MISSION
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PARSE NOLA is a curatorial and research-based art program in New Orleans, LA that serves as a platform for critical dialogue about contemporary art.
PARSE NOLA is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization.
ABOUT
Adaptability and mobility are central to PARSE NOLA's curator-directed program. These concepts were underscored throughout the pandemic and have become core strengths of the organization. In the last year, we have supported the visions of many international artists and curators: Maxime Berthou (France) and Mark Požlep (Belgium/Slovenia), Dave Greber (New Orleans/Baltimore), Cristina Molina (New Orleans), Casey Ruble (New York/New Jersey), and Maija Rudovska (Latvia).
PARSE NOLA is currently organizing Geopsychic Wonder: D. Eric Bookhardt, an exhibition of photographs with an accompanying publication of work by New Orleans art critic, curator, and photographer, D. Eric Bookhardt (1946 - 2019). Bookhardt was a highly regarded art critic (Gambit, Sculpture Magazine, Art Papers, etc.) and a beloved mentor to the New Orleans art community, and a patron of PARSE NOLA. Amy Mackie, PARSE NOLA director and independent curator and Brian Guidry, a Louisiana-based artist and curator are co-curating this exhibition of black and white photographs by Bookhardt dating back to the 1970s. The publication is being designed by Erik Kiesewetter of Constance.
We also continue to support the development of Casey Ruble's forthcoming experimental documentary, Eulalie about Eulalie Mandeville de Marigny (1774 – 1848). Mandeville was an Afro-Creole woman born to an enslaved mother named Marie Jeanne and Pierre Philippe Mandeville de Marigny, the largest white Creole landowner in Louisiana in the late 1700s. Manumitted at age five, she was raised by her white family, who gave her land, slaves, cattle, and money. Mandeville once owned the piece of land where PARSE NOLA was previously located. At the time of her death, she was one of the wealthiest free women of color in New Orleans.
Two public projects were presented in 2022: the online exhibition, A Structure Envisioned for Changing Circumstances (ASEFCC),curated by Maija Rudovska in collaboration with curators Amy Mackie and Tina Hanssen and a screening of Southwind, a cinematographical essay by Maxime Berthou and Mark Požlep at The New Orleans Jazz Museum curated by Mackie. PARSE NOLA also helped to support summer 2022 residencies in Latvia for New Orleans artists Dave Greber and Cristina Molina, as well as for Mackie. Most recently, PARSE supported Rudovska's second residency in New Orleans in October 2022.
HISTORY
PARSE NOLA moved to 1003 Spain Street in June 2020. The building located at this address in the Faubourg Marigny is known as Franklin Temperance Hall. It was built in 1857 as the headquarters of the Temperance Movement in New Orleans and is attributed to famed Louisiana architect Henry Howard. The structure has served many purposes over the years, most recently as a live/workspace for several local artists. It is now our headquarters.
PARSE NOLA has assumed various shapes and forms since it was established. Its predecessor, Parse Gallery & Artist Situation, was founded in 2010. Curator Amy Mackie joined the organization as director in 2013 and PARSE NOLA was founded that year. The organization was incorporated as a business in the state of Louisiana in 2015 and became a 501(c)(3) in 2016. PARSE NOLA has no association with any other business with the name “parse.”
Initially, the organization was located at 134 Carondelet Street in a three-story building with a storefront gallery in New Orleans' Central Business District. Monthly exhibitions were organized in the space as well as performances, screenings, live music, reading groups, and lectures. In 2016, PARSE NOLA relocated to 819 Marigny Street. From 2016 to 2020, PARSE NOLA hosted numerous international artists, curators, and writers from Canada, France, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, New York, Miami, and Richmond in a 4,000-square-foot, Greek Revival home built in the 1860s. Residencies lasted for two to six-weeks. Art critic D. Eric Bookhardt (1946 - 2019) facilitated PARSE NOLA’s use of the house and his nonprofit, Center for Gulf South History & Culture (CGS), sponsored residents.
In 2018, PARSE NOLA produced programming including exhibitions, lectures, and professional development workshops for local artists at a gallery known as The Engine Room in a raw warehouse space just off St. Claude Avenue. One of these programs was "Practical Advice for the Practicing Artist," a free monthly professional development series for local artists. In these workshops, speakers addressed the conditions necessary for a thriving art practice, including successful marketing and networking, public speaking, circulation of artwork, applying for juried exhibitions, residencies and grants, legal considerations, and financial management.
The Southeast Louisiana Juried Student Exhibition was an annual student exhibition organized by PARSE NOLA and juried by a guest curator. There were five occurrences of this project from 2014 to 2018 in various locations throughout New Orleans. The exhibition was initiated each year with an open call to all undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in colleges and universities in Southeast Louisiana to submit work for review. Past guest curators included Amy Mackie, Boshko Bosković, Rachel Gugelberger, Anna Mecugni, and Amanda Sanfilippo. The Southeast Louisiana Juried Student Exhibition was the only juried student exhibition to bring together college and university students across the region.
PARSE NOLA supports a wide range of projects and initiatives from independent, institutional, international, local, emerging, and established curators as well as artists and writers involved in curatorial and academic inquiries. PARSE NOLA's support of international curators, writers, and artists in New Orleans has profoundly impacted this community. They have provided a bridge to international networks, organizations, and individuals for New Orleans' artists. And these engagements have led to opportunities for artists to show their work outside the city and connect to the artworld at large.
PARSE NOLA has also produced programming at The Front, Antenna, National Performance Network, The Second Story Gallery, The Stacks, and other venues throughout New Orleans. PARSE NOLA’s exhibitions and events are free and open to the public. Our programs have previously been or are currently supported by individual donors, CEC Artslink, the RosaMary Foundation, the Center for Gulf South History & Culture, Étant donnés Contemporay Art - FACE Foundation, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
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STAFF
Amy Mackie, Director
Amy Mackie is a curator and writer based in New Orleans. Since 2013, she has served as the Director of PARSE NOLA, a nonprofit curatorial and research-based residency and art program. From 2011 to 2012 she was the Director of Visual Arts at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans and from 2007 to 2010, Curatorial Associate at the New Museum in New York. She curated numerous exhibitions at both institutions. As an independent curator, she curated “It Could Go Either Way: Mariam Ghani + Erin Ellen Kelly” at Rogaland Kunstsenter in Stavanger, Norway in 2014 and at the Anchorage Museum in Anchorage, Alaska in 2015. Mackie was the recipient of a 2013 Curatorial Fellowship from the Stavanger Municipality Culture Department in Norway, a 2010 Research Fellowship at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, England, and a 2009 CEC Artslink Grant. She has lectured at Bard College, Brooklyn College, College of Charleston, and Yale University, and has written for Art in America, Art Papers, FANTOM Photographic Quarterly, Pelican Bomb, Universes in Universe, as well as numerous books and catalogues. Mackie holds a M.A. in curatorial studies from the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College and a B.A. in liberal arts from Sarah Lawrence College.
Past Administrative Support
Camila Sobral, Operations Manager, 2018 - 2019
Harleigh Shaw, Curatorial Intern, 2017 - 2018
Nora Kovacs, Curatorial Intern and Research Assistant, 2017 - 2018
Charlotte Giroux, Administrative and Research Assistant, 2017 - 2018
Marjorie Rawle, Curatorial Intern, 2016 - 2017
Ashley L. Voss, Curatorial and Communications Manager, 2013 - 2016
BOARD MEMBERS
Shinique Smith
Board President
Artist based in New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA
Susan Bridges
Board Vice President
Founder and Director of Whitespace Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Emily Wilkerson
Board Secretary
Independent writer and curator based in New Orleans, LA
Brainerd Montgomery
Board Treasurer
Lawyer based in New Orleans, LA
CONTACT
PARSE NOLA
1003 Spain Street
New Orleans, LA 70117
Office hours by appointment only.
504.224.6814