All Louisiana residents* will receive FREE ADMISSION to Friday Nights at NOMA on August 18 thanks to the “Art and A/C” promotional sponsored by The Helis Foundation. Friday Nights at NOMA opens the museum’s doors for many interesting activities throughout the year: live music, movies, children’s activities, and more.

• 5:30 – 8:30 pm: Music by Bamboula 2000
• 5 – 8 pm: Art on the Spot family activity table 
• 6 pm: Artist Perspective with Courtney Egan
• 7 pm: John Waters Film Festival: Pecker (1998)
• 6: 30 pm: Café NOMA by Ralph Brennan presents The Artful Palate, “Organic Cooking” with Executive Chef Chris Vasquez from Heritage Grill

ABOUT BAMBOULA 2000

Bamboula 2000 is deeply rooted in the soul of Congo Square in New Orleans. This exciting music and dance experience formed in 1994 has become beloved in its home city and beyond. Bamboula 2000’s music is influenced by New Orleans, the Caribbean and Africa. The group has won the prestigious Big Easy Award for Best World Music group three times and has been nominated eight times. In addition, Bamboula 2000 reaches thousands of children annually through their Imagination Tour dance-and-drum workshops.

ABOUT COURTNEY EGAN

In conjunction with the exhibition Pride of Place: The Making of Contemporary Art in New Orleans, artists represented in the collection of Arthur Roger will offer Artist Perspective lectures.

Courtney Egan’s projection-based sculptural installations mix botanical themes with shards of technology. In 2010 she presented a solo show, Field Recordings, at Heriard-Cimino Gallery in New Orleans. Recent group shows include Louisiana Contemporary at the Ogden Museum of Art, Uniquely Louisiana at the Louisiana State University Museum of Art, NOLA Now II at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, The World According to New Orleans at Ballroom Marfa, and Frontier Preachers, at The Soap Factory in Minneapolis. Her work has been featured in the Times-Picayune, and Gambit as well as on OxfordAmerican.com, PelicanBomb.com, and Artforum.com.

ABOUT CHEF CHRIS VASQUEZ AND THE ARTFUL PALATE

For eight Friday nights throughout the summer, chefs from the Ralph Brennan restaurant group will offer Artful Palate cooking demonstrations in Café NOMA. Meet Chris Vasquez, executive chef from Heritage Grill, as he prepares a dish and discusses “Organic Cooking.”

ABOUT PECKER

Filmmaker John Waters is among the artists represented in Pride of Place: The Making of Contemporary Art in New Orleans. Five of his outrageously obnoxious and funny films will be screened in a tribute film festival.

Pecker features Edward Furlong as a blue-collar Baltimore teen who becomes a New York celebrity when a dealer discovers his photos of family and customers in the sandwich shop where he works. When Pecker’s family is dubbed “culturally challenged” by an overzealous critic, they begin to feel the uncomfortable glare of stardom. The film stars Christina Ricci, Lili Taylor, Martha Plimpton, Bess Armstrong, Mink Stole, and Patricia Hearst. (1998 | Rated R | 90 minutes)

Friday Nights at NOMA is supported in part by grant funds from the Azby Fund; Ruby K. Worner Charitable Trust; New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation; and the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council as administered by the Arts Council of New Orleans.