French Quarter - New Orleans Master Crafts Guild Tabling and "Ancestral Artistry" Documentary Film Screening
The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park
and the
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve
present
New Orleans Master Crafts Guild Tabling
and a screening of the Documentary Film
Ancestral Artistry: The Influence of Africans & Creoles of Color in Louisiana Architecture
Saturday, May 16 - 10:00 am to 1:30 pm
At the National Park Service French Quarter Visitor Center
419 Decatur St, New Orleans
10:00 am – 12:00 pm – New Orleans Master Crafts Guild Tabling
Members of the New Orleans Master Crafts Guild, including Jonn Hankins, Founder/Executive Director NOMCG; Jeff Poree, Master Plasterer; Darryl Reeves, Master Blacksmith; and Karina Roca, 5-year Blacksmith Apprentice will have tables in the visitor center and be available to discuss their work. There will be hands-on activities for visitors.
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm – “Ancestral Artistry: The Influence of Africans & Creoles of Color in Louisiana Architecture” Documentary Film
Ancestral Artistry: The Influence of Africans & Creoles of Color on Louisiana Architecture explores a powerful yet often overlooked legacy. Produced by the Louisiana Architecture Foundation (LAF), this documentary traces 300 years of building traditions brought by enslaved Africans to French colonial Louisiana—crafts like carpentry, masonry, ironwork, and plastering that shaped the region’s iconic architecture. Passed down through generations, these trades empowered Louisiana’s Creoles of Color, offering wealth and social mobility in a time of widespread racial inequality.
The film connects the past to the present through master craftsmen Jeff Poree, Darryl Reeves, and the late Teddy Pierre, who are working to preserve these endangered traditions and mentor the next generation. Ancestral Artistry is both a celebration and a call to action—to honor this heritage before it fades.
Following the one-hour film there will time for questions and answers with members of the New Orleans Master Crafts Guild, including Jonn Hankins, Founder/Executive Director NOMCG; Jeff Poree, Master Plasterer; Darryl Reeves, Master Blacksmith; and Karina Roca, 5-year Blacksmith Apprentice.
This screening is made possible thanks to a partnership with the Louisiana Architecture Foundation and the New Orleans Master Crafts Guild.
This film was made possible by grants and generous donors. The LAF reserves special thanks to the film’s initial donors and partners, AIA Louisiana and the Louisiana State Office of Cultural Development | Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism.
This program is free and open to the public.
Fees
Free and open to the public
Location
National Park Service French Quarter visitor center - 419 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70130. (Near the statue of Bienville.)
Latitude and Longitude 29.954800, -90.064754
Schedule
Date:
Time:
Duration:
10:00 am to 1:30 pm Central Time
Event Type
- Cultural/Craft Demonstration
- Partner Program
- Talk