RUINS: Holy Cross School

A student of mine just turned me on to the fabulous work of Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre. Most of their work relates to ruins, on subjects from the city of Detroit to theaters and beyond. The work is simply staggering in its grandeur and desolation. I am also always intrigued when artists work together in a collaborative style. I recommend having a look at their website.

This has inspired me to post a few images of my modest efforts along the same lines. These are of the abandoned Holy Cross Catholic School in New Orleans lower 9th ward. Some 4 years later, the school remained as it was right after Katrina. Today most of the complex, with the exception of the old chapel, has been demolished to make way for a development that may never happen. The Holy Cross neighborhood is a fascinating model for post-Katrina recovery. There are new sustainable green buildings in a small pocket, another non-profit has slowly been buying and restoring some historic buildings and offering affordable ways to repopulate the area, and yet large swaths of the area remain in quiet ruins.