PRESENTING: Mired in the Bayou, an Exhibit About the BP Oil Spill

<h3><big><strong>THIS EXCLUSIVE INHABITAT NYC EXHIBIT OPENS OCTOBER 15TH</strong></big></h3><p> Inhabitat has covered the <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/index.php?s=gulf+oil+spill">Gulf Oil Spill</a> extensively since April, watching as the BP well poured millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf and utter environmental devastation overtook the southern states of the US. So when we had the unique opportunity to be a part of an art show depicting how this disaster affected the lives of those who lived and are still living through it, we knew we couldn't say no. That being said, we're proud to announce that on October 15th <strong>Inhabitat</strong> with <strong><a href="http://www.ninetyninegallery.com">99% Gallery</a></strong> will present<strong> ‘Mired in the Bayou’</strong> a mixed-medium exhibit featuring the portraiture project of photographers <a href="http://www.michaeldepasquale.com">Michael De Pasquale</a> and <a href="http://www.reedyoung.com">Reed Young</a>, with text and audio by journalist Erin Sheehy; and an installation by artist <a href="http://www.artjail.com/">Graham Holly</a>. <strong>Mired in the Bayou</strong> reveals not only the current situation of a place, but the history and dynamics of Bayou La Batre, a town now in despair. If you’re in <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/nyc">New York City</a> this day, please join us for the opening reception of this amazing exhibit at <a href="http://www.ninetyninegallery.com">99% Gallery</a>. Until then you can jump ahead for a sneak peek of the exhibit.

<strong>ALAN CLARK</strong> is an oysterman who worked for the BP Vessels of Opportunity program, which offers between $1,200 and $3,000 a day to local boat owners who help with the oil cleanup. Crew members make an additional $200 a day. Alan has been dissatisfied with BP’s hiring policies, which initially did not privilege fisherman who, like Alan, were unable to work after the spill. The average yearly household income in Bayou La Batre is under $25,000. Alan’s son’s first invoice was for $23,000. He came home with $17,000 cash in his pocket and took the day off to shop for a Hummer.

<strong>Do you think your kids will stay here?</strong> <p> "I don’t know. I won’t encourage them to. What would keep them here? Seafood used to be good. It used to be lucrative business and there was potential to do something with it: big oyster shucking houses, shrimp shops, catering, your supply houses. At one time there was a lot of work. But now it’s just falling falling, falling, and I don’t know what else this area would have to offer." <p> <strong>Alan's items:</strong> boat oil filter, plastic bags, plastic sandwich box, cleanup gloves, oil-soaked rags, oil-soaked boat flare, beer can, candy wrapper

<strong>KYONG “KATHY” KIM</strong> came to the United States from Korea in 1969. She attended college, then married a Colonel in the US Army and lived in Virginia until two and a half years ago, when she opened a crab shop in Bayou La Batre. Her shop has been closed since the BP oil spill, and she has no plans to reopen it. She is moving to Mobile and collecting social security. All of her friends and family live in Virginia, but here, she says, “the price is right.” Kathy makes beaded sculptures that sometimes sell for as much as $350. She says she is especially attached to her dog Cutie because she has no friends down here.

"I get $10,000 a month from BP. My store’s closed, so the corporation gets $5,000, $5,000 for my person, profits. I don’t know how long that’s gonna last. Free money’s not free money. I don’t want no free money. I told my brother, I said, “Hey, I’m not gonna spend this money. I’m gonna leave it right in the corporation.” Later, they want to take the tax out. They probably going to take half on tax." <p> <strong>Kathy's items:</strong> electric stove coil, magazine page, broken lock and latch, cover for crab meat container, leaf, cotton pod, gum wrapper, fruit pit, handmade fabric flower petals, beaded leaves, copper wire, flowers made of beads, unknown bottle cap, piece of cardboard packaging

<strong>ERVIN ROYAL</strong> is a metal scrapper from Coden, an unincorporated community that is contiguous with Bayou La Batre. Most of his customers are commercial fishermen. Ervin’s fishpond was salinated after it was flooded with Gulf water during Hurricane Katrina. It is now a brilliant blue. Ernest Montgomery (left) is pictured here with Ervin (right), the former fire chief of Bayou La Batre. They’ve known each other for over 50 years.

"During the years back, there was no blacks on the boats, the shrimp boats. Well, they wouldn’t let them on the boats up to about the middle sixties, ’66, okay, that’s when the blacks began to work on the shrimp boats. I think what broke that in was, you had about a dozen boats that came in from Florida. See Florida had black captains on the boats and black crews and they would sort of mix it up. But this part of Alabama, the only thing the black guys would do is unload the boats when they come in. They could go and unload them and if they need some repairs they’d let them do them, but when the boat get ready, get fueled up, get ready to go back out, they couldn’t go." <p> <strong>Ervin's items:</strong> oyster shell, paintbrush, half-melted wires, spark plug, rag, metal rods, crushed shotgun shell, boat flare, melted wire, junction, hand-welded metal bracket, car lights and fuse, model plate, fallen leaf, rust, sand, dirt

Artist Graham Holly compliments Mired in the Bayou with an installation that explores the physical condition of the Louisiana coastline on a more intimate scale.

Graham's intent was to experience the effects of oil first hand, bringing that experience back to viewers and concerned citizens in New York and abroad.

Once reaching the coast at Pass a'Loutre, Graham was met with a headache inducing oil sheen and overtaken by boundless amount of oil -- he procured five samples of weathered crude from the beach and water at both Grand Isle, and East Grand Terre.

The samples were stored in five gallon paint buckets and then driven to New York to be shown in newly fashioned plexiglass displays five days later on June 10th. Today, theses pieces continue to provide viewers with an opportunity to observe the actual crude emitted from the severed BP oil well head