Shopping at Covington's Three Rivers Art Festival Renee Kientz

Art is all around us here, woven into the fabric of Northshore life.

Find it in the creatively decorated bikes parading in the Bicycle Festival, in the fanciful décor of the restaurant Etoile, in Mardi Gras floats and at the eclectic Abita Mystery House.

Fun art and fine art. Classic and contemporary. Insider and outsider. Cheap, not so cheap, and top-end. There’s the complex and nuanced work of such artists as Linda Trappey Dautreuil and Rick Brunner, the humor-tinged renderings of Francie Rich and Suzanne King. Dave Kelsey of Abita is known for creating set pieces for the movie industry. Phil Galatas of Slidell is a champion carver of waterfowl and a painter. Betsy Meyers Green makes wonderful, wearable jewelry art in her Mandeville studio.
Seek art and you shall find it, especially if you do your hunting in the historic downtowns of Covington and Slidell.

The Covington art scene is centered on a six-block stretch of Columbia Street, where a number of fine galleries find homes among the restaurants, antiques shops and boutiques. In addition to the galleries, downtown presents art walks, bimonthly markets and the Three Rivers

The Slidell Art League Gallery Jeff Greenberg

Arts Festival, a two-day juried extravaganza featuring 200 artists and drawing 50,000 visitors.

When in downtown Covington, don’t miss the St. Tammany Arts Association, a lovely gallery space housed in a 19th-century building. The STAA exhibits work by more than 30 artists at any given time in its members gallery, as well as holds classes and the always-fun Geaux Art Ball, in which living models re-create the characters in classic paintings.

At the heart of the Slidell art scene, the Slidell Art League represents more than 160 area artists and provides gallery space in the historic train depot on the edge of downtown. The SAL hosts changing exhibitions, competitions and classes.

Though severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina, Olde Towne Slidell is undergoing a renaissance. The twice-yearly antiques fairs are back, as are home design shops, antiques shops and restaurants. The art league and Slidell-area artists are a big part of that, bringing talent and creative energies to the scene.

The quality of art and artists in any locale says a lot about that place. It says there is life. There is definitely life here on the Northshore. Life, and a culture of vibrancy and self-expression from one end of St. Tammany Parish to the other. Come see for yourself.


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