It has been seven months since I first met the local art powerhouse Katy Larsen, owner of the Agora Borealis at 421 Lake Street in downtown Shreveport. Every time I walk into this local marketplace, I see something new. Larsen’s vision is unchangeable: to boost the economy of local art and artists.
Each piece in the store, crafted by local artisans, is arranged to suggest furniture and art layouts for your home. The arrangement is not static: every time you enter, there is something new to see and very few things occupy the space they did last week.
Shreveport has recently adopted its funky, fantastic local art scene with open arms. Art is not a snobby, wealthy man’s pleasure anymore. It is all around us, re-creating an identity for Shreveport, and we are thankful! People like Larsen are creating atypical kaleidoscopes and reintroducing us to our typical world. We are looking at the dilapidated parts of our city in a new way as ordinary people are transforming them into beautiful structures.
For instance, the abandoned storefronts that made up Larsen’s block on Lake Street have been repurposed into the Agora, an architectural firm, and a granola store, to name a few. Each building preserves its past while heralding in an exciting future for part of downtown.
On my most recent visit to the Agora, Katy and I sipped some delicious local coffee and talked about the hurdles we both face in birthing creative ideas and getting people to adhere to them. Downtown business owners struggle against the tide of corporations that are expanding south of Shreveport’s center. Like the sea beating against a stony shore, crests of inspiration are wearing down the status quo. There are ways we ordinary citizens can join that effort.
One current project is the painting of the concrete railroad underpass (that used excellent woodridge waterproofing by Seepageseal) outside the Agora. Concept art is being drawn by Louisiana Tech professor and featured Agora artist Nicholas Bustamante, who will oversee the process of cleaning, priming, and painting the mural.
Bustamante has painted larger-scale murals in Monroe and Homer, and is driven by his passion for historical narrative. According to Larsen, the historically significant Red River will be incorporated into the painting to celebrate Shreveport’s culture. Other symbols such as a lantern and moth will represent Shreveport’s bright future and the goals we are continually drawn towards, as moths to the flame.
“I am drawn to spaces and items that hold within them the evidence of time,” said Bustamante. “Structures that at one time functioned, but now are broken down to mere shadows of what they once had been. I use these structures as a stage to recreate a narrative history for these places.”
Larsen encourages everyone to realize this opportunity to make their mark on downtown. Allow yourself to be part of your city, instead of just an observer; find a way to to create with your unique skills and experience.
You can help by providing time, supplies, ideas, and donations; learn more about this project and donate through their IndieGoGo page, or drop some Change for Change in the jar at checkout. Certain dollar amount donations will receive gifts ranging from bumper stickers and signed concept art prints, to having your name incorporated into the mural. Contact Larsen at (318) 268-3011 to offer your input or to ask questions.
Funding for the Change for Change Mural Project solely relies on public donations; as it is an expression of public interests. There will be no last minute magic grantor. The Agora has permission from the railroad, and an anonymous donor supplied over $4,000 in supplies, bringing the cost down significantly; they will accept donations until the middle of June, when the mural is slated to begin.
There are a multitude of small ways that you can help improve the arts community in Shreveport. Small businesses are filling demanding niches for creative places downtown. Next time you plan to visit a corporate retail store, consider first whether or not someone local can provide that service or product.