ABOUT BECA
BECA gallery
527 St. Joseph Street (directly across the street from the CAC)
New Orleans, LA 70130 HOURS: Wed-Sun (11am - 4pm and by appointment)
(504) 566-8999
becagallery(at)gmail.com
View our exhibitions online at www.becagallery.com
BECA is an acronym that stands for Bridge for Emerging Contemporary Art. We strive to serve as a bridge by which emerging contemporary art flows between New Orleans and the larger international contemporary arts community. The artist run gallery is an 1100 square foot emerging contemporary art gallery situated in the heart of the New Orleans arts district. It is located directly across the street from the Contemporary Arts Center and within close walking distance to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Our gallery hosts 10-12 exhibitions each year. Half of the exhibits feature local and regional emerging contemporary art and half feature international emerging contemporary art. We look forward to a few new program surprises and developments along the way so stay tuned!
As the first and only gallery in New Orleans to dedicate such a large component of its exhibition program to introducing some of the most innovative and popular emerging international contemporary art to New Orleans collectors and art enthusiasts (and to the rest of the world via www.becagallery.com), we have been grateful for the interest and support of some of the art world's leading curators and visionaries. By believing in our unique program and choosing to partner with us as international guest curators, they have been an integral part in helping to bring about the success of these major group exhibitions.
The gallery was founded by Melissa Roberts and Kurt Schlough as a place for both innovative local, regional and international emerging contemporary art to grow and flourish in an environment that is accommodating to both artists and collectors. We accomplish this via physical exhibits at our location in New Orleans as well as virtual exhibits at www.becagallery.com and exchange partnerships with other galleries and projects both here in the US and internationally. The latter serves both the local and regional artists we are working with as well as those international artists exhibiting from abroad.
One special effort that gallery co-directors, Kurt Schlough and Melissa Roberts, began brewing prior to opening BECA's doors on January 5, 2008 was a philanthropic effort called Benefit 5. This has since evolved into the BECA Foundation set to launch this Fall. In the meantime, the gallery has introduced a broad-based initiative which we hope will benefit numerous non-profit organizations both here in New Orleans and throughout the United States. The gallery is committed to donating 5% of each sale of art to the (501)(c)(3) non-profit organization of the collector's choice and we look forward to your participation and to adding a small contribution to many worthy efforts and projects.
* In an effort to help collectors balance out new art acquisitions, the gallery has an installment purchase plan for the benefit of both new and seasoned collectors. We are happy to extend this additional service to those who wish to support emerging artists from our region and from around the globe!
Gallery artist and co-director, Melissa Roberts, is an experimental mixed-media artist working in both both 2D and 3D mediums including photography, digital art, illustration, sculpture and painting. She is also a former textile designer who served as a small business consultant and project manager for both non-profit and for-profit art and design related ventures for 8 years prior to co-founding BECA gallery. Melissa left New York City in the spring of 2006 to return to her hometown of New Orleans wanting to contribute to its arts and cultural renewal. Her passion for contemporary art and design, continuous independent research and exploration of contemporary and ancient cultures, natural sciences and visual arts along with new approaches to the business of art bring a fresh perspective on exhibiting and collecting emerging contemporary art.
Gallery artist and co-director, Kurt Schlough, is an accomplished painter, sculptor and interior architect who has been honing his multi-disciplinary creations for 13 years in his adopted home of New Orleans. Kurt was born in St. Louis, Missouri and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Interior Architecture from Kansas State University in 1994. He currently serves as Vice President of Design at an award winning New Orleans’ architecture and design firm. Kurt’s own fine art pursuits have continually developed during his years in New Orleans where his art has been exhibited in multiple solo and group exhibitions for the past 10 years. His works are held in both private and corporate collections around the US. His passion for fine art paired with over a decade of project management experience offer a well-rounded frame-work from which to contribute to the growth of BECA gallery to the benefit of both fellow artists and collectors.
