ARTIST ALEX BEARD GIVES BACK TO NEW ORLEANS

Artist Alex Beard is a firm believer in the healing impact art can have on troubled lives. Beard has worked with underprivileged and at-risk youth across the country – an extension of the Alex Beard Studio’s popular monthly “Kids’ Day” in which children of all ages are encouraged to embrace their inner artists. A staunch supporter of the arts in public schools, Beard knows that arts education has a long lasting and measurable influence on the developmental growth of children and helps young learners develop self-confidence, promotes problem-solving, and increases communication skills.

That is why at 11 a.m. on September 30th, Beard will share his love of creativity with a group of young Central City students at the Mahalia Jackson Family and Community Center in New Orleans. Together, Beard and the students, as well as special guests from the New Orleans Saints, will paint a
10 x 20 foot mural featuring his signature style of whimsical animals at play.

"Art should be accessible to everyone," says Beard. "I love working with kids and showing them how to use their imaginations. It can open up a new world for them.”
Beard will remain in New Orleans the rest of the week to participate in several other artistic endeavors.

Still an active part of the city’s creative environment, Beard’s work is on permanent display at the Octavia Art Gallery located at 4532 Magazine Street. He will attend its official opening party during Art for Art’s Sake on Saturday, October 4th.

During the first week of October as well, Beard will donate and dedicate his painting, Shark Tank, to the Audubon Institute’s Aquarium of the Americas. The painting was created in Beard’s New Orleans studio before Hurricane Katrina, featuring all the inhabitants of the pre-storm shark tank. The piece will be prominently featured next to the exhibit where Beard was inspired to paint it.

In addition, Beard, who painted a Young Leadership Council “Streetcar Named Inspire” on behalf of the Saints football team, will present his creation during Monday Night Football on October 6th.

“New Orleans is home,” says Beard. “I went to school here, owned my first gallery here, and met my wife here. New Orleans inspires me. I am honored to do whatever I can to give back.”

Beard, at only 37, has emerged as one of his generation's most creative and successful artists. A recent feature in Vanity Fair magazine announced that he is “redefining the New York gallery scene.” Influenced to think creatively from a young age by his uncle, noted photographer Peter Beard, Beard grew up among some of the world's most interesting and influential people -- Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, and their Pop World cohorts were familiar faces in the Beard household.

After extensive travels which led him shark fishing in Panama, bush driving in Africa and stalking tigers in India, Beard spent ten years in New Orleans, where he owned a gallery in the French Quarter. He then returned to his Manhattan roots and opened the Alex Beard Studio in the SoHo neighborhood in 2006.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Beard this year launched the Alex Beard Impossible Puzzles line, which will be available in Barnes & Noble and other major retailers in early October. The puzzles, aimed at adults and children alike, are based on four of Beard’s original paintings.

Please consider a piece on artist Alex Beard who will be in New Orleans during the week of September 29th. He is available for in-person or phone interviews at your convenience. You may also find more information about Beard at www.alexbeardstudio.com/press or www.octaviaartgallery.com.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 504-491-4249 or stafford@skewedcommunications.com. I look forward to speaking with you soon.


Sincerely,




Stafford Scott
Skewed Communications
Stafford@skewedcommunications.com
504-491-4249 cell