Archives

Louisiana

Juanita Leonard 2

Juanita Leonard sells her work at local art shows, or directly out of her immersive, colorful art environment of a home. Ms. Juanita welcomes visitors to her ever-changing home and grounds, and she may be contacted through her Facebook page (see “External Resources” below map).

Juanita Leonard 1

Next to her home in about 2005, Juanita Leonard built and decorated a small church where she, a licensed minister, holds Sunday services for a small congregation.  At the beginning of her ministry, she dressed in “white swaddling” and for around forty days carried a large bamboo cross along the rural Louisiana highway in front […]

Smith 2

Dr. Charles Smith has created a sculptural art environment that represents a museum of African-American history.      

Dr. Charles Smith

A low wall of rocks and broken concrete (one for every African-American soldier killed in Vietnam) forms a water-monster guarded embankment along the ‘river’s’ edge. Water surrounding the perimeter also recalls the swampland refuge of escaped slaves, and the concrete-sculpted alligator-like monster represents both danger to the runaways, and protection from “slave catchers” who feared to enter.

Smith 1

Dr. Charles Smith has created a sculptural art environment that represents a museum of African-American history: “I lean heavily on the art- everything else seems like foolishness to me” (from a phone conversation in 2022).

Art Environments – Southeast

Art environments are typically made by by artists working outside the mainstream of contemporary art.  Exposed to the weather and free for public viewing, the environments have little or no connection to the monetized art-object-based realm of galleries and museums.  Often the ‘artists’ don’t think of themselves as, or like to be called ‘artists’, their […]

Portraits of ‘Outsider’ and Visionary Artists, 2013-2018

Often self-taught ‘artists’ don’t think of themselves as, or like to be called ‘artists’.  They may not produce any ‘for sale’ art objects, their work may be too personal, or it may be intended to carry religious messages from God (for which they accept no personal credit).  Many think of themselves as being too unskilled […]

Art Environments – Overview

Art environments are typically made by by artists working outside the mainstream of contemporary art.  Exposed to the weather and free for public viewing, the environments have little or no connection to the monetized art-object-based realm of galleries and museums.  Often the ‘artists’ don’t think of themselves as, or like to be called ‘artists’, their […]

Architecture

American vernacular architecture and hand-painted decorations.