Ogden Museum, in partnership with The Neighborhood Story Project, welcomes the community to a free mouth-watering and soul-inspiring evening celebrating two places beloved to Tina Girouard – South Louisiana and Haiti.

The evening will present an array of art, music, dance and food to both honor her and celebrate those connections including:

– Enjoy an opening blessing with Nana Sula Evans in collaboration with Kai Knight and Cultural Ties Dance Collective;

– Dance to Afro-Louisiana and Caribbean songs with Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots, along with Leyla McCalla and Louis Michot’s journeys through Haitian folk and southwest Louisiana music;

– Savor a complementary portion of roasted pig, inspired by the tradition of a Southern Pig Roast (While supplies last, additional food and drink will be available to purchase);

– Participate in a beading demonstration by artist Black Masking Indian Marwan Pleasant and create a small beaded artwork of your own; and

– Try your hand at textile printing with ricRACK NOLA and add your work to a community installation utilizing repurposed fabrics.

Free and open to the public. Advanced registration requested.

About Nana Sula Spirit

Nana Sula Spirit is a singer, songwriter, author, entrepreneur, sacred workshop facilitator and priestess. From 1991-2007, she was a student at the Shrine of Impohema under the guidance of Nana Obusomfo Ahia and Nana Santrofi in Accra, Ghana. In 2007, she was initiated at the shrine as a Priestess of Mami Wata and given the title Nana Okomfo Kokoi Ama Tawiah under the Ga and Ewe systems. In New Orleans, she is the founding priestess of the Temple of Light Ilé de Coin Coin—a temple of power dedicated to the elevation of all souls.

Nana Sula holds a Bachelors of Arts degree with distinguished honors in African Studies and English Literature from Rutgers University, and is the author of “Spirit of the Orisha” (2014), a Yoruba song preservation project. She is also a singer/songwriter with her bands Coin-Coin and the Maroons, the Medicine Queen of The Spirit of Fi Yi Yi and the Mandingo Warriors, and a board member of the Congo Square Preservation Society.

About Kai Knight and the Cultural Ties Dance Collective

Kai Knight, founding director of the Cultural Ties Dance Collective, is a cultural ambassador, adjunct dance professor, choreographer and performing artist. She specializes in Modern and Contemporary Fusion as well as African Diaspora dance forms such as African, Haitian, Brazilian and Afro-Cuban dance. She is the founder and director of Seasons Center, which hosts multicultural programs that assist women, families and communities through the application of faith, education and the performing arts. She is also the executive director of Cultural Ties Dance Festival: Movement of the African Diaspora, the Silhouette Dance Ensemble and and Breathe! /A Multi‑Cultural Movement Collective. As a dance instructor at three New Orleans universities (Loyola, Tulane and Xavier), she teaches African diaspora movement, as well as modern, contemporary and jazz courses.

About Bruce Sunpie Barnes

Bruce Sunpie Barnes is a New Orleans musician, Big Chief of the Northside Skull and Bone Gang, former park ranger with the National Park Service (31 years), actor, photographer, book author, former high school biology teacher, former college football All-American and former NFL player (Kansas City Chiefs). Sunpie Barnes’ many careers have taken him far and wide. He has traveled to over 50 countries playing his own style of what he calls Afro-Louisiana music incorporating blues, zydeco, gospel, Caribbean and African influenced rhythms and melodies. He is a multi- instrumentalist, master accordion and harmonica player, also piano, rubboard, talking drum, and dejembe. He learned accordion from some of the best Zydeco pioneers in Louisiana, including Fernest Arceneaux, John Delafose, and Clayton Sampy. In 1991 Barnes teamed up with the iconic drummer Harold Ray Brown one of the founders of the band WAR to create Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots, which has toured around the world and performed in 40 countries. Sunpie has recorded 6 critically acclaimed albums with his compositions currently featured in 22 Hollywood film productions.

In addition to this musical work he is also a former member of the Paul Simon Band and that embarked on a 58 city world tour “Paul Simon and Sting Together”, which span 36 countries (2014-2015). Film acting has also been a important part of his busy career. Sunpie’s work has appeared in such Hollywood productions as Point of No Return, Anne Rice’s “Mayfair Witches”, NCIS New Orleans, Deja Vu, Under Cover Blues, Jonah Hex, Treme, The Big Easy, Skeleton Key, Heartless, The Gates Of Silence and Odd Girl Out, The African Americans (Henry Louis Gates), Skull and Bone .

He is deeply involved in New Orleans parade culture and co- authored the 2015 critically acclaimed book “Talk That Music Talk” – Passing On Brass Band Music In New Orleans “The Traditional Way”. Over 300 of Sunpie’s photographs are featured in this book. Le Kér Créole a book about Louisiana Créole music and language.
He is the Big Chief of the North Side Skull and Bone Gang, one of the oldest existing Black Carnival groups in New Orleans. Sunpie is also an active 22 year member of the secondline parading organization, The Black Men of Labor Social Aid and Pleasure Club.

About Leyla McCalla and Louis Michot

Born in New York City to Haitian emigrants and activists, Leyla McCalla finds inspiration from her past and present—her music vibrates with three centuries of history and influences around the globe. McCalla possesses a stunning mastery of the cello, tenor banjo, and guitar and, as a multilingual singer and songwriter, has risen to produce a distinctive sound that reflects the union of her roots and experience. In addition to her solo work, McCalla is a founding member of Our Native Daughters (with Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah and Allison Russell) and alumna of Grammy award-winning Black string band The Carolina Chocolate Drops.

Louis Michot is a two-time Grammy award winner, fiddle player and singer for Lost Bayou Ramblers. In 2023 he released his debut solo album “Rêve du Troubadour.” Alongside his progressive approach to the sonic evolution of modern folk music, Louis’ passion for Louisiana’s cultural and ecological sustainability fuel his songwriting, and his music career continues to push the boundaries of the Louisiana French music traditions.

About Marwan Pleasant 

Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Marwan has been masking in the Mardi Gras Indian culture since an early age. Practicing the skill and techniques used to build his elaborate hand crafted suits, he adapted a niche for the use of glass beads, pearls, rhinestones and storytelling through his art. Marwan’s work is displayed through his fashion brand “MARLENCE.” When he’s not studying fashion or creating art, he spends most of his time as a mentor teaching life skills to youth in his community.

About ricRACK

ricRACK is a New Orleans based organization that combines creative skill building with environmental responsibility by offering meaningful opportunities to youth and adults to re-use donated clothing, textiles and craft materials. The organization’s mission centers on increased public and industry awareness of sustainability and waste reduction within the fashion industry.

/// Event image: Tina Girouard, Maintenence II: Take Two Role Change  (Detail), 1973. Film still. (c). Image courtesy of the Estate of Tina Girouard and Artist Rights Society (ARS) New York.