About the artists

Emery Ann Clark

b. 1950

Emery Clark was born in New Orleans and received a BFA from Newcomb College with Honors with Distinction in 1972 and an MFA from Tulane University in 1981. She studied at the Boston University School of Fine Arts and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. She has received numerous awards including the Thomas J Watson Traveling Fellowship, awarded for research on art and architecture integrated into the environment in Europe, North Africa, the Near East, etc.

Clark was a special guest at the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies and a moderator for the Art and Architecture Symposium at Wellesley College. She has executed many public works of art including the “NOMA Nile” for the New Orleans Museum of Art’s "Treasures of Tutankahamun" exhibition, “Art Cars” at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC), PS1, and other institutions. Her work is in museums and private collections including the New Orleans Museum of Art, and has been exhibited at many galleries including Fischbach Gallery in New York, Heath Gallery in Atlanta, and Galerie Simonne Stern and Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans.

Mario Villa

1953-2021

After studying in England, Managua, Nicaragua, native Mario Villa Mario came to New Orleans to finish his education and build his career as an artist. He earned a degree in anthropology at the University of New Orleans and a degree in architecture at Tulane University. Villa was a multi-talented artist who created distinctive furniture, paintings, sculpture and jewelry.

Villa’s work was featured in publications such as Architectural Digest and Elle Décor, attracting widespread attention from people who wanted to buy his jewelry and sculpture and furnish their homes. In a 2007 interview, Villa described his style as “classical, with an M.V. twist.” Villa ran his namesake Magazine Street gallery, one of the first in New Orleans dedicated to displaying contemporary art, for decades. The gallery closed in 2004.