About Prospect New Orleans
Founded by the curator Dan Cameron, Prospect New Orleans is one of the leading biennials of international contemporary art in the United States. Conceived in the tradition of the great international biennials, such as the Venice Biennale and the Bienal de São Paulo, Prospect New Orleans showcases new artistic practices from around the world in settings that are both historic and culturally exceptional, and contributes to the cultural economy of New Orleans and the Louisiana Gulf region by spurring cultural tourism and bringing international attention to the area’s vibrant visual arts community.
In its inaugural year, Prospect.1 New Orleans featured 81 artists who exhibited at 24 venues throughout the city, occupying a combined 200,000 square feet of space spread widely over miles of the city’s eclectic and historic neighborhoods. From November 2008 through January 2009, Prospect.1 attracted 42,000 individual visitors (88,000 admissions), generating over $23 million in economic activity.
Due in large part to the economic conditions, Prospect.2 was postponed by one year. In its place, Prospect.1.5 New Orleans was developed to focus on artists working in New Orleans and the Southeast region, as well as artists originally from Louisiana, now living elsewhere. Organized in collaboration with public art centers and museums, schools, alternative spaces and commercial galleries in New Orleans, Prospect.1.5 a staggered program of group exhibitions and one-artist projects involving more than 50 artists, ran from November 6, 2010 to February 19, 2011.
Prospect.2 was open to the public from October 22, 2011 through January 29, 2012. The list of artists included 26 artists from nine countries, including the United States, France, Italy, Sweden, Poland, Japan, Chile, and Vietnam. In keeping with Prospect's commitment to the promotion of the visual art community in New Orleans, the second biennial featured work by several artists who live and work in the city, as well as a variety of site-specific projects inspired by the city's distinctive history and culture and conceived specifically for the city of New Orleans.
Prospect New Orleans is founded on the principle that art engenders social progress. It is organized by U.S. Biennial, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit art organization that launched in January 2007 in order to realize Prospect.1.
THE VISION
Prospect New Orleans was founded on the principle that the art of our time can play a significant role in the revitalization of an important U.S. city. As it evolves from a first-time biennial in Prospect.1 to a local tradition, the biennial remains committed to building a contemporary art tourism infrastructure upon a signature event that galvanizes local art creation and entrepreneurial activity, while attracting tens of thousands of art lovers to New Orleans every-other-year.
In the words of Cameron, "New Orleans has long been an urban wonderland where creative spirits by the thousands came from elsewhere to live and work, and from that starting point, it is becoming transformed into a place where art lovers from around the world can indulge in the city's natural and cultural beauty, while enjoying some of the most exciting new art being made today. We are working to make Prospect New Orleans a model example of how art can promote social justice and be a catalyst for the revitalization of a historic American city."
