Jana Napoli’s (American, b. 1946) career began through her study of painting and mixed media. She established herself as a professional artist in the 1970s with painting residencies and exhibits in Guatemala City, Paris, and London. Returning home in the early 1980s, Ms. Napoli opened her own gallery and Bed & Breakfast, joining an urban redevelopment movement that spawned what is now known as the New Orleans Arts District.
In 1988, she opened the doors of her own studio to the commercial art students of the neighboring vocational high school and founded YA/YA. YA/YA (Young Aspirations/Young Artists) is a non-profit arts and social service organization, whose mission is to empower creative young people to become successful adults. YA/YA does this by providing educational experiences in the arts and entrepreneurship to New Orleans-area youth, and by fostering and supporting their ambitions.
In the years 1988-2000, Jana stepped back from her own artwork and turned her creative energy to YA/YA, serving as the full-time art director. Now in its 29th year of operation, YA/YA has gained national and international acclaim and is looked to as a model in youth development. In 2011 Napoli founded the Ana & Adeline Foundation which offers grants and professional development opportunities to the extensive YAYA community – the young people who are currently active in YAYA programs as well as the alumni who now live across the nation.
Post Katrina, Jana Napoli began the ongoing art installation called Floodwall, composed of over 700 drawers salvaged from the streets of New Orleans in the aftermath of the 2005 devastation. Floodwall was an attempt to give voice to the silence of a city in ruin and a people in Diaspora. First exhibited at Ground Zero in 2007, the installation traveled extensively, and then returned home to New Orleans for December 3rd of 2011 to be cremated on the banks of the Mississippi River for the City of New Orleans.
The community project, DrawerSpeaks, which worked with young people, continues to travel the world.
The documentary about Floodwall, Floating on Fire, premiered at the New Orleans Film Festival in 2015.
Education
1971 Institute San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
1969 Bella Artes de San Fernando, Madrid
1968 Loretta Heights College (Regis University), Denver
(Select) Solo n Curated Exhibits
2011 The Burning of Floodwall at Algiers Point, New Orleans, LA
2010 On Board of the Kurier Ship, Berlin, Germany
2010 Wroclaw National Museum, Wroclaw, Poland
2009 Previously On Piety - Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
2009 German Emigration Center, Bremerhaven, Germany
2009 On Piety - Prospect 1 Biennial, New Orleans, LA
2009 Clifton Cultural Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH
2008 Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX
2007 Louisiana State Museum, Baton Rouge, LA
2007 World Financial Center, New York, NY
1988 628 Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1987 628 Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1982 Masur Museum, Monroe, LA
1979 Units Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1978 Ross Thiele & Sons Gallery, La Jolla, CA
1975 World Trade Center, New Orleans, LA
1975 Ahyers Gallery, London
1974 Upper St. Gallery, London
1973 Maison de L'Amerique, Latine, Paris
1973 Cassino de Caubourg, Deauville, France
1972 Gallery de Arquetectos, Mexico City, Mexico 1971 Federal Gallery, Guatemala City, Guatemala
1970 Napoleon Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1968 Mini Gallery, Denver, CO
(Select) Group Exhibits
2013 New Orleans Museum of Art
2010 Under-Standing Water and Before (During) After: LA Photographers Respond to Katrina, Houston, TX
2004 George Schmidt Gallery, New Orleans
1992 New Orleans Museum of Art
1992 Downtown Gallery, New Orleans
1989 Cork Gallery, Lincoln Center, New York
1989 Lutten, Clarey and Stem, New York
1988 Atelier Napoli, New Orleans
1987 Atelier Napoli, New Orleans
1986 Duplantier Gallery, New Orleans
1973 Salon de Paris Sud, Paris
1971 Gallery Itati, Mexico City
1970 State Gallery of Louisiana, Baton Rouge
1970 Downtown Gallery, New Orleans
(Select) Private Collections
Faulkner House, New Orleans, LA
Herve Odermatt, Paris
Miguel Angel Asturias, Paris
Captain Tim Rogers, Dublin
Matilda Grey Stream, New Orleans, LA
Masur Museum, Monroe, LA
American Medical Association, Washington, D.C.
Dianne Von Furstenberg, New York
(select Private Collections)
Marguerite Espinosa, Contesa de Mansigny, Mexico City
International House, New Orleans, LA
Masur Museum, Monroe, LA
(Select) Reviews
Visit www.floodwall.org for recent reviews
San Diego Union, March 27, 1978
Times-Picayune, March 31, 1976, Diane Sustendal, "An Artist and Her Subjects' Times-Picayune, March 27, 1975, George Jordan
London Weekly Diary, July 21, 1974 London Arts Review, June 1974
Catalogue Paris, Fourteenth Salon International, 1973 Paris Normandie, August 20, 1973
Sociales, February 10, 1972
El Sol de Mexico, February 10, 1972, p. 3
Novedade, February 10, 1972, Centerfold
El Imparcial, Guatemala City, Guatemala, Monday, January 4, 1971
(Select) Curated Exhibits -- YA/YA exhibits curated by Jana Napoli
1995 Art- arium 15, Young DeungPo-Gu - Seoul Convention Center, Seoul, Korea
1994 “Drapes and Shapes” - 628 Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1994 “YAYA Mixes it Up” - Delgado Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1993 Inauguration Documentary Exhibit - Spectrum Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1993 “YA/YA - Sit Down in Tokyo” - Aki-Ex Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1993 “YA/YA at the Beach” - University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL
1993 “Hello, Tokyo, We Are YA/YA” - Seibu Department Store Gallery, Japan
1992 “YA/YA Speaks” - Architects and Designers Building, New York
1992 “YA/YA Works on Cloth” - 628 Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1992 International Contemporary Furniture Fair - Javits Center, New York
1992 “Awt’ N Clawt” - 628 Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1991 “YA/YA Back from Europe” - 628 Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1991 Jean Francois Guyot Gallery - Paris, France
1991 “YA/YA on the Road” - Eaton Gallery, Memphis, TN
1991 Group show - Gallery of Functional Art, Santa Monica, CA
1990 Piero Della Francesca Memorial Chair Exhibition - 628 Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1990 YA/YA Group Show - Claiborne Gallery, New York
1990 Piero Della Francesca Foundation and YA/YA - Sansepolcro Civic Museum
1990 International Chair Design Exhibition - Udine, Italy
1989 Painted chairs - New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
1989 “Storytelling Chifforobes” - Cork Gallery, Lincoln Center, NY
1988 Norman Therrien and Hajimu Ito - 628 Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Design Clients -- contracts awarded to YA/YA under Jana Napoli’s creative direction
OTHER PROJECTS
1996 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Congo Square poster
1995 United States Department of Agriculture (Washington, DC): Nutrition Education poster
1995 United Nations (New York): 50thAnniversary Celebration, 582 slipcovers for the General Assembly Hall delegate chairs
1994 Swatch, Ltd. (Switzerland): a collection of three watches
19__Hammachacher Schlemmer, limited edition painted chair collection
19__ Alessi, limited edition chair collection
Awards:
2002 Oprah Winfrey’s “Use Your Life Award” (awarded to Jana Napoli with a grant for YA/YA)
1999 President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities “Coming Up Taller Award (presented to YA/YA with $10,000 grant)
1991 Mayor’s Arts Award - presented by the Arts Council of New Orleans to YA/YA
1988 Junior Merit Award, DaIlas Women’s Caucus for Art (presented to Jana Napoli)
Professional Affiliations
2004 - 2006 YA/YA, Advisory Council, Honorary Chair
2006 Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Katrina Artist Fund, Advisory Board Member
Print Media Reviews for YA/YA Inc.
(selected)
San Franciso Examiner, June 2, 1993, p.3
Kenchiku Chiski (Japan) June 1993. p. 37
Friday, (Tokyo) March 12,1993, p.46
Popeye, (Tokyo) February 24, 1993 p.9
Arts Quarterly, Winter 1993, p.10-12
Art News, May 1992, p.148
Avant Grade, (Holland) May 1992, p.10
Provencale Journal, July 21, 1991, p.5
Ambient, March 3,1991.p.10
Casa Vogue, December 1990, p. 149
The Face, September 1990, p. 17
British Vogue, August 1990, p. 54-55
World of Interiors, July/August, 1990, p.14
Abitare, January 1989 Cove & p. 116-119
Vogue Decoration, French & International Editions, October/November 1989, p. 132-135
Metropolis, July/August 1989, p.29
Art Business News, June 1989, p.1
The New York Magazine, April 10, 1989, p.41
Publications
The Majesty of the French Quarter, by Kerri McCaffety, Pelican Publishing, 2,000 pages
YA/YA: Young New Orleans Artists and Their Storytelling Chairs (and How to YA/YA in Your Neighborhood), by Claudia Barker, Louisiana State University Press, 1996
New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence, narrative by Randolph Delehanty, Photographs by Richard Sexton, San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1993, pages
Television Features:
2004 NBC’s “Today” show, follow-up story “Inner-City Threads”
2003 NBC’s “Today” show, “Lend a Hand” program, recipient of $50,000 worth of goods
2002 The Oprah Winfrey Show
OTHER TV Sesame Street
Language Skills:
fluent in Spanish and French; proficient in Italian