Art as a Memory of a Place

Saw You First, acrylic on canvas 16 x 16”

Some places are meant to be experienced once and left behind, while others linger in ways that are harder to define. Fragments of memories resurface when you least expect it, the streets wander down without intention, the way the breeze felt in the afternoon, and smells that can't be pinned to anything other than a memory.

To be immersed in a completely different world than your own, you begin to notice how light shifts across buildings, sounds carry differently and time seems to stretch just long enough to allow for these details to be noticed.

For those who spend time in New Orleans, whether briefly or over many years, you never experience this city the same exact way. The same streets are walked again and again, but never hold the exact same feelings or sensations twice.

New and old collectors alike, recognize a shift from a plan to an emotional response to a place that has made a lifelong impression. A work of art is viewed and taken in, but also carries a familiar feeling that cannot always be explained.

Art becomes a way to hold onto these memories and continue the experience beyond the moment itself.

During the spring, when the city fills and movement builds across every street, that contrast becomes more apparent.

Through the threshold of the carriageway and courtyard, Tanner Gallery remains with a body of artworks that allow for a piece of New Orleans to travel home with you.