Jamie Hayes

Heres an update on Jamie Hayes, one of my favorite French Quarter artists. He has had to close his French Quarter gallery which I always enjoyed lingering in, and is relocated to California. Check out his website and maybe even buy something. It looks like he isn't actually a French Quarter artist at the moment though, his words on that were not very encouraging.

As I write this, we are still displaced. Still uncertain about the future. I have just returned to California from this year's Mardi Gras celebration and I was especially proud to be part of it. Thanks to my wife Pam I made a 2006 commemorative Mardi Gras poster, but I was terribly saddened by the lack of progress rebuilding the city; -bringing New Orleans back. I suppose it is impossible to rebuild 200,000 homes in 6 six months.

My art business there was 100% dependant on tourism and there were no tourists anywhere in sight; not two days before Mardi Gras anyway, and not two days afterward either.

There are no tourists there today.

What I found was lots more traffic. Way more than I ever saw before the storm and loads and loads of pickup trucks with construction workers from all over the country. Lots of Mexicans. Don't get me wrong, I love Mexicans and lived in their beautiful country for over 10 years. It's just that prior to Katrina I never saw a single Mexican in New Orleans. Ever. Now, every morning Claiborne Ave. is lined with groups of mostly illegal migrant workers waiting to be picked up for work- to remove the dangerous mold growing inside the flood-damaged houses. Nobody else in New Orleans wants to or is willing to do that dangerous, surely unhealthy kind of work.

...

While I was in New Orleans I met up with some great old friends, guys I'd known for more than 30 years, who kindly offered me a great paying job selling sheet rock and roofs. It was something I was actually considering. On my last night in town, I was having dinner with my good friend Kirt Smith, the former manager of my art galleries, who like me is terribly saddened by the unexpected changes in our lives. Kirt is still living there. Still trying to hang on. We were at our favorite restaurant Jaque-Imo's, Uptown on Oak St. (I am happy to report that there are still long lines of people waiting to be seated, and the food is as great-spectacular as ever!) I am one of the lucky few with a "carte blanche," because of my friendship with Jack Leonardi, the owner, so we were able to get a table right away. Over fried green tomatoes and stuffed shrimp, I talked with Kirt about the job offer to sell roofs (and sheet rock) and even tried to enlist him, "If you do it, I'll do it." His response was:

"Some people are put on this earth to sell roofs, and others are here to entertain. You belong to the group that do the latter, Jamie."

I hope we dont lose Jamie Hayes forever, but New Orleans' loss will be California's gain. New Orleans will continue to inspire both the old and a new generation of artists, we are just in transition right now. Its sad to see the Jamie Hayes Gallery shut but at least he's still out there and positioned for a rebound, and that is good news.