallery. See her "Katrina Collection" blog here.

We are honored to present renowned poet and Pulitzer-prize winner Natasha Trethewey as our special guest for this talk. Her upcoming book, Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf tells her family's story interwoven with the history of her hometown, Gulfport, Mississippi. She will discuss her reflections on the losses suffered by her family and countless others' along the coast. Listen to her recent interview on NPR's Fresh Air here.