Prospect 1, the Big Easy biennial that opened on November 1 andruns through January 18 (and expects 100,000 visitors), is addingballast to the steadily growing post-Katrina arts scene—it raisednearly $1 million last fall from foundations alone. Southern moxieabounds: The New Orleans Museum of Art may be operating withonly 60 percent of its staff, but it managed to bring on its firstcurator of modern and contemporary art, Miranda Lash, formerly ofHouston’s Menil Collection. Edgy gallery newcomers are poppingup in the St. Claude arts district, near the bridge to the Lower 9thWard, led by artist-run spaces like KKProjects and Good Children. Look for the area to host the next art-driven development boom.

"Hot Spot: New Orleans" originally appeared in the December 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's December 2008 Table of Contents.