The Story of Nola Watters
Mardi Gras
This is the first panel of a triptych entitled “The Story of Nola Watters”. Each panel measures 12″ x 12″. Carnivale (Mardi Gras) is the season of wild abandon that precedes the introspective season of Lent. It has a long history in Europe, and like a plant, runners shot out and rooted themselves in various New World places, including New Orleans.
Flood
Panel 2 of the triptych is hurricane season 2005. The disasters of hurricanes and failed levees inseparably commingled treasures and trash.
Nola Watters
This is the third panel of the triptych. NOLA is common shorthand for “New Orleans, Louisiana,” but I always think of Nola as a woman. Nola Watters is a composite portrait of several women whose homes were damaged by the flood in 2005. I was one of the thousands of people who traveled to New Orleans in 2006 to muck out homes in order to save their owners from having to relinquish their property to the city.
Ms. Watters is pictured in front of her refurbished home and wearing the costume of a Mardi Gras Indian. African Americans in New Orleans have traditionally dressed as “Indians” during Mardi Gras for several reasons, including honoring the tribes which sheltered run-away slaves in the past.
The NOLA sequence does a good job of telling the Katrina story.
I’ve been thinking about to market these to New Orleans residents. Still working on it.
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The very first trip my husband and I made together was to New Orleans. The city became a permanent thread in our lives. We loved it so much and continue to go back, year after year. We decided early on that if we were to ever have a daughter, we would name her Nola. I was 5 months pregnant when Katrina hit. It was painful to watch all of the images of this beloved city. It was quite clear that for sure, we would name the baby Nola. So, she came to close out the year. Our Nola Watters is just like the great city we love. She is strong and resilient, a great mix of a traditional little girl with a fire-filled passion like no other. I love the mosaics. I love what the are saying. They are a great expression of a great city!
Lori, thank you for sharing your story! It is so heart-warming for me to think that there is a Nola Watters walking around in this world. May she always have an eye for those down-and-out and for giving and receiving a hand up in this world of ours. Please keep me posted on your precious little person.