HOMECOMING ART EXHIBIT "GOING BANANAS"

New Orleans, LA — The exhibit "GOING BANANAS AND PORTRAITS" the art-works of Janel
Santiago Nelson Marsalis will open November 12 on the Xavier campus during
Homecoming 2004. An opening reception will be held for alumni and other guests in
the Library Gallery, Friday November 19, 4:00p.m.- 7:00 p.m. the exhibit will run
through Dec. 10.

Marsalis, a 1959 Xavier graduate, is currently an Associate Professor of Art at
Xavier and teaches art education and art history.

Her “Going Bananas” series began when she fertilized a patch of banana plants in her
yard and had great results. “Huge beautiful blossoms that turned into bananas almost
before my eyes had never happened that way before in my yard,” she said. She began
to photograph, sketch and create watercolors.

“The banana painting series is not finished yet. I also have to get more portraiture
and other images out of my system.” Marsalis also had a desire to create portraits
of past heroes and heroines “In this exhibit, I wanted these persons of valor to
appear to be speaking to us at the time of each sketch. The portraits are products
of a combination of photographs and my creative imagination, not exact copies in any
case.”

“In the instance of Martin Luther King, Jr., I studied him from all angles available
in my collection of facial photographs, aged him, and tried to show his great
ability to give a visionary glance into the future, into his hopes and dreams for
mankind.”

The Xavier exhibit features works from her “Ancestors” series and children’s
portraits. Many of the pieces were created during a 2002-2003 sabbatical.

Marsalis was the first African American to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from
Tulane University in 1973. In addition to Xavier, she has taught at Southern and
Dillard Universities.

The Library Gallery is located on the first floor of the Library Resource Center,
between the Barn (gym) and the College of Pharmacy buildings. For more information
on the exhibit or Xavier Alumni Homecoming activities, call 504-520-7575.