REESE JOHANSON:
Making Art Happen
By Dean M. Shapiro
When Reese Johanson arrived
in New Orleans from Boston in
1999 she “didn’t know a soul”
here. That phase didn’t last very
long.
Fast forwarding to the present,
Reese now heads up one of the city’s
most active, extensive and inclusive
performing and fine arts organizations –
The Art Klub – which she founded eleven
years ago. Housed in a former grocery
store, warehouse and private residence
complex – coincidentally located on Arts
Street (corner of North Johnson) in the
St. Roch neighborhood, the Art Klub
has been steadily attracting a dedicated
following and clientele of mostly young
people to its dance performances, art
exhibits, and other showcase events.
Recently the Art Klub enjoyed one
of the crowning achievements of its
existence when it was selected to
participate in the prestigious Prospect4
citywide art exhibition between
November 2017 and February 2018. Not
only did it attract art aficionados, this
event gave Reese and the Art Klub added
impetus to innovate beyond their original
scope, including the establishment of a
fine arts gallery with rotating exhibitions
on the premises.
“Prospect4 was definitely a learning
e x p e r i e n c e , ”
Reese said. “It was
a nice format for
me to structure
opening up an
art gallery and a
great way for me
to bring in artists
who wanted to
have a part in
the Prospect
experience. It
was an amazing
experience to be
a part of and we
were very honored
to be in it.”
Although many
of the recent
photos of Reese
depict her in
offbeat costumes
and/or poses,
those who know
her know that this
quirkiness is an
PHOTO BY RIDE HAMILTON
essential part of her persona, as well as
a key component of her occupation as an
actor, performance artist, producer, and
presenter. Behind the camera-mugging
and outlandish outfits are an astute,
hardworking businesswoman and a
meticulous, detail-oriented organizer.
“When I first came here from Boston
where I had started a performing arts
company, I was looking for something
similar in New Orleans but I couldn’t
find it anywhere,” Reese noted. “This
was after I’d spent three years building
another performance company and I
thought, ‘I can’t do this again. I can’t start
from scratch.’ But I did anyway.”
The route to getting her New Orleansbased
company off the ground, however,
was a circuitous one. Some of Reese’s
first jobs here involved helping to set
up special events and staging product
promotions, especially for wine and liquor
distributors. Eventually, `she established
her own event planning company which
she named Party Girl Productions and
each endeavor brought her fortuitously
closer to her ultimate goal.
PHOTO BY ZACK SMITH
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