Drenching the brown brick building tucked away on the western edge of Prairieville, Louisiana is experiencing a torrential spring afternoon rainstorm, the kind that would keep anyone from stomping through the slosh just to get to the grocery. A lot…
For some, childhood memories can feel like stardust, distantly elusive but brilliant when only we decide to look for them. For Natchitoches furniture maker Chalon Ahbol, those memories are more like sawdust — and a lot of sweat. And they…
Last summer, over the serenading crush of emerald Gulf waves, Alys Beach homeowners dining at The Beach Club devoured something new — a sweetheat cornbread concoction called Perique Creole Handshake Corn Beignets. The name is whimsical, but the spice kicking…
On a sweltering late June morning in the middle of a particularly wet growing season in the hilly outlands west of Cheniere Lake, the team at Landry Vineyards is prepping to absolutely crush it. A huge haul of blueberries from…
A short stroll from the oak- and magnolia-studded canopy of Baton Rouge’s Highland Road Park curves a quiet street with a curious structure standing out both literally and figuratively. It’s…
If you are a woman or man of a certain age, it is likely that hormone therapy is on your radar. Perhaps you’ve watched the documentary “The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause” released on PBS at the end…
Cajuns and Francophiles in Acadiana might see “BCBG” and take it as short-hand for the French catchphrase “bon chic bon genre” (“Good style, good class”). Anyone with a Ramones shirt or Blondie bob might read it quick and see an…
Bordered by Crescent Park’s half-moon slice of greenspace and the Mississippi River levee is an old power station building in downtown Donaldsonville. Now painted church white, the vast structure is home to a small-batch distillery operated by Chip Noel who…
Big city trends, like water draining down the Mighty Mississippi, can take their time reaching Louisiana, but like a shard of driftwood turned over countless times by the river currents, those trends are uniquely changed during their journey down South.…
Nothing inspires optimism like making a genuine connection through community, feeling the therapy of creative expression or seeing the impact of purposeful work in action. In each of these, runs a common thread: Hope needs hands. Over homemade sweet cornbread…
At a Glance Age 34 Hometown Lafayette, Louisiana Online magnoliafloralpreservation.com, @magnoliastudiosla on Instagram There was plenty of seafood, too, but for Lynn Jenkins, the real harvest of her family’s trek to go crabbing at the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in remote…
Beth Winkler has long been fascinated by the workings of the human body. Her passion for the topic, combined with a desire to help others, led her into physical therapy work — and it inspires her to continue exploring new…
She calls it soap bombing. The batches of fresh, chemical-free soaps Marissa McBride cooks herself and stuffs into friend Rosalie Moyer’s mailbox are less of an exchange, and more of a joy offering for her genuine friendship with the Lafayette-based…
Josh Guillory is a man of few words. Actions? Absolutely. One look at his masterful spiral stairwells, classic driveway gates, or sinewy, modern art-inspired floor lamps proves that. But the veteran iron craftsman’s dialogue is often choice and contemplative these…
At a Glance Age: 31 Hometown: New Iberia, LA Web: joijohnston.com Tracing her fingertips down the side of the leather, a polished slice of deep, summer evening blue, it is obvious that Joi Johnston has a not-so-secret crush. “See, this…
From sprinting after his friends through the woods of his native River Ridge, a big plastic Rambo knife in hand, to multiple deployments as an Army Ranger to Iraq and Afghanistan, to cooking in fast-paced New Orleans’ kitchens and sampling…
Alexis Korman is Zooming from Miami, but unless she’s immersed in some soda-splashed Art Basel installation—entirely possible as the international celebration of boundary-pushing creativity has colored every corner of the sunny south Florida destination—it’s impossible to tell. Floating above the…
The only thing in the back was a car seat and boxes of dreams. This is how Meredith Waguespack took to the road at age 31 to drive from Lafayette to New Orleans, trying to kickstart her clothing line by…
At a Glance Hometown Ponchatoula Age 28 Occupation Founder/lead designer, Therapy Skateboards Web therapyskateboards.com Clocking out after eight hours of sanding and painting cabinetry, most evenings Brent Coker can be…
Select Photos by Randy Krause Schmidt At A Glance Age 32 Location New Orleans, LA Occupation Co-owner/Co-founder, GoodWood Nola Web goodwoodnola.com Fast currents, rocky obstacles and significant drops are likely. Sudden maneuvers required. Such hazards of entrepreneurship…
Hometown Lakeland, Louisiana Age 32 Occupation President/CEO, Oxbow Rum Distillery Web oxbowrumdistillery.com Wheeling through the fields, the pickup bumps and bounds past walls of tall golden stalks. Windows rolled down, a small hand hanging out of the truck…
Each year, we comb the state in search of Louisianians who stand out in their professions, give back and represent what’s best about the Pelican State. From teachers and artists to culinary pros and conservationists, these are the individuals enhancing…
At a Glance HOMETOWN Mt. Vernon, Illinois AGE 38 OCCUPATION Skincare creator, founder, Oxalis Apothecary WEB Oxalisapothecary.com Through the wild woods around her home in rural southern Illinois, Erin Wexstten used to run as a child, and that adventurous…
At A Glance Hometown Dallas, Texas (Collin), and Broussard, Louisiana (Roz) Age Collin is 46, Roz is 44 Occupation Jewelry designers Web secondlinejewels.com @secondlinejewels When Phil Collins and his band Genesis need another batch of designer dominoes for…
At A Glance Hometown | Charenton, Louisiana Age | 49 Occupation | Candlemaker, shop owner, Fifolet Candle Makers Web | fifoletcandles.com Blink and you’ll miss the small, knee-high roadside “Candle Shop” sign out front. But off the main…
With one bare foot steering the large silver press wheel, and two hands secure around the climbing boy’s bottom, his rainboots dangling over her ash-colored shop apron, this tangle of limbs and kinetic energy somehow stands in perfect poise,…
There are so many activities that are a big part of daily life that people take for granted. That is, they take them for granted until one day those activities become painful and difficult to do. Then seemingly simple tasks…
At A Glace Hometown London Age 27 Occupation Illustrator, product designer Website Wemightbeonfire.net Instagram @wemightbeonfire It’s not all that common to find a New Orleanian slowly roaming the French Quarter, camera in hand and enthralled with every curve…
At A Glance Hometown Greenwood, South Carolina Age 36 Instagram @basqo_ It’s an epic, bejeweled beast of folkloric proportions. Or else it’s a mischievous, spinning sun prop escaped from the set of a children’s TV show and…
Louisianians are a diverse bunch, but we have a few common traits. For example, many Louisianians, no matter how close we are to our family, have an independent streak. Strength and persistence also come to mind when you consider people…
Growing up in Houma, Annie Barahona dreamed of working in the medical field. When it came time to decide on a career path, Barahona chose nursing. Sixteen years after starting her nursing journey, the Louisiana State Nurses Association named Barahona…
Retired biology professor Malcolm F. Vidrine enjoyed a career ripe with accomplishments: author or coauthor of 20 books and numerous scientific articles, the discovery of leprosy in wild armadillos, and important work with mussels at the Watson Brake archaeological site…
James Clesi’s restaurant career began as a teenager at the Copeland’s on Veterans Boulevard in New Orleans. He bused tables, then moved to dishwashing. Clesi fell in love with the atmosphere in the kitchen — the smells, the sounds, the…
The word Chalmette native Annelise Cassar Tedesco, the 2022 Louisiana Teacher of the Year, most frequently mentioned in her interview was “community.” She strongly believes in the importance of forming a community at Chalmette High School with both her students…
Monroe artist Vitus Shell is a remarkable artist who explores the African-American experience through strong, compelling and often unsettling images of Black contemporary life in America. It is art driven by irony, activism and his notion of Black “coolness.” Monroe…
At a Glance Name Frank Hamrick Location Ruston Business Printmaker and book craftsman Website frankhamrick.com He’s no fortune teller. He makes paper. That’s how Frank Hamrick knows the exact future of the T-shirt he’s wearing, and it’s not…
Unfortunately, swinging the fridge door wide revealed only a cavernous abundance of empty space surrounding one edible item: a lonely bag of shredded cheese. Tired, stressed and real meal-deprived from days of last-minute arts market prep, Daneisha Davis…
Chef Cory Bahr is bringing together growers and artisans from surrounding parishes to offer their produce, meat and hand-crafted products on Thursdays for “Grow the Roe Farmers Market,” situated on a lot beside his Parish Restaurant in downtown Monroe. “We’re…
Even when it’s 17 below, one can only drink whiskey neat for so…
Connecting her bedroom to her sister’s and to the den, the triangular fireplace in the middle of the old 1910s home designer Hope Johnson grew up in provided not only ample opportunity for post-bedtime whispers — “mostly, I…
Flipped cars, towering fires, powerful explosions — the kind that send bits of dust and metal sailing through the air — all constitute a regular day at work for New Orleans-area resident Matt Kutcher. The 53-year-old founder of Slidell-based Spectrum…
Flipped cars, towering fires, powerful explosions — the kind that send bits of dust and metal sailing through the air — all constitute a regular day at work for New Orleans-area resident Matt Kutcher. The 53-year-old founder of Slidell-based Spectrum…
music PJ Morton Grammy-winning recording artist, keyboardist for Maroon 5 and New Orleans native PJ Morton released his new album, “Gospel According to PJ,” in August. He said people often asked him if he would do a gospel album, in…
A look at the health of Louisiana women over the past 10 years, challenges, solutions and why it matters in the first place
Lake Charles’ Andrew Green of 1910 blends traditional techniques with innovative concepts.
Lake Charles’ Andrew Green of 1910 blends traditional techniques with innovative concepts.
TJ Ribs, Baton Rouge
Clesi’s Crawfish and Catering, New Orleans
Louisiana doctors take on the challenge
Health updates from around the state
