Prohibition Party, Pant Hoot set for late October

Late October will bring a couple of fun events to the Shreveport area.

The R.W. Norton Art Gallery will be hosting a Prohibition Party in honor of Scarlett Passions: Bellocq’s Storyville, an exhibit of the work of photographer John Ernest Joseph Bellocq. A special viewing of the exhibit will coincide with the Prohibition Party, which will take place in the museum’s basement speakeasy from 6-10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22, 4747 Creswell Ave. Tickets $40 each at www.eventbrite.com. The Marvelous Misfits will perform three Vaudeville Variety Shows featuring magic, juggling and burlesque. Partygoers are encouraged to dress in Roaring ’20s attire. Period cocktails will also be available.

Chimp Haven’s second annual fund-raising gala, A Pant Hoot Affair, is set for Oct. 29 at Sam’s Town Hotel and Casino in Shreveport. The masquerade-themed event will be filled with mysterious fun, dinner, auctions and dancing with The Big Daddy Band from Dallas, Texas. Tickets $100 each. For more information: www.chimphaven.org.

Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party, a scandalous thing in its day, will coincide with the ex- hibition of John Ernest Joseph Bellocq’s portraits of New Orleans prostitutes from the early part of last century.

“The exhibit is called Scarlett Passions because these pieces, these photographs were of prostitutes in Storyville of New Orleans, which was pretty much the red light district,” said Emily Feazel, director of creative and visual arts at the gallery.

“It really was a passion to him,” she added. “They’re beautiful photographs.”

While some of the images are nudes, some are also images of normal everyday activities.

“These were just girls. They had to do what they had to do.”

Feazel said that photos of models in period costume will be up soon on the gallery’s Facebook page so that partygoers can be sure to have an idea of what to wear.

Little is known of Bellocq or his work, except that he was a commercial photographer in New Orleans in the early 1900s. After his death, a collection of about 100 plates, portraits of New Orleans prostitutes dating from 1912, was discovered in his desk.

The portraits are the only work of Bellocq’s known. Another photographer, Lee Friedlander, admired the plates, bought them and printed them about 15 years after Bellocq’s death, becoming yet another collaborator in the images.

Many of the portraits are nudes, and some of the portraits have the faces scratched out, an act some believe must have been performed by Bellocq himself.

Ticket purchase includes admittance, heavy hor d’oeuvres, and one of the three Vaudeville Variety Shows with signature cocktail. Showings are set for 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. Tickets are now available at www.eventbrite.com.

Scarlett Passions, Bellocq’s Storyville will be on display from Friday, Oct. 21 to Sunday, Dec. 18.

The R.W. Norton Art Gallery is a non-profit museum built in 1966 which features original works of American and European art.

Pant Hoot Affair All proceeds from the Pant Hoot Affair, set for Oct. 29, will go toward caring for the more than 200 chimpanzees who call non-profit Chimp Haven home, said Cathy Willis Spraetz, president and CEO of Chimp Haven.

“I think it’s really important for people to understand that captive chimpanzees require a lot of care,” added Willis Spraetz. While the majority of the chimpanzees are owned by the federal government, having spent decades in a lab, 14 are privately owned by Chimp Haven, having been former pets or involved in language studies. The cost of care per chimpanzee per year is $20,000.

While the federal government pays for 75 percent of the care of those animals they own, Chimp Haven is responsible for about 25 percent, which works out to $4,500 per chimpanzee per year.

This year, two sponsors, Boggs & Poole Contracting Group Inc. and the National Anti-Vivisection Society have donated $25,000 each.

Chimp Haven’s total operating budget is close to $5 million, including the support from the federal government in the care for their chimpanzees, said Willis Spraetz.

A “pant hoot,” she added, is one the the very recognizable vocalisations of the chimpanzee.

Last year’s event, which was attended by about 150 people, raised approximately $150,000 to help with the cost of care for the chimpanzees, specifically buying fruits and vegetables and providing enrichment and veterinarian care.

– Tammy Sharp