“Doing special events was where I
started meeting people in the arts,” Reese
explained. “I started to wrap the arts into
mainstream events and reach audiences
that way. If I was doing some crazy,
avant-garde performance somewhere,
not everybody would go to see that, but if
I put the crazy, avant-garde performance
into a Beaujolais wine event, then I
reached a new audience that might not
have gone to see the performance.”
Born in Indiana and raised in an Atlanta
suburb, Reese left home at 21 to study
theatre arts at New York City’s National
Shakespeare Conservatory. After about
six years in New York, she went to France
for a year, then landed in Boston where
she started a company called Open
Faucet. “We worked in collaboration
with live musicians and writers to create
short works of original theatre and
performance,” Reese explained.
“This is pretty much what I’ve done
over the years, creating contacts and
collaborating with other artists to create
works that are poignant and moving,”
Reese said. “I get very inspired to be
around the disciplines of art creators
and working with all different kinds of
artists.”
Forced to evacuate by Hurricane
Katrina in 2005, Reese and her sons
– then aged 9 and 7 – returned to the
Atlanta suburb where she still had
family living. She was soon joined by
renowned New Orleans artist, James
Michalopoulos, who she later married
and with whom she had a daughter,
now 10.
On their return to New Orleans,
Michalopoulos offered Reese the use
of space in the large studio he owned
on Elysian Fields Avenue to pursue her
artistic ambitions and endeavors and she
welcomed the opportunity to return to
her acting and performing roots.
Taking acting classes at Southern Rep
Theatre, Reese also joined the Chard
Gonzales Dance Theatre where she was
one of the featured performers for about
five years.
Finally, in 2007, with the help of
Kelly Leahy, Reese fulfilled her dream
of having a nonprofit arts organization
in the community to support artists.
Artist Inc was created, which gave birth
to the Art Klub. They remained in the
Michalopoulos studio until two years
ago when they moved into the present
facility on Arts Street.
Following the end of her marriage to
Michalopoulos (with whom she is “still
good friends who support each other”)
Reese was considering leaving New
Orleans but, as she explained, “When I
found the building on Arts Street, it was
everything I was looking for.”
With several thousand feet of space
for performances and parking, plus
two apartments that are now used to
temporarily house artists-in-residence,
Reese and a work crew she recruited
began the task of repurposing the
structures. They renovated the main
facilities and created the infrastructure
needed to stage performances and art
exhibitions, including stage lighting and
a removable dance floor.
Stating the organization’s mission,
Resse said, “The Art Klub family
remains committed to offering an
inclusive space aimed at cultivating
creativity and engaging communities
through artist residencies, performances,
events, affordable rehearsal and
meeting spaces, classes, workshops and
community programming for all ages.”
In addition to offering space for
visual arts, art classes, plus a gallery,
an art studio, artist residencies, pop-up
dinners, an art market and a farmer’s
market, Reese is also working on offering
counseling services to members of the
New Orleans community.
“There are so many issues that need to
be dealt with,” Reese said, adding that
she just hired a young man as a liaison
between the police and those needing
help. “People being incarcerated,
family members who’ve been victims
of shootings, those who are homeless.
Things like that. There’s a lot of poverty
in New Orleans. A lot of really scary stuff
we need to deal with and I would love to
open the doors to some sort of sanctuary
and counseling for people who need it.
“This is more than just an arts center
for me. It’s a community building and
a connection through the arts,” Reese
concluded.
For more information about the Art Klub
and its upcoming events visit their website
at http://artklub.org/ or their Facebook
page at http://artklub.org/. ��
PHOTOS BY GEORGE LONG
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