Emotional survival

Before Katrina, Gordon mostly painted landscapes of the land and water around her. Her focus changed with Katrina. She says art became emotional survival.

"I started digging through the rubble where my house had been and pulling out bits of broken furniture and broken dishes. Anything I could find. It’s really weird, when you’ve lost everything, a broken coffee cup can take on really significant meaning."

Once Gordon discovered some pieces of debris had meaning, she knew she was onto something.

"So I just started pulling all that stuff together and, because I was really feeling pretty crazy, I started gluing it together any way I could, making mixed media pieces."

Visitors check out Lori Gordon's work at Gallery 220 in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

Gordon was not the only local artist set adrift by the hurricane. Jenise McCardell, a gallery owner who works in clay, also lost her studio. After the storm, she and her husband purchased an undamaged building in town and opened a door to hope.

"So then there were quite a group of artists, 10 artists that needed a place to work and create their art," McCardell says. "Some were homeless, some had nowhere to work, so we began a coop art gallery here at 220."

Transformation

It became Gallery 220, named after the street address. In a town known for its artists, they found strength in each other’s company. Artists from other states heard about the gallery and sent tools, clay, paint and canvas.