Reynolds Ryan Art Gallery

 

Nicole Charbonnet’s work explores memory, identity, and the cultural imagery that shapes perception. Drawing on the weathered surfaces of her native New Orleans as well as symbols from popular culture and art history, her paintings layer collage, fabric, marble dust, and washes of paint into textured surfaces that reveal and obscure fragments over time.

 

Her process is both additive and subtractive – building, sanding, scraping, and reworking so that images emerge like memories: some sharp, others half-forgotten. This palimpsest quality underscores her central theme –  the way personal and collective histories persist, fade, and resurface in shifting forms. The resulting works invite viewers to consider what we remember and what slips away.

 

Charbonnet earned her B.A. from the University of Virginia and her M.F.A. from Boston University, with additional studies in France and Paris. Her paintings have been widely exhibited across the U.S. and internationally, and she has received support from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Art Matters, and the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, among others.

 

Nicole is represented by Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans.

 

 

Helen Hawkins learned to paint at Newman, in the studio where the new science building now stands. While the new art studios are beautifully perched on the top floor, with sky lights, there is loss, as the ceiling will never reverberate with the music of band practice.

 

Born and raised in New Orleans and a 13-year Greenie, class of 2016, she left for New York to study at NYU. She returned in 2022, setting up a studio on Prytania Street. This work space quickly became an impromptu gallery, hosting shows of her own work and sharing in the visions of other artists and curators. In her three years of running Dogwater Gallery in Uptown New Orleans she showed over 30 artists in group and solo shows, as well as worked with musical talents and guest curators. In August of 2025 the artist moved back to New York, in proximity to the city where she lives and continues to paint.

 

 

Gretchen Weller Howard was born and raised in New Orleans. A self-described colorist, she employs both symbols and color to communicate the deeply personal meaning of each work. Her early focus included graphic design and decorative painting and even now, twenty years later, elements of both disciplines can still be seen in her mixed media abstracts. Over the years, she has developed a distinct vocabulary of images to describe the emotional threads that tie her work together.

 

The vessels, or boats of sorts, “appeared” first, and initially held within them the shredded remains of paintings she had lost during Katrina. After the storm, when Gretchen and her husband returned to their home in Pass Christian, MS, all that remained standing was a huge oak on the beach. Surrounding it were the remnants of an extensive collection of paintings that neighbors had collected and placed beneath the tree. Unable to throw them away, she tore them into long strips and later incorporated them into her work. These boats held safe the memory of the past and celebrated the rebirth of the entire region. Soon after, bridges appeared as Gretchen returned to her birthplace and committed to laying down her family roots in New Orleans once again. And finally, the bird. Like the others, these symbols appeared suddenly and stood upon the bridges as sentinels of possibility and a bright future, never in flight, but poised for the great leap.

 

Today Gretchen’s work still primarily revolves around birds and boats, but the meanings have shifted and grown to take on a new, rich, and ever evolving language. They have both become vessels through which an idea is conveyed, and together with a supporting cast of symbolic characters, a story is told, and a mystery unfolds.

 

Gretchen is represented by Gallery Orange in New Orleans.

 

 

Jan Katz, a New Orleans native, has spent her life immersed in art, design, and collecting. A Newman School alumna and graduate of Newcomb College, Tulane University, she went on to become a certified fine art appraiser and a specialist in Self Taught/Outsider Art. At the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, she served as Associate Director and as Curator Emerita and Founder of the Center for Southern Craft and Design.

 

Beyond the museum world, Jan built Alexa Jared, an award-winning jewelry company whose designs were carried in more than 550 stores nationwide. Today, she continues to work as a curator, consultant, and appraiser while serving on cultural boards including the Newcomb Art Museum, the Accessions Committee for the Ohr O’Keefe Museum, the Newman School Alumni Board, and Touro Synagogue’s Art Committee.

 

Her current body of work, the Niche Series, draws on her background as a jewelry designer and her instinct as a collector. Inspired by the small shrines found in European walls and countrysides, Jan assembles vintage treasures and humble objects – plastic flowers, mid-century brooches, pressed glass beads – into intimate works that celebrate memory, beauty, and the spirit of everyday things.

 

Billy Marchal, a New Orleans native, attended Isidore Newman School from Kindergarten through graduation before earning a degree in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech and an MBA from Tulane University. At Newman, he excelled academically and athletically, receiving the Geometry Award, the Albert Wackenheimer Award, and election to the National Honor Society while lettering in two varsity sports. At Georgia Tech, he was vice president of the Kappa Alpha Order, assistant editor of the yearbook, and a member of the honorary Ramblin’ Wreck Club. He went on to serve as a LTJG in the U.S. Navy aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Albany (CG-10), where he held posts as Damage Control Assistant and Electrical Officer during deployments in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Mediterranean.

 

In 1968, Mr. Marchal joined Offshore Navigation, Inc., where he helped pioneer technology that transformed global aviation safety. Under his leadership, the company’s Products Division developed the world’s first vehicle tracking systems, later expanded through Navigation Data Systems, Inc., which he co-founded in 1990. As CEO, he oversaw marketing, finance, and international project management, installing more than 60 systems for air traffic control, marine operations, and fleet dispatch across five continents. The satellite-based technology he helped introduce in 1978 – transmitting an aircraft’s ID, altitude, and GPS position for display to air traffic controllers – remains a standard for transoceanic flights today.

 

After Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Marchal turned his focus to rebuilding New Orleans, serving on the Drainage and Flood Control Committee of the Bring New Orleans Back Commission, and later working with the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority on stormwater management projects. He also devoted four years as project manager for Habitat for Humanity, overseeing the gutting and reconstruction of more than 200 homes impacted by Chinese drywall. Beyond his professional achievements, he was an avid outdoorsman, lifelong sailor, and longtime member of the Southern Yacht Club, where he earned Honorary Lifetime Membership and competed in local, national, and international regattas. In later years, he discovered a new passion as a sculptor, creating works for both indoor and outdoor spaces.

 

A longtime member of the New Orleans art community, Ken Nahan graduated with honors and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1983 from Tulane University. He traveled to Europe where he worked under the guidance of his mentor and friend, Cubist painter and printmaker Max Papart. Nahan has studied an array of printmaking techniques, creating lithographs at Atelier Grapholith and with Pierre Chave, etchings at Atelier Morsang, and silkscreens with master screen printer Gary Lichtenstein.

 

 

Nahan has exhibited his work throughout the U.S. and Europe. He currently lives and works in New Orleans. Nahan is represented by Jillian Mac Fine Art in New Orleans.

 

 

Bookending life in New Orleans, where she currently lives, Carol attended The Boston Museum School and graduated with honors from The New York Restaurant School. 

 

Her illustrations and product designs have been featured in national newspapers, magazines and design blogs. Her design for the Krewe of Iris flag hangs from homes around New Orleans every Mardi Gras. 

 

Ceramics is her latest obsession. In 2023 she was an artist in residence at Byrdcliffe Colony in Woodstock, NY. Her art and writing have won her two residencies at Hypatia in the Woods in Washington State, Honorable Mention in Short Fiction from Glimmer Train, and Semi-Finalist in Walker Percy Short Fiction at Loyola University in New Orleans. 

 

Since moving back home she's written features on food, art, and quirky people for ViaNolaVie, a New Orleans life and culture blog. For more information, visit her website.

 

 

Julie Silvers crafts vibrant abstract paintings and ceramic sculptures that radiate joy and energy. Inspired by her artistic upbringing and the rich culture of New Orleans, her self-taught journey blossomed with formal training at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Art. 

 

Julie Silvers’ paintings are a joyful explosion of color and emotion. Influenced by the bold aesthetics of the ’80s and inspired by artists like Andy Warhol and Basquiat, her work embodies a big, bright, and happy energy. Each painting is layered with symbols, texture, and repetition, crafted from the heart with a desire to enliven the viewer’s senses. Julie pours her feelings, inspirations, hopes, and dreams into her art, creating pieces that are welcoming, inviting, and joyous. Her goal is to spark a smile and bring viewers to a happy place, even if just for a moment.

 

Julie’s joyful creations, exhibited in renowned galleries from New Orleans to New York, bring happiness to art lovers everywhere. To view more of Julie’s work, visit her website or her shop at 3714 Magazine Street, New Orleans.