The Front is an artist-run collective of fourteen artists, fostering the development of contemporary art through exhibitions and community-based projects. With new exhibits every four weeks in the gallery on St. Claude Avenue, in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans, The Front is a notable example of the spirit of cooperation and initiative that fueled New Orleans’ recovery from the storms and floods of 2005. For more information, visit www.nolafront.org.
Patterned after NPN's model performing arts program, the Visual Artists Network was launched in 2007 as a pilot, and in 2009 the program was formally established through the induction of the VAN Partners, fifteen leading contemporary arts organizations from across the United States.
The boundaries between the performing and visual arts are more than blurred: "Performance art" on the stage and "installations" in a gallery. Using the residency model of a touring performing artist, VAN is a way for the visual artist to engage in community.