Collaborating at the Crossroads: Activating Programming and Partnerships

This September join the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities to celebrate the grand opening of The Helis Foundation John Scott Center at 938 Lafayette St. Housed in Turners’ Hall, LEH’s historic building in New Orleans’s central business and arts district, the center integrates arts and humanities programming unlike any other space in the Gulf South.

This moderated panel discussion will provide community members, stakeholders, and cultural representatives an introduction to Scott, the center, and programming partnership opportunities.

Register to attend here.

Panelists include:

Ron Bechet is an artist with works exhibited nationally and internationally. He is the Victor H. Labat Professor of Art at Xavier University of Louisiana where he has been teaching for over 20 years. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees at the Ogden Museum and has served on boards and commissions such as The Joan Mitchell Foundation and Imagining America’s National Advisory Board. He served as the first director of Xavier Art Department’s Community Arts Partnership Program. Bechet holds a B.A. in Fine Arts from the University of New Orleans, and an M.F.A. from the Yale University School of Art.

Sarah Clunis is originally from Kingston, Jamaica and received her PhD in art history in 2006 from the University of Iowa. Clunis is the Director of Academic Partnerships and Curator of the African Collection at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. Before joining the Peabody Clunis served as director of the Xavier University Art Gallery, supervisor of the Art Collection team, and assistant professor of art history at Xavier University of Louisiana. 

Multidisciplinary artist Asante Salaam is the inaugural director of The Helis Foundation John Scott Center at the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. Salaam has consulted as a creative strategist and thought leader with various cultural arts organizations. Her artistic accomplishments include commissioned art projects and artist residencies with A Studio in the Woods and the Joan Mitchell Center. Salaam holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Salaam—a native New Orleanian, world traveler, and holistic wellbeing practitioner—is passionate about creating a world where art and culture are treasured as vital components of society.

Lloyd Dennis will moderate the panel. After becoming the first black man to do craft work for the “Bell” phone system, Dennis continued work as a black pioneer, servicing electronics on tugboats and ships and then as a computer technician at the local Federal Reserve Branch. In 2007, he co-founded the “Silverback Society”, which coordinates and trains mentors for adolescent boys in public schools. He served as president of the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network for two years and as board president for Efforts of Grace – ASHE Cultural Arts Center for thirteen Dennis is a W. K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership fellow and serves as board chair for the New Orleans Tourism and Culture Fund.