Up next on Art Rocks, a Monroe artist paints the world as he perceived it through a child's eyes.

I've always wanted to be an artist.

When I was a little kid.

I found myself actually creating art with other children.

A youth orchestra inspires young people through its music.

SRO has given me more confidence.

It kind of encourages you to just work harder to make a place for yourself in the world.

The Passion of Dance.

Dance is a passion because I think it requires passion in order to really be a dancer and be an artist.

And the importance of the arts across all platforms.

Think about, on a practical level, the projects that are out there that are arts based, that bring together different entities that might not even seem to be part of the arts.

That's all right.

Now on Art Rocks.

Art Rocks is made possible by the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and by viewers like you.

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us for this edition of Art Rocks.

With me, James Fox Smith, publisher of Country Roads magazine.

We begin with a visit to Monroe artist Frank Kelly, who has garnered a national reputation for his atmospheric depictions of North Louisiana's rural scenes, musical culture and abstracts that explore the infinite landscape of human emotion.

I've always wanted to be an artist when I was a little kid.

I found myself actually creating art with other children, and that's when I really noticed that I had the gift.

Frank Kelly Jr. Got a formal education in liberal arts at Grambling State University near Monroe, Louisiana.

But he also got a degree in business.

After graduating, he sold luxury cars for about 15 years while painting on the side.

By then, he had positioned himself financially to paint full time by amassing a large collection of work to offer customers.

At about the same time, Frank's artistic endeavors got a major boost from an international magazine.

I was chosen to be an ordinary antiques magazine.

I was noticed outside of here.

More so the folks that were making contact.

And there was a good bit of people reaching out to me.

So therefore, when they did, I was able then to put things together and for things to happen.

I think in the working in vain, you know, I'll, I'll paint 6 to 8 pieces, maybe ten abstracts, and then I will transition them into landscapes because I have to go back to utilize those skills because that's who I am.

Then going into figure this, I mean, I have to continue to tell those stories that are really important to me and would be important to society.

When Frank talks about figurative art, he is referring to capturing the people and places he grew up with in North Louisiana.

The victorious woman is one of the ten baby sitters in my life as I was growing up.

As a kid.

Well, within the piece you would noticed it's in the hands.

And the hands is what stuck in my mind.

I remember those hands because those hands were the hands that fed me.

They changed me.

They fanned me when I would lie down on a pallet.

This man is the deacon in the church.

He's well known in the community.

He's a hard worker.

He is someone who you can depend on.

He's your father.

He's your janitor.

He's that one that when things break down for the elderly, he's their private discussion.

His title.

In the rural community, there is always been a gathering of me and me and have always met.

They would always sit and have coffee or have conversation and things of that nature.

So I wanted to somewhat create that environment.

Reflected to me.

Perseverance also seemed to garner the historical experiences of individuals whose hard work is not appreciated.

It's not looked upon as being as important as it really is.

I think women that I've known that put have done some really fabulous things that go unnoticed.

The women of purpose was my first purchase, and it's my favorite.

It's like my crown piece.

The women are looking off to the to the far.

And so it just conjures.

Up the question, what are they looking at?

And the title that he gave it, Women of Purpose.

It just makes.

Your mind.

Wander, you know, what could it be?

Although it's muted, it jumps off.

The canvas with vibrancy because a lot of action.

Frank says much of his confidence and figurative artwork came from one specific painting.

Where are you going?

That was the painting when I knew that I had crossed the threshold to life as an artist.

And that is the significance of where we go and where we're going in religion, friendship, family and also neighbors.

The North Louisiana landscape is also very prominent in Frank's work.

There was a lot of brush and beautiful tall trees, pine trees, oaks that I grew up in that kind of surrounding as a kid.

And a lot of these paintings are painted from memory.

In recent years, Frank has also devoted more time to abstracts.

I've always loved abstracts.

I always wanted to paint abstracts to another level, but there are some of my abstracts that you find that may have figurative in it.

You know, you may see shapes.

And then there's another type of work that you will see color and texture and volumes and things of that nature.

After having some illnesses, I was able then to generate pieces of color.

I am so grateful to God for giving me the light that shines within the work.

My customers are fantastic people whom they every everybody.

It ranges from teachers to blue collar workers to white collar workers to corporations, hotels, financial institutions.

Frank believes all artists should give back to their communities.

Donating your time to an organization, donating your artwork to the different chambers, you know, like COSA organizations and things at heart organizations and just donating those things and then also giving back to the children.

Back in 2001 is when I created Youth Arts Initiative program and in 2004 team, I created geometric through the arts.

It's when we take the geometric shapes and we create subjects.

We create models, and then we then write about it.

It's where I go into the schools or work with participants in community centers and things of that nature.

And I teach math, reading, writing, public speaking and life skills through the arts.

For a closer look at Frank's paintings, hit the road to Monroe and pay a visit to his gallery on North Sixth Street.

No matter where you roam in Louisiana, opportunities to connect with the arts are everywhere.

The trick is knowing where to look.

So here's a list of some cultural adventures coming up around the state in the week to come.

To learn more about these and other events in Louisiana, visit LP dot org slash art rocks or pick up a free copy of Country Roads magazine.

LP's Art Rock's website also features an archive of previous episodes.

So to see any segment again, just log on to LP B O.G.. Now the Empire Youth Orchestra in Albany, New York, has a mission to challenge and inspire young people to achieve excellence in music through intensive instruction and high level performance opportunities.

It's old music making a difference in the lives of the young.

Here's how they do it.

The Empire State Youth Orchestras provides students with just an incredible experience.

We have nine different ensembles.

We have two jazz ensembles, a wind ensemble and a rap orchestra.

And we're one of the only youth orchestras in the country that has three percussion ensembles.

Our students are incredibly articulate.

So actually we do know what Empire State Youth orchestras have meant to them.

So completely transformed who I am as a person, who I am as a musician.

SRO has given me more confidence.

It kind of encourages you to just work harder to make a place for yourself in the world.

Last year, really, for me, it's been as much a social experience as it has been a musical experience.

I've had a great time.

Every year I've been in Maceo, it prepares me very well for what comes after high school.

Joining us here, I saw that there were hundreds of kids that were that into music like I was.

SRO has provided me with an amazing orchestra to play in, participate in, and perform with.

This form of art called Music.

Sometimes it goes beyond our everyday life.

They can walk into a rehearsal room and what I ask them to do is leave their everyday life outside the door.

Helen has been excellent as far as a role model goes.

She treats us as adults, not as students.

Places demands on us.

Expects the best out of us.

And we respond to that.

She always comes into rehearsal with something to help motivate us and take us away from all our troubles and schoolwork.

When you have a moment where everybody's in sync, you can just feel that everyone is tuned in and we're all aware of what's going on.

It's all about knowing what the other people are thinking.

Being able to listen to them and play at the same time.

And when you do that, it usually feels really good.

And then you think to yourself, Wow, I'm a part of this orchestra while I'm helping make this sound.

It's just a feeling that the hard work paid off.

There has to be a balance between stress and relaxation during a performance to be in the zone.

There's just something that happens and we just click, you know, Everyone just feels it.

That's the feeling that's making me want to go forward in music as a career.

As I think the Asian tour was a life changing experience for me and for many of the students who went on it.

Every one of the halls we played at the audiences over there, so enthusiastic, so absolutely in love with just experiencing the music.

And we feed off of that.

We amplify that, we play that back to them.

Going with Echo to Asia was something new for me.

Definitely new food, new people, new communities, new audiences especially.

That was something that was very different for me.

They were very reserved in some places and then other places they would go nuts after concerts.

It is a sense of this African tri philosophy called Ubuntu.

It means I am because of who we are and my success alone cannot happen without all of us being in it together.

You learn to lose your ego and work together for the good of the group.

Instead, it gives you that experience with developing kind of empathy for other people and developing communication skills.

You're part of something bigger and to be part of something bigger and work with people.

That's one of the most coveted skills in the world.

When we start our piece in the concert, like you can tell, you can feel it.

Everybody's like in it, certainly do this and present the audience with something and you really feel like you did something great.

It's a privilege to get into the program itself so everyone that's there really wants to be there.

And so the gift that I think Empire State Youth Orchestra gives is a knowledge that there are a lot of things you can do alone, but there are a lot of things you can do even better as a group together.

What's just.

So exciting is to be part of the process of developing a future musician and see how they go through that process of learning more about themselves and learning more about their love and their.

Talent.

So it was the first chance I got to play in a professional orchestra in that sense of responsibility.

And it was the first group that I got to play with that held me to a very high standard.

If it wasn't for SIO, I wouldn't be going into performance like I plan on doing.

I wouldn't love my instrument as much as I do.

I love music and if it's helping with anything, it's precisely that just increasing my musicianship.

It has helped me to really practice harder and come up to that high level and really study that music.

The gift for me is obviously priceless.

It's a different kind of joy you feel.

And I think the gift that I receive from our students and this organization is a sense of pure joy in what we do.

To see more, visit E. S wyo dot org.

The Houston Metropolitan Dance Center has been bringing world class dance to Texas, its biggest city, for more than two decades.

Houston Metropolitan Dance inspires and educates audiences, striving to bring only the highest quality, performance and instruction to these cities stages.

Now let's go inside those studios to learn how in America's Space City, this company really is making sure that Dance's Star keeps on rising.

And the last dance is I mean, it's passionate.

It's fulfilling dance, it's passion, because I think it requires passion in order to really be a dancer and be an artist.

Hmm.

Dance is my release.

It is my lifestyle.

I know that when I'm watching dance, I feel inspired.

As artistic director, I think it's really important to have a clear vision.

I look for talent.

I look for choreographers, I look for established choreographers.

I look for emerging and younger choreographers.

And just to keep the dancers happy and to keep the versatility in what we're doing.

But there is a particular niche of dancers that can do the work because we have to jump from a contemporary ballet piece to a Camille Brown piece to a Larry Craig one piece.

So like, they have to be able to adapt quickly and they have to be versatile.

So American modern dance is what I was trained in.

It's very there are set and codified techniques.

Some of it is very muscular and structured and you have to do it this way.

And then there's also something called release technique, which is more like dropping and finding your gravity.

But when I went to Beijing, I was studying Taiji.

Our boss had us duty every single morning by the lake.

So that taught me how to move energy, move the air, and not just stand in the space, but move it.

You know, the molecules in the air.

There's something there.

You can't see it, but it changes your quality of movement completely.

I'm a very emotional person and I'm a very dramatic person on stage and whatever I'm feeling, I think it comes out in my in my face and in my in my body.

I'm used to not talking about it.

I'm used to showing it through my body.

And it's it's weird putting it into words and to actually say why I'm passionate about dance.

You get this like certain rush of random energy.

As soon as you hit the stage.

I experienced this at the last concert we did.

All of a sudden the lights turn on and I see the crowd and it completely like just like blew me away.

And I was and in my head I told myself, This is why I dance.

Because of this.

I do feel like I'm a little bit of a mentor for them, and I know that they all respect me as an artist and a director.

I mean, the artist.

I really is just keeping the vision clear for each work because something might be one way then completely different for the next.

But I don't want it to become just a job.

Like it's really about you're being passionate, you know what to do.

You've been trained.

You are here for a reason.

Trust yourself.

Trust me.

No, I want to dance as long as I can.

As long as my body still allows me physically.

It's obviously very exhausting, but it's rewarding.

You know, that's one of the reasons I dance, is because you just, you know, it all just comes out of you.

Everything is just released and you're a clean slate at the end of a piece like that, you know, you just left it all on the stage or the studio.

I think everything moves me.

The happiness of being alive and and the happiness of of life itself.

The fact that I'm fortunate enough to wake up every day and take a deep breath, that's what moves me, because I'm alive and I can do it.

To learn more, visit met, dance Dot, come back home now to Louisiana, where Monroe is also home to one of the most interesting exhibits of Coca-Cola memorabilia anywhere in the country.

That's thanks largely to the family of Joseph Baden.

Hard.

In this edition of Louisiana Treasures, Baden Hand, Museum curator Ralph Calhoun reveals some of the relics you will find in the museum that he manages.

Well, this is the Baden Horn Coca-Cola Museum in Monroe, Louisiana.

And we celebrate a number of things here.

And the first thing really is the nostalgia of the history of Coca-Cola.

But for us, maybe the most important thing is Joseph Baden Horne, who was the first person to bottle Coca-Cola.

And as I like to tell people, he didn't invent Coca-Cola, he didn't invent the bottle, but he kind of married the two together.

He first bottled in something called a Hutchinson bottle, which looks like this.

And it is a is very different than the bottles we use today.

It had a rubber stopper in it with a metal hook across the top, and you actually pushed it in to get your to get to the drink.

And if you listen, you can kind of hear a pop sound.

Well, that's where the word pop and soda pop came from.

So this was the kind of bottle they used in 1894 when Joe first bottle, he was actually in Vicksburg, Mississippi, but moved all of his operations over here to Monroe, Louisiana, as their headquarters for their family.

Bob, we talk a lot about the evolution of the Coke bottle.

We've got calendars that date all the way back into the late teens of 1918.

1919 is maybe our oldest one's own up into the nineties.

So we've got a very good run of Coca-Cola calendars.

And these were calendars that, you know, if you went to a general store or drugstore or something and threw out a lot of that time period, you'd see these Coca-Cola calendars up there and famous artists, people like Norman Rockwell do the illustrations for the book.

We've got some great Coke machines.

We actually have two machines on site that we still sell Coca-Cola in these little bottles for a nickel.

I think folks have more fun paying a nickel for a Coke than they do getting one free.

It's a lot of nostalgia in that We've got a 1920s Coca-Cola delivery truck.

The interesting thing to me about it is that the gas is gravity fed to the engine.

So if you went up a really tall hill, you actually had to go backwards in the Model-T so the gas would get to the engine.

Now, in Louisiana, we didn't have to do that too often because we don't have many hills that far.

But I think that's one of the neat things about this little truck.

And finally, as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Jane Chu aims to expand the reach and the impact of art throughout every American community.

From Washington, D.C., we have a conversation with Chu about her background and hear why she believes that today the arts matter more than ever.

One of the greatest characteristics of the arts is that there is something for everybody, but not everybody is engaged in the arts in the same way.

All arts has been a great gift to me personally, and I'm not even sure that if it were not for the arts, I would have made as much sense of my life.

I was born in Oklahoma.

I grew up in Arkansas.

My parents are from China.

I'm an only child and they wanted me to assimilate.

So here we have people who love bok choy and noodles and corndogs and mashed potatoes for me.

So I grew up navigating through multiple perspectives and understanding those different perspectives helped me be very comfortable in being able to honor the different perspectives and navigate through them.

When my father died and I was taking piano lessons, I was able to find music to help me have a sense of belonging.

And that's what hit me first.

Before I became intellectually engaged and wanting to know a lot more.

The arts and I always go back to that power of the arts that it has in our lives.

No matter what entry point we have, it stays with you.

Once you realize how much it can touch you, even if you can't fully articulate the reasons why.

So prior to coming here to the National Endowment for the Arts, I was running the Kauffman Center in Kansas City and we used to ask ourselves, what is that one single program that we could present that everybody would like our place a strong role in being able to connect, certainly communities together.

Think about, on a practical level, the projects that are out there that are arts based, that bring together different entities that might not even seem to be part of the arts.

We want to make sure that there is a paradigm shift that people understand that the arts infuse our lives on an everyday basis, from design to our own experiences.

Something I like may not be something that you like, but we're still engaged in the arts and we can honor each other's ways of being engaged even when they're different from our own.

And that's the beauty of the arts Association with the Arts has shown that there are fewer trips to the principal's office.

The truancy rates decrease, they are more apt to participate in civic activities.

Their ability to understand other subject matter because of the arts is critical, and that makes the arts actually one of the most cost effective ways to be part of a school system.

With arts being cut in a number of schools, we look for ways to boost it.

Instead.

So given this scope of the arts, it's not surprising that the ways we engage with the arts are equally rich and textured.

In 2012, 4.7 million workers were employed in the production of arts and cultural goods, and for every 100 new jobs created in the arts, 62 additional jobs are also created.

For more on where to drawings and in infuses our lives every day, even when we're not aware of it.

Think about the design elements that somebody had to create that it's what we're celebrating and all of that is the element of creativity and of course, the arts.

If we can boost that and help people become even more aware of their ability to create, then we're getting toward our goal, which is all Americans have the benefit of being engaged with the arts.

People change, so art should change as well, and it does.

And sometimes it guides us as well.

So art is ever going.

Our work is never done.

As cultural providers, we need to make sure that we're listening and paying attention.

We would do ourselves a disservice if we said, if we build it, they will come.

We have this piece of art here, I'll just set it down and everybody will come.

That's not the way it works.

We're about cultivating relationships and giving people the opportunity to be engaged in the process as well as part of the National Endowment for the Arts.

We'll be connecting more systems together.

We are also thinking about the whole system now, and the more people we can help experience the arts in the ways that are relevant to their lives, then the greater chance that we have to foster value and foster connections and foster that creativity and innovation that comes from being engaged with the arts.

And that's going to do it for this edition of Art Rocks.

But remember, you can always watch episodes of the show at OPB dot org slash rocks.

And for even more coverage of our state's unique arts and culture.

Country Roads magazine is a great source for finding out what's going on across Louisiana.

Until next week.

I'm James Fox Smith and thanks for watching.