Maxx Sizeler, and finding the St Bernard Project - 03/03/2009

Visual artist Maxx Sizeler’s life is defined as BK and AK (Before Katrina and After Katrina). Like so many others, she lost most of her belongings to the flood, and like all those who lived through the hurricane, part of her sanity as well. This trip was an opportunity to get back in touch with many friends, and four years after the storm, I must have been a fresh ear because most of them were eager to talk about their Katrina experience. It was definitely an eye opener. I had heard a lot through news outlets, but nothing compared to first hand accounts. I still can’t grasp all that happened during Katrina, and I don’t believe any “outsider” will ever fully understand what all these people have had to endure (to this day).

Maxx’ picture was taken uptown, and the wall could not have been a better fit (which may make sense once you see the photo in the book. In case you missed the past posts, you will not see any of the actual finished photos on this blog. You may see part of a picture, or, like in the case of Bob Rue, the entire photo, but before double-exposure.)



That first week in March, 2009 was also the week I got acquainted with the St Bernard Project. With a pretty straight forward mission (“to create housing opportunities for Katrina survivors who wish to return to their homes and communities”), the organization was started by a couple of people who did understand the disaster more than anyone else, and decided to do something about it. You will get to meet Zack Rosenburg and Liz McCartney in a later post since they posed for the New Orleans Walls project. As of today, the St Bernard Project has rebuilt 342 homes, and 50 more are under construction. (As stated on their website, “a typical rebuild project takes approximately 12 weeks of volunteer labor and uses approximately $15,000 worth of building supplies." The St Bernard Project will receive 30% of the New Orleans Walls book sales.)

As for Fats Domino, I took a little step forward by being able to communicate with Tom McDermott’s student. I also started trying to contact Eddie Bo, who I used to know about 15 years ago, but wasn’t getting much luck...