Our Own Way

We can thank the Children’s Museum of Acadiana in a roundabout way for the exhibition opening this weekend at Gallery 549. The six artists whose work comprises 6@549 came together for the first time as a group when they contributed to a fundraising exhibit for the CMA. Recently, when 549 owner Donald LeBlanc approached fellow artist Debra Norsworthy about exhibiting in his gallery, Norsworthy activated the friendships she generated through the CMA.

The resulting exhibition, which premieres during the Second Saturday ArtWalk — fingers tightly crossed for some long-overdue seasonal weather — is a dynamic show.

Works by Mary Attwood, Lisa Ayres, Marie DesJardins, Amy Guidry, Norsworthy and Diane Pecnik make for a decidedly variegated exhibition, from paper collage and traditional acrylic on canvas to sculpture and jewelry. “All of us are doing very different things — we’re working in different media,” says Norsworthy, who adds that 6@549 being an all-woman show is pure happenstance: “I don’t really know why it came down to being all women artists. We draw people that I know — some of them and I have been friends for a long time.”

For Guidry, who sometimes pours more than 180 hours into a single photo-realistic painting, 6@549 offers explorative opportunities. “We were left to our own devices really, and that was one of the great things about this show, that we had artistic license,” Guidry says. “We’ve worked together so obviously everyone feels comfortable knowing that we’ll all produce good work. It was great to let us go our own way.”

6@549
Opens Saturday for ArtWalk
Gallery 549
549 Jefferson St.
593-0796