FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 30, 2022

(New Orleans, LA) – On Saturday, September 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Ogden Museum of Southern Art will host a Fee Family Day. The event will celebrate the exhibition A Summer’s Prayer, photographs that capture America’s love affair with summer. The celebration will feature free admission, summer-themed activities (including art activities inspired by artwork on view), a Museum scavenger hunt with prizes and family-friendly entertainment. Drawn from the Museum’s extensive permanent collection of photography, 36 out of 40 of the photographs have never been publicly exhibited before.

Other summer celebration activities will include: 

• Food for purchase from Tanjarine Kitchen; 
• Entertainment featuring Homer Plessy Community School Orchestra and a Puppet Show performed by the Museum’s Teen Interns;
• Local art vendors featured in Ogden Museum’s Center for Southern Craft & Design;
• And community partner activities with The Green Project, Urban Conservancy, Electric Girls and more!

“We encourage our friends and neighbors in the community to visit Ogden Museum on the Free Family Day when the Museum opens its doors to celebrate the art on view. The Free Family Day: A Celebration of A Summer’s Prayer pays homage to the joy of summer; from enjoying sno-balls with friends, to taking a family vacation (or staycation), it is a time to relax and build memories with friends and family. We are thrilled to be able to offer this celebration of our community and make memories of our own as summer comes to a close,” says Michelle Pontiff, Education Manager, Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

For more information on this Free Family Day, please visit https://ogdenmuseum.org.

About A Summer’s Prayer

From the 19th century onward photographs have captured America’s love affair with summer. A season defined by family, vacation and the outdoors – the long hot days of summer offer many an escape from the daily routine of work and school. A Summer’s Prayer examines photographs from Ogden Museum of Southern Art’s permanent collection that address themes reflected within the summer season – leisure, travel, memory and place.

Wonders of the natural world and the architectural landmarks found within cities were some of 19th century photography’s most popular summertime subjects. Before simple hand-held cameras became widely available to the public, photographs were made with large, complex cameras by photographers working almost exclusively for commercial studios. These photography studios produced views of the natural and man-made world as well as portraits of famous people. The photographs were then sold to an eager public as souvenirs in the form of a postcard, cartes-de-visite and stereograph.

When the inexpensive and portable Kodak camera became widely available to the consumer public in the early 20th century, photography became an egalitarian hobby practiced by the masses. Family photographs made around the house (and especially on vacation) became all the rage. Everyone with a camera could then make their own personal souvenirs in the form of a photographic print. The intersection of the car and camera spawned the travelogue or road trip genre, an aesthetic sensibility that became one of the most important forms of art and documentary photographic expressions of the 20th century.

A Summers Prayer is a meditation on summertime in the American South. Hopefully, like the season, this exhibition can provide the viewer a temporary diversion, a brief respite and escape from the troubles of the past few years.

About Ogden Museum of Southern Art

Located in the vibrant Warehouse Arts District of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana since 1999 and open to the public since 2003, Ogden Museum of Southern Art invites visitors to experience and learn about the artists and culture of the American South. Ogden Museum is home to a collection of more than four thousand works, making it the largest and most comprehensive repository dedicated to Southern art in the nation, with particular strength in the genres of Self-Taught art, Regionalism, photography, and contemporary art. The Museum is further recognized for its original exhibitions, public events and educational programs, which examine the development of visual art alongside Southern traditions of music, literature and local craft.

Ogden Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. 

Admission is free to Museum Members and $13.50 for adults, $11 for seniors 65 and older, $6.75 for children ages 5-17 and free for children under 5. 

The Museum is located at 925 Camp Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130. For more information visit ogdenmuseum.org or call 504.539.9650.