Entergy is proud to support programing on LPB and greener practices that preserve Louisiana.

The goal of our environmental and sustainability initiatives really is to ensure that our kids and future generations can be left with a cleaner planet.

Additional support provided by the Fred Bea and Ruth B Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you.

It's here, and it's more prevalent than we know everything we know about the Omicron variant.

If people are hungry, an outsider isn't going to feed them as well as we will because we'll do it with love communities taking COVID and hurricane relief into their own hands.

Hi everyone.

I'm Kara St. Cyr.

Andre Morreau is off this week.

The World Health Organization has listed the Omicron strain as a variant of concern, but Louisiana health officials say we haven't seen a case here yet.

In a press conference this morning, Dr. Joseph Kanter from the Louisiana Department of Health says that Omicron appears to be surpassing the Delta variant positivity rate in South Africa, which is where it was originally detected.

This might suggest it's more transmissible than other variants, but he says our understanding of Omicron is subject to change as more data is released.

What would make me the most concerned is if we learn that it's both resistant to some degree, to the protections we have and more transmissible.

I think that combination would certainly be cause for concern.

Governor John Bel Edwards said that he won't be reinstating the mask mandate unless data shows that hospitals are in danger of being overwhelmed.

We'll have more on the Omicron variant later on in our show, but now to other headlines making news across the state, water systems in rural parishes are getting an upgrade.

The Legislature approved $22.9 million for 29 projects to update drinking water and sewage systems in areas like Livonia Independence and Port Berry.

The Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget approved the first round of spending for this project on Wednesday.

Most of the second round of money will be distributed in January after the legislative panel meets to Louisiana.

Natives have moved one step closer to sainthood.

Charlene Rishard, a twelve year old girl nicknamed the Little Cajun Saint in August.

Pella Fig, a teacher who preach the gospel throughout Cajun country, have both been advanced in the sainthood process by the U.S. Conference of Bishops.

Rishard was a little girl who died in 1959 of cancer at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Lafayette.

She's credited with healing and converting several sick people using prayer.

August Prolific was a teacher who traveled all across southern Louisiana on foot to convert people until he died in 1977.

The Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints will investigate miracles attributed to both candidates before they are canonized.

The Louisiana shot for 100 campaign is being extended for another month.

Yet again, the campaign aims to get the state's vaccination numbers up with 100 dollar incentives.

Anyone who hasn't been fully vaccinated is eligible.

Louisiana is still lagging behind the national vaccination rate, with only 49% of the state fully vaccinated.

This campaign ends on December 31st.

So far, about 34,000 people have participated.

The state is establishing new rules for oil tank batteries after a 14 year old girl was killed when a tank exploded near her home.

The Department of Natural Resources passed a slew of new regulations to prevent this from happening again.

The new rules require operations to build a fence at least four feet high around the tanks.

These gates also have to be locked when they're left.

Unmanned warning signs and hatch seals are also new requirements.

The Omicron variant has been reported in 36 countries and in five U.S. states as of this morning.

So far, it's not exactly clear how the new variant differs from the Delta strain or other mutations of COVID 19.

Dr. Stephen Breyer at Baton Rouge General Hospital says Louisiana should prepare for Omicron variant to spread quickly here, just weeks after Louisiana exited Covid's fourth surge.

Questions now loom about the state's defenses against Covid's latest mutation, the Omicron variant.

Dr. Stephen Breyer, a pulmonologist, a Baton Rouge General Hospital, says residents should be vigilant but not panicked.

Part of the natural evolution of viruses in which they develop changes within certain characteristics of the virus, which allow the virus to be perpetuated.

It's not an unexpected finding at all, and it's just part of the natural history of infections.

The Omicron virus was first detected in South Africa, but health officials say it's likely the mutation has been present in other countries before it was discovered by South African virologist.

Few cases have been discovered in the United States so far one in Colorado, one in California, one in New York and one in Minnesota.

Breer says that it's only a matter of time before Louisiana reports its first case of Omicron.

The reality of it is, if you think about it, this just broke.

What about five days ago and we've already identified it in the United States?

It's here and it's more prevalent than we know.

We just haven't had the ability to detect it, you know, here within our hospital, you know, in the past week, we've had a little bump in the number of admissions relative to coronavirus.

And so it's in the community.

Already, health care officials don't know much about the strain of COVID 19, except that it has a different protein makeup from Delta.

Colorado health officials reported that there Omicron patient was a vaccinated woman with mild COVID symptoms, which is similar to reports coming out of South Africa.

There wasn't enough evidence to suggest the strain is more dangerous, but its makeup suggests that it could be more transmissible and pose an increased risk of reinfection.

Premiere says none of these speculations can be confirmed for another two weeks, at the least.

We're just beginning to identify homegrown here, but there's a higher rate of VITT in South Africa.

We will be informed by what happens there.

In a press conference Thursday, President Biden presented an action plan.

Today, I'm back to announce our action plan to battle COVID 19 this winter.

The president said his plan doesn't include lockdowns or stay at home orders.

Instead, it's a five step proposal aimed at keeping Americans safe.

The first step is expanding nationwide booster campaigns with more outreach.

The second is launching new vaccination clinics.

The third is making free at home tests more available, and the fourth is increasing surge response teams.

And lastly, the president said he wants to accelerate our vaccination efforts worldwide and strengthen travel regulations.

I plan I'm announcing today pulls no punches in the fight against COVID 19 is a plan that I think should unite us in Louisiana , Premiere says.

Prevention is key.

Making sure you're fully vaccinated is still the best defense, then for the thing to remember is that we don't know how transmissible this variant is.

We don't know how virulent it is, and we don't know if it's resistant to the vaccines or the antibodies you produce after an infection.

Premiere says that despite all the unknowns, one thing is certain.

Vaccination is the best way to prevent illness and prevent spread.

It's been a difficult few years for Louisiana with multiple hurricanes amidst a pandemic.

But local communities around the state have been looking inward for disaster relief and recovery in Baton Rouge and New Orleans of movement towards self-sustaining communities is gaining momentum.

Tonight, we introduce you to Devon de Wolf, founder of The Fee, the second line organization, and Jay Wesley Daniels, who is the CEO of the East Baton Rouge Parish Housing Authority.

Both are part of this movement.

Southern Louisiana has experienced back-to-back hardships since the onset of 2020 pandemic, a staggering death toll, record shattering unemployment and two catastrophic hurricanes.

With each disaster comes a new set of problems.

But with each problem comes opportunity for new ideas.

A wave of innovative and community response of disaster relief has been steadily emerging in southern Louisiana, as people on the ground design new and better ways to meet the specific needs of their communities during times of crisis.

We are hereby mandating that residents stay home whenever possible, going out only for critical needs, critical needs only during the early days of COVID 19.

New Orleanians were in peril as the city was closing down by May 2020.

The University of Louisiana Lafayette ranked New Orleans as the city with the highest unemployment rate in the state.

25% of the Crescent City was jobless and relying on stimulus or unemployment checks to get by.

New Orleans resident DeVonta Wolf noticed that the people who make his city special were suffering the most.

The cooks, the artists and musicians couldn't find work in that time.

They were rely heavily on federal aid and outside relief as a response to Wolf's started feed, the second line, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting New Orleans' culture by creating opportunity for the people that make it a vibrant place.

So if the second line began at the beginning of COVID because I was worried about some of our culture bearers going to the grocery store and getting COVID elderly people in particular who were basically quarantining themselves at home.

And so we started buying groceries and having it delivered safely to their porches to help them basically stay isolated from COVID.

And then over time, it expanded because the needs of New Orleans are very much jobs and a safety net.

So there's many barriers to gainful employment for a lot of people, and what we have to do is really create jobs that sidestep all of that jobs that can be created that can give people purpose.

And there's really no better job than when you know you're helping your community because it's uplifting and that really goes straight to the soul and to the heart.

And that actually can create a more cohesive community, which I believe can help reduce violence and bring people together and fight racism and fight sort of the societal societal issues that we face.

The safety net started small.

They sought out the city's unemployed musicians and artists to do essential tasks for community members that were too vulnerable to leave their homes during the pandemic.

They shopped, bagged and delivered essentials for living wages.

What we do is basically community informed because New Orleans has lots of preexisting cultural groups.

second line clubs, Mardi Gras, Indian groups, musicians who play in different bands and basically using word of mouth.

We can get into those communities and specifically target people who are part of New Orleans' culture and help them get job opportunities.

If they have more money in their pocket.

Maybe they don't get gentrified out of the city, or maybe they can create more culture because that's their passion.

That's what they're going to do.

And that's the way that we can play a part in keeping New Orleans culture strong.

So far, Fee The second line has funded $172,000 worth of groceries for 130 culture bears.

What started as a rapid relief COVID response has expanded into a far reaching and sustainable empowerment initiative executed for and by the community.

The organization raised $900,000 to buy meals for 45 local restaurants to feed every E.R.

and ICU in New Orleans during the first wave of COVID.

They hired laid off Mardi Gras float artists during Carnival 2020 to build house floats around the city.

Soon, they'll hire locals to install solar panels on restaurants across the city.

No outside agencies.

No outside volunteer groups.

All local New Orleanians who have a firsthand understanding of what their city needs.

If people are hungry, an outsider isn't going to feed them as well as we will because we'll do it with love.

And that's really the guiding principle fee.

The second line's reach recently extended to hurricane recovery this year, Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana at a Category four, destroying homes and complicating the quality of life for those already affected by the pandemic.

So there's kind of two phases of it.

first is during the ten days of no power in New Orleans.

The jobs that we created were getting ice and coolers and water to elderly people who are stuck at home with no air conditioning.

For many of them, that was life threatening.

And then once our city stabilized, then we turn to our neighbors down in the bayou communities, the places that were truly devastated and we brought them the supplies that they needed be a sheet rock or batteries or gasoline, whatever the items that they most needed.

And that was a way for us to employ people.

So we actually put 50 musicians to work doing that, going every other day down to hours away to deliver those supplies.

And we hired other people to go buy the supplies here in New Orleans and the area around us.

Feed The second line has employed 252 locals, supporting an entire force of culture bearers from donations far and wide.

81 miles away in the capital city, Baton Rouge groups have been popping up with a similar mission to make relief work more sustainable and community informed.

And Baton Rouge East Baton Spares has a number of food deserts.

And so again, we wanted to create the opportunity where our families don't have to worry about transportation because these opportunities, but the gardens are created in their back, literally in their backyard.

Jay Wesley Daniels is the CEO of the East Baton Rouge Parish Housing Authority.

The gardens he's talking about are growing within eleven Housing Authority locations.

Each one has a wide selection of fruits and vegetables that families and community members can attend to.

Health and wellness is so key as we combat poverty.

We're talking about education, economic opportunities, health and wellness.

If we can address those three things, then really we have the tools necessary to combat poverty.

The EIB, our Housing Authority partnered with Baton Rouge at a community farm organization in Baton Rouge, and they also partnered with Healthy Blue , a Medicaid insurance plan to elevate this project.

Healthy Blue invested $40,000 to bring refrigerators to each community garden so that the food can stay fresh longer after it's picked.

In total, the housing authority has given over 900 families access to fresh food without federal aid.

If there's not a community champion that ensures the sustainability and maintenance over time, then ultimately you have a garden full of weeds.

Wright is one at the beginning, but the maintenance and the ongoing commitment can be a challenge sometimes, and we didn't want that to happen.

And so in our partnership with Baton Rouge, we wanted to ensure not only the construction of those community gardens, but also the educational component, which is huge, which ensures the long term sustainability.

Historically, relief work has involved outside organizations helicoptering into disaster zones, with aid organizations often having little to no local leadership.

But as a movement of community informed recovery, work continues to gain momentum.

The creative possibilities are endless, and so are the opportunities for a community to heal.

We all have a lot to be thankful for, especially coming out of cope with the loss of family and the really disconnection of community, right?

Because we had to be isolated.

So bring in the gardens and bringing everybody back in this communal environment is huge not only again mentally but physically as well.

Wolf says the possibilities are endless for the second line.

He's creating Festivus, a music festival highlighting local artists and prototyping a new program that will install solar panels on local restaurants all around the city.

To donate to this cause, you can visit Fee the second line the link is on your screen.

The LSU Museum of Art is expanding its collection to be far more inclusive of ethnic minorities, women and people of diverse sexual orientations.

This diversification effort was made possible in part by a half a million dollar grant from Winifred and Kevin Riley.

Joining us now to talk about how this money is being spent are Courtney Tyler, the museum's curator and director of public programs, and Clark Brown, a curatorial fellow who's been brought in to support the initiative.

Courtney, let's start with you.

Can you please tell us more about how this initiative came about in early 2020, when it reached out and really was interested in helping support change at the museum?

And so we just started sharing ideas about how that could happen.

She was really interested in acquisitions.

After our discussions, we talked about things we could add into that to make it an initiative that is acquisitions for change, but also to find a curatorial fellowship and to fund staff training.

The staff joined this network, called the by far all change network that really kind of teaches staff to work and more of a community organizing model so we can make change in our practice kind of across the museum, up and down.

You help us to understand how new acquisitions and the goals and objectives of the effort can help the LSU Museum of Art to evolve.

The Museum of Art has been evolving like all institutions for some time.

It actually began as the Anglo-American Museum of Art and was a period room museum on LSU's campus, and then it moved here in 2005.

And since then, those collections that were the core of the English American art, of course, were very limited in scope.

And so the museum has been working to broaden its focus, be more contemporary and be more representative of our community.

But we haven't necessarily had the funds to kind of back up those plans.

And so that's the great thing.

When Winifred and Kevin Riley came and said, We can match your intention with dollars, then there's real movement.

It's our goal that people see themselves in the gallery.

But then we also take works off for you so that we can keep rotating those works for the long term future.

Clark the the Riley specifically requested that the museum bring on a curator with expertize in African-American art to assist in identifying works for this collection, but they also wanted someone whose knowledge and experience could increase the museum's reach and its educational influence.

Can you tell us a little about your background in the journey that brought you here?

I started my journey at Spelman College, where I received my B.A.

in history, and while I was there, I joined a program with the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art specifically to increase the number of curators of color within the museum.

Community, so we were able to take courses within the art history department.

I took a couple of courses on African-American art curatorial practice.

From there, I decided that I would like to make a career out of that.

And so I took it even further and went and got my master's at New York University and museum studies.

And there I expanded a little bit and not just focus on curatorial practice, but I also developed an interest in contemporary art and also diversity, equity, access and inclusion initiatives.

And so that was one thing that was a concentration for me and something that the Museum of Art wants to work on here.

What do you keep in mind when you propose potential acquisitions?

My goal is to seek out minorities, specifically if you are a person of color from the LGBTQ plus community.

If you're a woman artist, artists that have subject matter, that really adds to the conversations that we already have here.

For example, if we have peace from our Anglo-Saxon collection of portraiture that maybe we bring in something that's more contemporary that adds to that conversation, something that we can juxtapose and bring in a deeper level of understanding for our visitors.

Courtney, a question for you.

Can you tell us about some of the pieces you're particularly excited to have seen added to the collection so far?

Yeah, the the Carey McQueen's piece that I think kind of planted the seed for for one and Kevin Riley from 2018 was a real game changer, I think, for the museum because it directly kind of confronts the colonial and plantation histories here in Louisiana.

Harry Weems is sitting in a plantation home in New Orleans, and then the text says that she's pondering the course of history upon the remains.

So it was a really beautiful and poetic and deep, deep reflection on the history of Louisiana and asserting that in our galleries was huge, and I've been really proud of that piece.

To Sonia Clarke, piece was one that I had hoped to bring in from the beginning when I introduced that work to Winifred Riley because we really didn't have kind of textile based pieces.

And to add on to what Clark was saying about the quilts and these textile traditions is that those are really rooted in kind of feminine history passed on from grandmothers to mothers to daughters in artistic tradition, but then just everyday life.

So those, I think, really resonate more broadly and kind of tap into kind of a community.

Louisiana's produce some influential artists, of course, whose work have matches the objectives of this effort.

Have you brought in or any targeting works by any particular Louisiana artists that we can look forward to seeing here in the future?

Winifred and Kevin Riley, I really hope that their gift kind of spurs other people to jump on board and join them.

Their hope is to bring in what we call showstoppers or pieces that we wouldn't otherwise be able to get in Louisiana.

So a lot of our kind of more traditional collecting donors who live here working with galleries.

Here we get gifts from galleries such as art, the Rodger Gallery.

Those processes can bring us Louisiana artists.

So Winifred, Kevin Riley are kind of looking abroad to help us acquire the pieces that we wouldn't otherwise be able to acquire.

Is there any preference given to late artists as opposed to contemporary or is it focused across the the The Times-Picayune?

We've actually gone back and forth about that.

We are focused more on contemporary art.

But then there were a few pieces that we felt a lot of.

This is like what becomes available in the secondary market.

And then you kind of want to jump on that.

So and Elizabeth Catlett piece came up for auction and then also a piece by John Biggers, who of course, is just amazing American nationally known artists, but also really important regionally to the south.

And so we jumped on those opportunities.

But I think generally we are leaning toward living artist because part of it too is supporting those artists while they're alive.

That was an excerpt from Art Rock's episode 908.

To see more of this interview or other episodes of Art Rocks, visit the Art Rocks page on the LPD website.

That's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything LPV anytime, wherever you are with our LPB app.

You can catch LPB News and Public Affairs shows, as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Tonight, we'll leave you with a virtual postcard of the very scenic George Washington Parkway in Virginia.

But for now, for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm Kara St.Cyr.

Until next time, that's the state we're in.

Entergy is proud to support programing on LP and greener practices that preserve Louisiana.

The goal of our environmental and sustainability initiatives really is to ensure that our kids and future generations can be left with a cleaner planet.

Additional support provided by the Fred Bea and Ruth B Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you.