Restoring Art After Hurricane Katrina
WHITFIELD: A new year and a new beginning for a city battered by Hurricane Katrina. In New Orleans today, residents and city officials came together to celebrate a rebirth of Louisiana. The event was held outside the Louisiana Superdome and featured poets and musicians. Well many New Orleans residents are starting the new year, focusing on what they still have and not just what they've lost. Among them, an artist whose paintings were badly damaged by flood waters. He's a family member of CNN correspondent Suzanne Malveaux and it was she who discovered her cousin's life work in shambles right after the hurricane hit.</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When we first arrived at my cousin Vernon Dobard's house in New Orleans in September, this is what we found. (on camera): I don't know what to do. I have no idea what to do. I should try to bring something back. Now I can take one, maybe just one. (voice-over): In the aftermath of Katrina, Vernon's art work was submerged in six feet of water and in danger of being lost forever. When we told this story on CNN three months ago, a Pensacola, Florida gallery took notice.</s>MARK BAKER, GALLERY OWNER: I pretty much lost my studio and everything that I had during hurricane Andrew in Miami in 1992, which was devastating.</s>MALVEAUX: In an act of goodwill, Mark Baker, the owner of Imago Art Studio, and his team, offered to rescue Vernon's life's work. (on camera): Good to see you.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good to see you.</s>MALVEAUX: In October, we went back to Vernon's house, where we found the studio in even worse shape than when we first arrived. (on camera): I have to warn you, it's...</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty bad?</s>MALVEAUX: ... it's pretty nasty inside. (voice-over): We had no idea whether anything would be salvageable. (on camera): Wow! This is finished.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the other side.</s>MALVEAUX: That's history.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see where all the mold's just going wild there.</s>MALVEAUX: But under a refrigerator, we discovered pieces we didn't even know existed. (on camera): Look at this. (voice-over): Curious neighbors and friends stopped by to offer encouragement.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, well, where's Vernon? Vernon's</s>MALVEAUX: Vernon's staying with me now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.</s>MALVEAUX: He's living with me.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take my -- take my cell number and have him call me.</s>MALVEAUX (voice-over): It took us several hours to prepare the works for their three hour journey... (on camera): Flip it?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.</s>MALVEAUX: ... separating those damaged by gasoline, sewage and debris from those in better condition. When the paintings arrived in Pensacola, Baker and his team went to work, cleaning and drying Vernon's art.</s>BAKER: It will be cleaned. It will be put in front of a shadow box and mounted. And it'll be displayed as is.</s>MALVEAUX: Two months later, they were ready for display. (on camera): Is it good to be, too (ph), finally?</s>BAKER: Finally.</s>MALVEAUX: Are you nervous?</s>BAKER: Oh, very.</s>MALVEAUX (voice-over): Shortly after, Vernon arrived, having never met Mark or seen his paintings since the hurricane.</s>DOBARD: I live with these paintings. Every day I work on them, each day. And so it's like losing a family member. It's just strange, you know? You just feel a sense of loss, you know? It goes here. Overwhelming joy, gratitude. It's so incredible, you know, that someone would be that generous. That's like seeing a family member again, in a sense, you know your creations. Yes. It sounds strange, but it's true, you know?</s>MALVEAUX: Now, shared with many. As a sign of his gratitude, Vernon gave the only thing that he had left to show Mark what his generosity has meant -- a piece of the family's history.</s>DOBARD: That's my gift to you.</s>BAKER: Thank you.</s>MALVEAUX: A gift that marks the end of a journey taken over the course of three months and more than 200 miles, which now offers one New Orleans artist a new beginning. Suzanne Malveaux, CNN.</s>WHITFIELD: Wow, beautiful detailed art. Straight ahead, doctors talk about their hopes for the health of Iraq's Baby Noor. And what is the state of all that money donated to help victims of the Asian tsunami? How are those funds spent? We'll get an update.