Every week, NOMA hosts gallery talks in the museum and the Besthoff Sculpture Garden led by curators, artists, and other special guests. These lively, participatory conversations provide a moment to take a close look at one work—or a selection of works—currently on view.

This week, join us for a gallery talk led by local artist and designer Elenora “Rukiya” Brown on works in the exhibition New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations.

Rukiya will lead two iterations of this gallery talk: the first will take place from 12:30-1:00 pm, and the second from 6:00-6:30 pm the same evening.

Included with museum admission, which is free for Louisiana residents every Wednesday courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative. When you arrive at NOMA, check in at the admissions desk for directions to the appropriate location.

About Elenora “Rukiya” Brown

Rukiya is an artist and designer, recognized among her peers and protégés for fusing both historical influence from People of Color traditions with contemporary times. She is internationally known for making beautiful “soft sculptures” Mardi Gras InJun suits. Featured with her is one of her personal dolls from the Unclaimed Memories Hurricane Katrina collection.

Rukiya calls her art a type of therapy—that healing begins with herself and goes out to others. All of her artwork is an offering to the community of Color, to inform and inspire based on her research, weaving in the majesty of life. Rukiya treats none of her creations as a “job” in the traditional sense; it’s more the joy of the experience while doing. She is perhaps then a mixed media artist in the truest form.

Gifted as a quilter and storyteller of quilts, art and fashion designer, and master beader as well, her talents are sought by novices, major art enthusiasts, and wealthy collectors. Rukiya has participated in New Orleans JazzFest for many years, winning numerous awards. She is acknowledging her Chahta American Indian bloodline ancestry. She masks with Big Chief Monk Boudreaux’s Golden Eagles tribe, and she fully represents the New Orleans culture of masking Mardi Gras InJun.

Rukiya’s Mardi Gras InJun suit When People Could Fly (2014) was acquired by the New Orleans Museum of Art. The White Buffalo Calf Woman (2017) suit is a part of the permanent exhibit at the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, in Paris, France. The Metamorphosis (2013) was featured in Tina Freeman’s award-winning book, Artist Spaces:NEW Orleans (Louisiana Artists).