Prospect 1, the Big Easy biennial that opened on November 1 and runs through January 18 (and expects 100,000 visitors), is adding ballast to the steadily growing post-Katrina arts scene—it raised nearly $1 million last fall from foundations alone. Southern moxie abounds: The New Orleans Museum of Art may be operating with only 60 percent of its staff, but it managed to bring on its first curator of modern and contemporary art, Miranda Lash, formerly of Houston’s Menil Collection. Edgy gallery newcomers are popping up in the St. Claude arts district, near the bridge to the Lower 9th Ward, 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.