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Gallery Talk with Rory O’Neill Schmitt and Rosary O’Neill
Wed, April 24th at 6:00 PM
Join us in the galleries each Wednesday for weekly talks with artists, curators, and other special guests. During these casual conversations, we’ll take a close look at different works currently on view at NOMA.
This week, Rory O’Neill Schmitt, Ph.D., and Rosary O’Neill, Ph.D., authors of Edgar Degas in New Orleans and Kate Chopin in New Orleans, give gallery talks and book signings in the second-floor Impressionist galleries.
Free with museum admission. Louisiana residents receive free admission to NOMA on Wednesdays courtesy of The Helis Foundation. When you arrive at NOMA, check in at the front desk for directions to the appropriate gallery.
Intimate Moments of Louisiana Artists: Edgar Degas and Kate Chopin
Afternoon Gallery Talk at 12:30 pm
In this talk, meet Edgar Degas and Kate Chopin, whose enormous talents blossomed in Louisiana. One was the son of a Louisiana woman, and one the wife of a Louisiana man. This talk explores the mysterious time Degas and Chopin spent in Louisiana that catapulted their dazzling careers.
Bewitched by Beauty: Edgar Degas and Kate Chopin
Evening Gallery Talk at 6:00 pm
Learn how New Orleans bewitched two monumental artists: Edgar Degas and Kate Chopin. Who was Edgar Degas and why was he painting masterpieces in the darkened rooms of New Orleans? Why did Kate Chopin write folk tales of volcanic Louisiana heroes? Why did these extraordinary people come to Louisiana in a time of peril, and why did they leave?
About the Authors
Rory O’Neill Schmitt, Ph.D, and Rosary O’Neill, Ph.D.
Rory O’Neill Schmitt, Ph.D., is the Manager of Faculty Development at the University of Southern California’s Bovard College. A filmmaker, she produced the Duplass Brothers Productions television series with Barret O’Brien, A Long Long Night, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2023. She trained as an art therapist at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and attained her board certification in California. Dr. Schmitt specializes in visual art, education, and curriculum; her doctoral studies focused on teaching art interpretation in museums. An exhibiting fine art photographer, she has exhibited her artwork in New York City, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Paris. Dr. Schmitt has penned three additional books about the creative process with Arcadia Publishing and The History Press: Navajo and Hopi Art in Arizona (2016), New Orleans Voodoo: A Cultural History (with O’Neill, 2019), and Edgar Degas in New Orleans (with O’Neill, 2023).
Rosary O’Neill, Ph.D., is a Senior Fulbright Drama Specialist, and winner of nine Fulbright awards, including five to Paris to study Edgar Degas. She has published 19 plays with Concord Publishers (Samuel French Publishers), including Degas in New Orleans, and Marilyn/God, and has published three play anthologies and six books. She is a member of the Playwrights Division of the Actors’ Studio in New York City. A professor emerita at Loyola University New Orleans, Dr. O’Neill founded the first repertory theater in New Orleans: Southern Rep. She has been celebrated world-wide with residencies at Harvard University, Tyrone Guthrie Theatre Center, American Academy in Rose, and Irish Cultural Center in Paris.