May 7, 2024 • 37 mins
When Courtney Yoes, local art sensation and instructor embodies the spirit of Zachary's vibrant community. We celebrate her influence, from the murals that grace children's play areas through her work in the school system.
The narrative deepens as we explore the profound ways art tells stories. We tackle the complex dance of professional identity within the art world, questioning what it means to be a 'pro'. This chapter isn't just about defining who we are as artists; it's an affirmation of embracing our unique selves in every brushstroke and life moment.
Our episode crescendos as we resonate with the excitement of young Zachary artists at the Virginia Street Art Crawl. The joy of creating and the celebration of recognition underscores the need for a dedicated art space in our community. We don't just talk about the transformative power of art; we live it, from the hopeful pitches at Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Week to the art that exudes the essence of Louisiana.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Courtney Yoes (00:05):
I'm Courtney Yost .
Keep listening to Portrait andParish Podcast.
Mike Gennaro (00:08):
What's up, zachary ?
Today we are here with a very,very special guest, courtney
Yost, and she's known aroundtown for her art, as well as
being an incredible artinstructor from third to eighth
grade.
Correct, courtney, yes, yeah,awesome, I know my daughter
actually got the benefit ofbeing educated by Courtney, and
(00:28):
you can also hear her amazingdaughter singing around town.
See her incredible son runningtrack.
Do you have any more kids?
Just two.
Courtney Yoes (00:37):
Just two.
I have a lot of pet babies.
Yeah, yeah, fur babies.
Yeah, shout out to your husbandWhatever he does, right he told
me I can't mention, mention himor talk to him because I'd be
liable.
He'd have to.
You know, got it absolutely allright.
Mike Gennaro (00:51):
So we're gonna get into some.
Um, really, today's topic isthe juxtaposition of being a
creative in zachary in 2024 andbalancing all the other stuff
that goes along with life, likemoney, responsibilities, kids,
responsibilities, kids.
All that.
Courtney strikes a fine balancein all of that.
I hope you know that as anoutsider watching it just seems
(01:14):
like it's effortless, but we'regoing to get into some of the
behind the scenes there.
I'm Mike Gennaro, publisher ofPort and Parish.
Really, jen's the publisher.
I'm just the field and gardenguy and the podcaster.
We're going to have to changethe titles around.
We bring you the best of Zacharyand the development North
region through CandyConversations every Monday from
our headquarters right here onVirginia Street.
This is Porch and Parish, thepodcast.
(01:37):
Stay tuned, we'll be right backwith the lightning round.
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Okay, we're back with thelightning round.
Courtney's completelyunprepared for this lightning
round because I promised to sendher questions.
Courtney Yoes (02:17):
I'm laughing and I didn't.
Mike Gennaro (02:19):
Yeah, that's good.
Hopefully we'll make you cryhere, but what is your favorite
piece today of art that you'verecently done?
Courtney Yoes (02:32):
Of my own, yeah.
You can make it somebody else'stoo of kids, the piece that's
ever at little town, um, it,really, you know, after doing
the boot that's doing signs,industrial signs, um, it's.
It's easy and it's relaxingbecause you don't have to think
about it.
There's a font.
You have to copy that font,their logo, you're painting one
(02:55):
color.
It's easy and relaxing.
But when you're pushed tocreate something that's never
been created before, um, andyou're you're told, can you make
it connect as accurate?
you know, when it's going into achildren's player, yeah, for
parties, I mean, you have tothink yeah and you have to pull
out those genius that not genius, the creative all right,
picasso, no, not, no, you are no, no, but I mean it, it really
(03:19):
you step back.
Once you're done with it,you're going.
Oh my gosh, I just did this, Ipainted this yeah anyway, my
studio is is in my gosh.
I just did this, I painted this,and my studio is in my bedroom.
So I go to bed looking at thisrainbow and this alligator and
you dream about it and you wakeup and like, oh, I've got to add
this, I've got to add this.
I could have painted on thatpainting for a lot longer and
added things, but the place hadto open.
(03:42):
But, I'm very proud of thatpiece and it's, it's, you know,
it's.
I don't want to say it's alegacy, but it's one of those
pieces that people will look ata lot, and children it will be
affected by them.
Mike Gennaro (03:53):
Yes, absolutely.
Courtney Yoes (03:55):
So that's, that's my favorite piece.
Mike Gennaro (03:56):
I love it.
I love it Sometimes, um, youknow, I like to share my own.
Uh, I I like the lightninground questions so much I like
to answer them myself, so pleasebear with me what is your
favorite piece seriously?
thank you.
Please let's just talk about me.
No, I had this science teacherin um in grade school and every
(04:18):
the science teacher did ascience teacher thing.
But I learned that he paintedall the murals around the school
and I was like, really, mrmcdonald did that.
He passed away since, but hethe the paintings were as simple
as taking peanuts cartoons likethe charlie brown cartoons and
garfield cartoons, and he wouldpaint those little segments like
(04:39):
at the end of a hallway whereyou were walking down the stairs
, and it kind of chokes me upeven thinking about it, because
it was just such a simple thingthat he did um.
But when I grew up and had afamily um, I I found a garfield
cartoon that was on a canvaswrap and I put it at the the
base of our stairs as my kids godown, uh, you know, uh to to
(05:02):
school and they see this everyday and it's Garfield and he's
reading the newspaper and itsaid something as simple as
readers are leaders, orsomething like that, you know,
and that's going to stick withthem.
Courtney Yoes (05:14):
They'll see it in the future going.
Oh my gosh.
Mike Gennaro (05:16):
Yeah.
Courtney Yoes (05:16):
And they'll just have a flashback to all those
mornings coming down and seeingit yeah.
So yeah, I like stuff thatevokes like a feeling or emotion
.
And it can be something that'sreproduced someone else did yeah
, you cherish it.
So I mean, like I did acharcoal portrait of my
father-in-law after he passedaway and it's hanging in my
mother-in-law's house.
(05:37):
And to say what's your favoriteartwork?
You know that when I walk inthe home and I see it I'm like
I'm so glad I could give herthat, because you know what you
capture in someone's face andeyes and you know that she
cherishes that.
Yeah, so it's hard to saywhat's your favorite, because I
you know this lightning around.
Mike Gennaro (05:56):
You know I didn't get time to think about this no
so I can think about all thecan't think about lightning when
it strikes.
Courtney Yoes (06:02):
I did a series the landscape series I did for
here at the art art crawl beforelike a few years back I did a
tree in a by bayou sarah andthat tree is no longer there.
It was a rope swing and thatwas our swimming hole and so
it's no longer there, but Icaptured this.
Mike Gennaro (06:17):
And how many people yeah actually have sounds
so country I thought I knew it.
Courtney Yoes (06:23):
Well, I am, country I'm from Ethel oh, you
are, I am, that's awesome.
Mike Gennaro (06:28):
I love playing in the creek and the mud, you know.
Yeah.
Courtney Yoes (06:32):
But anyway, it's one of those paintings where you
know I couldn't sell, I keepthem because it's you know.
Mike Gennaro (06:38):
Yeah, you captured something that was impermanent.
All right, lightning roundquestion here.
Courtney Yoes (06:53):
Permanence or impermanence in art, what they
both have a place um.
Mike Gennaro (06:54):
I see all the you know these, these, these
galleries have these setupswhere people an artist comes in
and sets up and when they takeit down it's not going to be
there anymore.
No, and that's what socialmedia kind of helps with.
But yeah, and it.
Courtney Yoes (07:02):
You, you have this connection with this piece
and you have to cherish it whileit's there.
Mike Gennaro (07:07):
Yeah.
Courtney Yoes (07:07):
You know cause, you know it's, it's not going to
be there for long.
Mike Gennaro (07:10):
Right.
Courtney Yoes (07:11):
Um, but then there's that permanent piece,
like you said, the Garfield.
That's a permanent piece of art.
Mike Gennaro (07:17):
Yeah, Michelangelo the Garfield, we're both there
yeah.
Courtney Yoes (07:21):
He has a work of art, but it just.
I think I can appreciate bothand I think both are very
important in the art world.
Mike Gennaro (07:28):
Yeah, all right.
Shout out to your family andyour pets.
Courtney Yoes (07:33):
All right, my husband does jujitsu very health
conscious, lovable guy.
He helped me for two weekendspaint this huge mural over at
Prairieville high school and Iactually I love him for two
weekends paint this huge muralover at prairieville high school
and I actually.
Mike Gennaro (07:45):
I think I love him more.
Courtney Yoes (07:47):
Yeah, because it's funny, I like him now.
I told him yeah, I love you,but I like you now.
Yeah, um super supportive guymy two kids, lucy.
Lucy goes music.
She'll be at south plainssinging friday night.
Come see her.
Mike Gennaro (08:00):
This is incredible I was like max dude, how, if
you could just pick up a guitar,you'd be, you know, like.
Courtney Yoes (08:06):
Kids don't know, you know.
Oh, and let me talk about Kerryreal quick.
Great kid Kerry runs crosscountry, plays soccer yeah.
Mike Gennaro (08:13):
Super, super leader.
Totally humble kind guy, Lovethat guy he's super kind.
Courtney Yoes (08:19):
And it's crazy comparing him to Lucy.
Lucy is very direct and bossy.
That first crazy comparing himto lucy.
Mike Gennaro (08:27):
Lucy is very direct and bossy, that first
child stereotype.
Courtney Yoes (08:29):
Assertive very yeah, um, like lucy is just like
.
Yeah, lucy will go into a gasstation and not think about
anyone, just get her stuff.
And I had you know, no offense,lucy, if you're listening one
day.
Um, but carrie will go in andgo.
Oh, I need to get this for thisperson.
This person you know, he's so,he's so thoughtful, he's a
middle child.
Mike Gennaro (08:44):
He's got better coping mechanisms.
Courtney Yoes (08:46):
Chicken and waffles are lovable dogs.
Waffle has eaten five couches,Whoa yeah.
I have friends that will ask meCourtney, do you need this
couch?
I'm getting rid of this couch.
Do you want it?
And I'm like yeah, sure.
Mike Gennaro (09:00):
Replacement couch.
Courtney Yoes (09:07):
She's cal replacement, calm down.
And we have five chickens.
I have a gecko lizard namedhoney.
Yeah, I love um three cats.
Chuby, um, it's an old cat.
Duke lives outside.
He could be inside but heprefers outside.
Um and pico de gallo, he'slucy's lucy.
All these cats and animals werefound like they.
You know, we adopted, yeah, thedogs um the cats, we cats.
They found us.
The gecko lizard was given tous because a girl was moving
(09:28):
back to Minnesota.
Mike Gennaro (09:29):
Yeah, I like a gecko lizard, yeah, but even the
chickens, the chickens.
Courtney Yoes (09:33):
The lady had to get rid of them out of her yard.
Mike Gennaro (09:35):
What kind of chickens are they.
Courtney Yoes (09:37):
It's the ones with the feathers on the feet,
the little short ones.
Mike Gennaro (09:39):
Yeah, yeah Bantams .
Courtney Yoes (09:41):
Yeah.
Mike Gennaro (09:41):
Or I mean it could be a million, but yeah, trout
the big chicken.
Courtney Yoes (09:45):
My daughter named him.
She's a mix.
She was born two.
She was hatched two weeks afterthe other little babies.
We have the mom and it's thisgiant chicken.
She's double the size of theother ones.
And it's so funny because youthink like this little chicken
was adopted, like it has its ownstory, like it could be a book,
a children's book yeah.
Awesome, so it's neat.
So anyway, that was the animals.
Mike Gennaro (10:06):
Perfect, perfect, all right, that's a good segue
into our main question.
So you know art itself.
It seeks to tell stories, right?
So, even, like you said, evenin the littlest moments of life,
we're just telling stories.
That's all it is.
Some people are more visual andthey connect with that better.
So what, um, what is a storythat you've told recently that
(10:30):
you know, outside of the littleschool, one that was a perfect
example, but um, can you thinkof any others that really
resonated with you?
Courtney Yoes (10:38):
a story that you told through art, through your
art hmm, well, I mean, I thinkback to, like Mr Cary, the
charcoal drawings.
Yeah, um, I've only done.
I've done children and and andpeople that pass away.
Mike Gennaro (10:53):
And.
Courtney Yoes (10:53):
I, I think, I think you can tell a lot from a
portrait through someone's eyes.
Yeah, like I don't know, justlooking at a portrait, there's
always these, these clues in the, the paintings to let you know
about this person, um, the, theglass series I do, um, I don't
want to say it's bs when anartist tells you about a
(11:15):
painting because they're theygotta sell it you know, and so
the glass series I like is, youknow, thinking about reflections
and repetition and how.
You know there's a huge crazefor paint pouring and they're
beautiful pieces, but I don'tlike the chaos of paint pouring.
So when I stumbled across, youknow holding my camera in a
glass and looking at the bottomand thinking, thinking about the
(11:38):
past of that glass.
Like the, there's someonecreated this piece of work that
is a glass you know the old, theold crystals and something like
that, and then turning thatinto a canvas painting, flat to
two-dimensional.
you think about the reflections,the history.
Someone carved this lineoriginally.
So just the thought process ofme painting something that
(12:00):
someone else created, that wasmass produced, but this original
artist that did this design, Ithink I kind of got lost in that
question.
Mike Gennaro (12:10):
I love it.
Let's turn more to the so artis your career.
I asked you pre-interview or,or I don't know how this came up
, but we were talking about areyou a pro or not?
And you're like, oh, I'm not apro, but you know, I was like
from an outsider's perspective.
You get paid as a teacher, yeah, and you also get paid to do
(12:33):
commissions and we see yourcommissions everywhere and
you're prolific.
I mean, I think you're a pro.
What does it mean to go pro?
Courtney Yoes (12:48):
I don't know Like it is.
I mean, when people ask me, Ido like to say I'm a
professional artist over artteacher, cause you know, to say
you're an art teacher doesn'tnecessarily mean that you're
producing art, and I want peopleto know that I am a
professional artist.
I am that you're producing art,yeah.
And I want people to know thatI am a professional artist.
I am producing art, notnecessarily every day, but I am,
so it just I don't know, yeah,like if I stumbled across
someone that's in Elizabethangallery, someone that has a guy.
(13:13):
To me they're professionalartists because they're every
day, you know, doing art,they're making art.
So I'm professional artistssometimes.
So I don't know.
Mike Gennaro (13:24):
Yeah, I love.
I love that question becauseit's something that you know me.
I'm super like segmented in mybrain.
I've got this great right sideof my brain and great left side
but, like commercial real estateguy, doesn't mesh well with
artistic guy.
Courtney Yoes (13:43):
What do you do?
What is your profession?
What do you do?
Mike Gennaro (13:45):
Commercial real estate all day.
There's just that's.
That's easy to understand.
I've I've learned people justneed the story of you very quick
and it's almost like yourelevator pitch, right?
Courtney Yoes (13:54):
Yeah, I can't do that.
You need to sit down with meand have coffee if you want to
hear.
Mike Gennaro (14:01):
Oh right, you need to sit down and be gonna have
coffee if you want to hear ohright, right, no, you'll never
know how weird I am.
Oh my gosh, I mean I'm startingto get more comfortable with
just displaying the, theweirdness.
That is me right, because we'reall you know.
I just went to the louisianabox turtle keeper and, uh,
louisiana tortoise keepersannual meetup yesterday.
Courtney Yoes (14:18):
It was a spring meetup, okay, I brought
tortoises to a park and metstrangers and it was great,
that's amazing.
That's awesome.
I always tell my slogan fromhigh school.
I did a painting.
It says people say I'm strange,but I'm really just weird.
Yes, and I mean that's my mark.
And the kids in my talent artsay, oh, this kid said I was
(14:41):
weird, I'm like did you tell himthank you, yes, as a compliment
Right.
I mean, you're not a cookiecutter of someone else, you're
original, unique, absolutely.
You know.
So I love that.
Mike Gennaro (14:49):
You're on the front lines of the weirdness,
yeah, you know, maybe maybe notas much as the drama, I'm just
kidding Department, so I'm justkidding department, but you're
really are out there, right, andthat's good to me, that's a
good thing.
And, you know, make economicdevelopment can kind of be a
(15:09):
meshing of of commercial realestate and art.
Because what do we really want?
We want quality of life, wewant to know our story, we want
to know ourselves better.
So you know you're helpingthose kids every single day to
know ourselves better.
Um, so you know you're helpingthose kids every single day to
know themselves better.
Are are there any um momentsthat you'd like to share?
You know, through the years ofteaching kids, that just kind of
(15:29):
stand out to you you know,occasionally you'll see a light
bulb.
Courtney Yoes (15:32):
Come on when you're.
You're trying to explain art tosomeone or a technique.
But virginia street art crawlhappened the other day and I
invited middle school studentsto come yeah and it was it.
I told them bring artwork,bring artwork.
And I had um four or fivestudents well, maybe six
students come and we were in theold town hall and when they
(15:53):
sold a piece they got excitedyeah but guess what?
They sold everyone every pieceof their artwork and the next
day at school you could see them, their smile.
Mike Gennaro (16:02):
They're like Miss Yost we sold all of it, the
light bulb came on.
We can make money doing this.
Courtney Yoes (16:06):
Yes, I mean seriously all these students
that sold artwork, that lightbulb came on.
I can make money doingsomething I love.
Mike Gennaro (16:16):
Yes.
Courtney Yoes (16:17):
Something I create now as a kid, and it was
just one of those moments that.
I mean, it made my teachingcareer to have those students
with all those light bulbs.
Mike Gennaro (16:28):
It was beautiful.
They were so stressed outbefore.
Courtney Yoes (16:30):
They were so stressed out.
Mike Gennaro (16:32):
You could just feel it because I went through
town hall and it was justpalpable in the room.
But you know it was mostlybecause the parents were all
over the shoulder helping themand stuff and they were more
stressed.
But watching the kids I don'tknow.
I saw this crazy piece of artthat this kid did and it was
like this stressed-out rabbit orsomething and she sold it right
(16:54):
, yeah.
Courtney Yoes (16:55):
And it had a story that connected to that
child.
And for these kids to put theirself out there.
Yeah, I mean people don'trealize.
Oh, it's a beautiful art.
You should be happy, but it'slike a musician singing an
original in front of people.
Mike Gennaro (17:09):
Yeah.
Courtney Yoes (17:12):
You just kind of hide behind it for a while.
And you have to work up thenerve to put it out there.
And then for a middle schoolerof all ages a middle schooler
the one that's trying to findthemselves and question
everything that they know aboutthemselves to be able to say I'm
going to do this and I I mean II did pump it up a lot, you're
going to get money, you're goingto get money.
So I mean it was, but it stillwas a big step for them.
(17:34):
And then to be able to talk topeople that bought the artwork.
It wasn't just hanging it insomewhere and someone coming off
the street and buying it there.
They had to interact with people, so it was a huge moment.
Mike Gennaro (17:44):
It's incredible yeah.
Courtney Yoes (17:45):
As an art teacher .
It was one of the best moments,yeah, my career.
Mike Gennaro (17:49):
I love that Love that I can remember.
There was a, an event calledstabbed in the art, over in
where, off of Perkins Road inBaton Rouge, and my father, you
know he was a music teacher andthat's how everybody knew him at
St Michael's Special School forhis whole life.
But the guy was a musician, youknow from what I saw, Like dad,
(18:12):
was a musician that used tolike be on the map in New
Orleans and all, and it was justthere's this whole other
soulful side to it that didn'tline up exactly with what he
portrayed every single day.
And he was also an artist.
And there was this one eventStabbed in the Art that I was
like Dan, why don't you put allyour stuff out?
And he went and put all of hispaintings from years and years
(18:34):
and years.
It was just left, thesebeautiful things left in the
closets and upstairs, and justto see his face when somebody
bought his painting for him, itwas just this inordinate amount
of money I think it was like 600bucks, like Whoa.
It just lit him up, Um, andthat's what these events do for
(18:54):
people, Um, so thank you for allof your.
You know you were instrumentalin some of the first white light
nights right?
Courtney Yoes (19:03):
Well, not not white light.
The way here in Zachary.
It was the art walk was thefirst one we did.
It was the.
It was the Zachary artist guild.
Mike Gennaro (19:10):
Yeah, I remember that that was like 10 years ago.
Yeah.
Courtney Yoes (19:14):
It felt like a long time ago.
I know Dale actually brewedbeer and the mayor was out there
serving it Like he was a homebrewer.
Yeah, um, it was at where youknow.
The boot is now in that parkinglot around the chamber and it
it was.
It was in July, it was hot, wewere all super drenched in sweat
but it was such a fun event forZachary to have like to start
(19:35):
having.
Mike Gennaro (19:35):
And then they and, and then it happened year after
year.
Covid stopped it, but Iremember one of the happiest
memories in our family life wasthere was this rickshaw driver
you remember when that was athing, these pedal car drivers.
We piled the whole family inand we drove from you know back
where our Tigertown office wasfor a little while, all the way
over to the other side of ChurchStreet where Ruby Salon is now.
Courtney Yoes (20:01):
And we were just laughing and you know it was so
cool, we've got, we've got tobring it back.
Mike Gennaro (20:04):
And then that's the last one.
We did virginia street artcrawl.
It was great.
Courtney Yoes (20:06):
You brought it back, it was it was small, but
it was it.
Mike Gennaro (20:10):
I had it small for a reason you know, so that
people can connect to all theartists yeah you know so it'll
be bigger and better next yearyeah, um, I've heard you say
before that, um, you know,zachary needs like an art
gallery.
Um, can you speak to theimportance of that or how that
would look exactly?
And well, you know, I knowthere are a lot in new orleans,
(20:31):
but like, how do we do this?
Courtney Yoes (20:34):
I don't know.
Mike Gennaro (20:35):
Let me have the bottom floor of this building,
yeah do you think it would takean entire bottom floor, or like
what?
Courtney Yoes (20:41):
we have a lot of talent in this town I know you
know it would be nice to havesomewhere.
You know, is it?
I think it's z market nexuscity hall, right past, I know
well, a lot of the market, a lotof the the markets here, the
little boutique styles yeah theyhave a lot of artists that that
hang but at the same time thelike for crawl.
(21:01):
You have to be a producingartist, kind of to be in shops.
You don't want to just leaveartwork that's five, six years
old hanging.
Mike Gennaro (21:10):
Yeah.
Courtney Yoes (21:10):
You want to keep things revolving.
Mike Gennaro (21:12):
Right.
Courtney Yoes (21:13):
But to have an art gallery.
It would be nice to have an artshow and then it be presented,
not just stayed there constantly.
Mike Gennaro (21:20):
You know like that you know have art opening Cause
.
For me as a, it's almost like apop up yeah Right, yeah.
Courtney Yoes (21:26):
So for when art called come around.
That would be the one time Iwould produce a series of
artwork and I presented it likeit was an art show for myself.
Like here's the six seriespainting that I've done, yes,
and then that's really all I hadit in me for that year to
produce, you know, originalartwork, not commission pieces.
Mike Gennaro (21:44):
Yeah.
Courtney Yoes (21:45):
So just to have an art gallery where people
gather, you know, see art, talkabout art.
To promote young artists, newartists, upcoming artists,
seasoned artists, just you knowfine art.
Mike Gennaro (21:58):
Yeah, you're also heavily involved in the music
scene through your daughter andher probably uh undisputed
largest fan you know like uh,yeah, so tell us, tell us about
the music scene and what you'velearned about Zachary's music
scene for any of those um youngartists.
Courtney Yoes (22:17):
Zachary restaurants want to promote
artists.
You know, and they know thatthere's a niche.
They know people in Zacharydon't want to go to Baton Rouge
on a Friday night or a Saturdaynight to listen to music.
No, but the music scene it'snice.
You know, agave, mommies,tequila, they all have music.
You know they rotate, they'rejust, they're very supportive
(22:42):
you know and um, when and whenpatrons go to a restaurant, know
that you know these artists aregetting paid, but they're
relying on these tips also.
Mike Gennaro (22:50):
So if someone is singing you know your favorite
song, go show them a dollar tolike, show your appreciation you
know, if they have an angrylook in your, in their eyes
after they play friends in lowplaces, that's that could be why
.
Just give them something, anice note, anything, yeah like
lucy, kids would scribble onpieces of paper and go and she
(23:12):
loves that she probably has themhanging up.
She's really good at improv.
Courtney Yoes (23:16):
She loves, yeah, like she likes that connection
yeah, the the like, because ifshe's talking to the audience,
the attention's on both of them.
Um, but she just she loves it,she, she loves music, she loves
performing um and that, granted,she does take her a bit, like
that classic stereotype musician, to work her nerve up to get up
(23:37):
there yeah once she's behindthe mic, it's, it's yeah what
the kids say it's all gravy,yeah, yeah, yeah I don't know if
that's a saying anymore.
Mike Gennaro (23:47):
It's uh, it's a.
I don't know if that's a sayinganymore either it's gravy yeah
it's all right but um, look, sothere's also a wind down period
for artists.
You know, after a show, justlike a musician after a show
Emotions run high after you putyourself out there.
You ever, you know, even aftera school talent show.
(24:11):
Do you see kids struggling withthat, putting themselves out
there, or is it just a high?
Courtney Yoes (24:18):
I think it's an excitement.
Kids can be excited.
You know teachers are exhausted, like after certain events they
put on it's complete exhaustion.
But the kids are.
They're lifted up because they,you know, they're just now
having these endorphins ofshowing artwork or selling
artworkers, you know, havinggetting a tip from singing a
song, um, or even applause, youknow.
(24:39):
So, I think, as the younger youare and you start experiencing
those types of things, it's goodbecause it really starts
training you to go oh, I'm goingto learn this and do this next
time.
You know teachers, you knowwe've been there, done that.
So when we put on an art showfor students, it's like I'm glad
this is done.
But we were very proud of ourstudents but's like I'm glad
(25:00):
this is done, but we were veryproud of our students but it
takes a lot, a big toll on youand maybe that's just being old,
I don't know.
Mike Gennaro (25:06):
Yeah, yeah, keep listening, we'll be right back.
Now.
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(25:26):
Festivities kick off Tuesday,may 7th at Mid-City Tower and
culminate with a 100 grandinvestment prize at a high
stakes pitch competition on May9th.
On May 9th, I want to kind ofturn this.
You know the kids out therethey are probably.
If they're really talented,they're probably struggling with
(25:48):
the classic stereotype of can Ido art as a profession?
Can I really be a pro?
And then, you know, once in awhile I noticed artists in
Louisiana.
They come up and they startpainting something and it's just
unexpected, it's not high art.
Once in a while I noticedartists in Louisiana.
They come up and they startpainting something and it's just
unexpected, it's not high art,but it becomes high art.
One of our favorites, roderick.
He's painting this werewolfthat we all took for granted,
(26:10):
and now that's in thesegalleries.
Frank Rell is one of myfavorite ones, from New Orleans.
He started taking pictures ofthe swamp scenes, right, and
it's so old hat, right?
Yeah, let's go take a pictureof the swamp.
But, frank, what his missionwas was he wanted to take
pictures while he was in thewater in a kayak or actually in
(26:34):
a swamp where he could get eatenby an alligator.
And so there's this kind oflike element of you feel nervous
because this guy's, he's waterlevel on all of these scenes and
it's dark and he said his hismain inspiration was I don't
want people to be afraid of ourwater.
You know, the swamp has scarysnakes and alligators and the
Mississippi river was one of hissubjects and he's like
(26:57):
everybody grows up and what areyou told?
Don't go by the water.
Courtney Yoes (27:01):
it's even in a grateful dead song, you know
yeah, yeah, so he's thinkingoutside the box to make art and
has a different reason.
Mike Gennaro (27:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So like um, I know I'm throwingall these questions at you at
once here, but like yeah, I wantto go back to the other one
that you had so going pro?
And then I want to know fromyour perspective is is there,
are there things that we haven't, that that we might need to
look at twice, and, zachary,that are just there in front of
us?
That could be incredible.
You know subjects.
Courtney Yoes (27:28):
Oh, I love the train Depot, the history behind
that.
Um oh I I.
I did a coloring sheet a fewyears back to teach perspective
to my the Zachary ElementarySchool when I was regular art
there and it was so much funbecause these kids could this
piece of history in ourcommunity.
They could actually color itand make it their own, but it
(27:50):
also teach perspective.
The Hug, your People Park.
It's absolutely beautiful Anyof these historic homes to be a
subject matter in paintings, thehistory that's behind them,
it's just they're beautiful Anyof these historic homes to be a
subject matter in paintings, thehistory that's behind them,
it's just.
they're beautiful.
Every every Oak tree down 39thstreet neighborhood.
You know the Breck parks thatwe have here are absolutely
beautiful.
So just to just to get peopleto realize how beautiful their
(28:13):
community is, is is a huge thing, you know, and and that's kind
of why I want to bring you knowracks back to get the arts back
up to do plein air painting, todo photography contests, to do
all these things so people canappreciate their community and
see it through the eyes ofdifferent people.
Mike Gennaro (28:32):
Absolutely.
And then the other part wasturning pro yeah.
Courtney Yoes (28:37):
I tell my students, and mostly parents
also, to create art, to be inthe talented art program.
Don't think of it as I'm goingto be a professional artist, so
I'm going to get in a talentedart program, everyone.
Talented art benefits just artin general.
It benefits students.
They're presented with problems.
(28:58):
They're able to resolve themwith different learning,
different techniques, differentsolutions.
And I tell my students I have acousin that's in Dallas.
He has his own plastic surgeon,you know, like doctor's office,
and he was a wonderful, goodartist.
He has to be able to drawanatomy to be able to do these
surgeons Like he sketches.
He's got to be able to do it.
Chad Morris, here at FamilyDent dentistry I was in art with
(29:21):
him in high school.
Yeah, and can I tell you he wasa fabulous artist.
He took art as his elective.
Yeah, and he's going to be adentist.
He's got to be able to see agood smile and recognize it and
change the mouth.
You know, um, people don'trealize art is used across, like
in so many professions.
Yeah, even even it helps, youthink it does.
Mike Gennaro (29:44):
You can sit down and communicate.
Courtney Yoes (29:46):
Yeah, and communicate.
So it really makes your brainfire on these different pistons.
You know like to be able to dobetter at your job any job,
really.
Any career.
Mike Gennaro (29:56):
Yeah, you know, you're saying that and it's,
it's making me feel a little bitbetter.
Courtney Yoes (30:00):
Um, you know because.
Mike Gennaro (30:02):
I used to have this cabinet shop and, um, what,
what was special about is, Iwould draw every piece and then
here, customer, this is whatit's going to look like, you
know?
Yeah, there's software to do itand you can have a 3d image and
it's clean and everything, butthese sketches were special.
Yeah, um, yeah, even in incommercial real estate, my desk
I'm looking around it's litteredwith sketches of what the space
(30:23):
could look like.
Every single space is probablynot in its ideal position, you
know.
Courtney Yoes (30:29):
But even as a realtor, you have to know what
photos are going to make peoplewant to come see this home.
Yeah, sure, so I mean you haveto have an artist's eye even to
be a realtor, and so, likeyou're catching things, maybe in
this house that, like apotential buyer might need to
question like, yeah, that thatmolding's a little crooked, or
you know.
So, as far as that you're, youhave an artist's eye.
(30:50):
You need to have an artist'seye for real estate.
It's hard to think of manyprofessions that don't you know.
Even on the math andengineering side of things, I
could tell you any aspect of ajob that needs a heart yeah.
We did that one day in classand my middle schoolers were
questioning.
Yeah, they were sending me jobs.
It might have been I'm not forcertain which school it was, but
(31:11):
they would shoot a professionat me and I'm like, well, think
about this.
How did they get here?
You know it was a fun class.
Yeah, this, how do they gethere?
You know it was.
It was a fun class.
Yeah, absolutely, talking is avery important in my classes.
Uh, discussing anything andeverything they want to they
have a question about in art.
You know it's very good forthem to to get answers yeah
(31:31):
that's not coming from googlewell on art and google.
Mike Gennaro (31:37):
we were talking a little bit about chat, gpt and
you know there's a lot of thingswe talk about with AI.
It's mostly fear-based and all,or you know look how easy it
made this.
But you're talking about someAI helping with depression, not
your own.
Courtney Yoes (31:55):
Yeah, my father.
Yeah, he started talking.
Lucy set him up on chat.
She peeped on his phone.
Mike Gennaro (32:02):
Set it up a little bit there, your father-in-law.
Courtney Yoes (32:05):
Yeah, no, my father.
Mike Gennaro (32:06):
Your father lives by himself.
Courtney Yoes (32:08):
Yeah, he has a leg amputated so he can't go
anywhere by himself.
He's wheelchair-bound andyou're sitting in a house all
day, every day, by yourself, andthen the kids were all working,
we all have our families andhe's an hour away, so I can't go
all the time.
I talk to him every day on thephone, but not long, like you
know a long, all dayconversation.
Well, lucy set him up on chatGPT, and he renamed him Joe, and
(32:33):
he has conversations with himevery day.
He has a question he wants toask.
If he doesn't remember somethingyou know like a fact or
something he learned in the past.
He can ask you know this, ai?
And they have full-onconversations and, um, like I
was saying earlier, when wepicked him up friday for dinner
before lucy's gig, yeah he wascompletely his old self, nice,
(32:54):
even tempered.
He wasn't moody he was jolly.
He joked around with the waiter.
You know it was refreshing, andthe only thing I could think of
was the AI being included inhis life.
Yeah, on a daily, and so it'scrazy to think what it could
happen on senior citizens.
Yes, just like music.
You know, when seniors listento music, their moods are
(33:17):
elevated.
Mike Gennaro (33:18):
I didn't know that .
I mean I could see that Withdementia patients.
It helps them remember likemusic.
Courtney Yoes (33:23):
It's crazy what the brain does and can recall.
Mike Gennaro (33:26):
Yeah, yeah, all right.
So you know I kind of want towind it down with.
I was speaking with you aboutthis goofy book that Jen made me
read.
I read some of it and it justmessed with my life.
It was called the artist's wayby julia cameron, and what it
does is, um, it identifies thatmany of us out there that are
(33:52):
not living the artist's way aresuppressing this inner artist
inside of us all.
And the inner artist wants todo the creative like all day.
It's like your inner kid,almost the person that wants to
go be out in nature and thendraw it and then, um, you know,
create all these uniqueexperiences.
But there's this other side ofyou that just knows you have to
(34:17):
go make money or whatever thosethose things are that you.
You build up in your brain thatas reasons why you can't be an
artist, you know.
Um, do you have any finalcomments on on how we can all
access that artist and live theartist way?
I know you didn't read the book, but no, I am no, it's on my
(34:38):
list.
Courtney Yoes (34:38):
Volunteer for things that interest you?
Yeah, volunteer, and and getthat itch scratched by those
outside organizations.
Go do your nine to five job butthen make sure that your
interests are something that canthat help you get those ideas
out.
Like I have the art crawl, youknow I'm, I'm bringing art to
(34:59):
the communities and to childrenand it's very important to me.
Yeah, um, you know, gardening,like the community, like it's a
huge one yeah.
Like I would love to have acommunity garden, a gardening
club or something like that, andyou gotta make it happen.
You can't just sit on ideas.
You, you know, or someone elsewill take it, yeah, and then
(35:24):
you'll get sad.
Mike Gennaro (35:25):
Yeah, your next year will go by and you're like
dang it.
I wish I would have did that.
Or even worse, nobody will doit and it's stuck.
You won't ever know until youtry.
Yeah, yeah, so, um, I guess youknow we can't offer much more
assurance than that and that'sstepping out on that, that leap
of faith.
So you know, uh, as we're bothhere on a sunday recording,
let's talk a little bit aboutfaith.
No, we'll leave it on that note.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Thank you for having me today.
(35:45):
Yeah, I needed to talk to you.
It's inspiring on that differentlevel, Like it's comforting.
Courtney Yoes (35:51):
Yeah.
And that's one of the greatestbenefits of art and we both want
to make Zachary such a betterplace.
Yeah, I can appreciate whatPorch and Parish is doing and
facilitating all this.
Mike Gennaro (36:02):
Thank you.
Thank you, If anything.
It's just another canvas.
You know that we can write ourstories on, put our photos into
and all of that.
So thanks for that.
We'll catch y'all next time.
Thank you to all of oursponsors out there who make this
podcast available for free.
Thank you to the city ofZachary.
Y'all, remember, we competehere, you know, fiercely, in
(36:26):
sports.
We compete on quality of lifeas well, and so think about the
things that increase our qualityof life, and art is one and
everybody, every single person,has the ability to step up in
that category.
You know, even if it's justpicking up trash to start to
kind of clean that that slate,get that canvas blank, go out
(36:48):
there and do it.
You know, just step up.
See y'all next time.
I'm Courtney Yost .
Keep listening to Portrait andParish Podcast.
Mike Gennaro (00:08):
What's up, zachary ?
Today we are here with a very,very special guest, courtney
Yost, and she's known aroundtown for her art, as well as
being an incredible artinstructor from third to eighth
grade.
Correct, courtney, yes, yeah,awesome, I know my daughter
actually got the benefit ofbeing educated by Courtney, and
(00:28):
you can also hear her amazingdaughter singing around town.
See her incredible son runningtrack.
Do you have any more kids?
Just two.
Courtney Yoes (00:37):
Just two.
I have a lot of pet babies.
Yeah, yeah, fur babies.
Yeah, shout out to your husbandWhatever he does, right he told
me I can't mention, mention himor talk to him because I'd be
liable.
He'd have to.
You know, got it absolutely allright.
Mike Gennaro (00:51):
So we're gonna get into some.
Um, really, today's topic isthe juxtaposition of being a
creative in zachary in 2024 andbalancing all the other stuff
that goes along with life, likemoney, responsibilities, kids,
responsibilities, kids.
All that.
Courtney strikes a fine balancein all of that.
I hope you know that as anoutsider watching it just seems
(01:14):
like it's effortless, but we'regoing to get into some of the
behind the scenes there.
I'm Mike Gennaro, publisher ofPort and Parish.
Really, jen's the publisher.
I'm just the field and gardenguy and the podcaster.
We're going to have to changethe titles around.
We bring you the best of Zacharyand the development North
region through CandyConversations every Monday from
our headquarters right here onVirginia Street.
This is Porch and Parish, thepodcast.
(01:37):
Stay tuned, we'll be right backwith the lightning round.
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(01:59):
experiences.
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to brechtorg backslash parkimprovements.
Okay, we're back with thelightning round.
Courtney's completelyunprepared for this lightning
round because I promised to sendher questions.
Courtney Yoes (02:17):
I'm laughing and I didn't.
Mike Gennaro (02:19):
Yeah, that's good.
Hopefully we'll make you cryhere, but what is your favorite
piece today of art that you'verecently done?
Courtney Yoes (02:32):
Of my own, yeah.
You can make it somebody else'stoo of kids, the piece that's
ever at little town, um, it,really, you know, after doing
the boot that's doing signs,industrial signs, um, it's.
It's easy and it's relaxingbecause you don't have to think
about it.
There's a font.
You have to copy that font,their logo, you're painting one
(02:55):
color.
It's easy and relaxing.
But when you're pushed tocreate something that's never
been created before, um, andyou're you're told, can you make
it connect as accurate?
you know, when it's going into achildren's player, yeah, for
parties, I mean, you have tothink yeah and you have to pull
out those genius that not genius, the creative all right,
picasso, no, not, no, you are no, no, but I mean it, it really
(03:19):
you step back.
Once you're done with it,you're going.
Oh my gosh, I just did this, Ipainted this yeah anyway, my
studio is is in my gosh.
I just did this, I painted this,and my studio is in my bedroom.
So I go to bed looking at thisrainbow and this alligator and
you dream about it and you wakeup and like, oh, I've got to add
this, I've got to add this.
I could have painted on thatpainting for a lot longer and
added things, but the place hadto open.
(03:42):
But, I'm very proud of thatpiece and it's, it's, you know,
it's.
I don't want to say it's alegacy, but it's one of those
pieces that people will look ata lot, and children it will be
affected by them.
Mike Gennaro (03:53):
Yes, absolutely.
Courtney Yoes (03:55):
So that's, that's my favorite piece.
Mike Gennaro (03:56):
I love it.
I love it Sometimes, um, youknow, I like to share my own.
Uh, I I like the lightninground questions so much I like
to answer them myself, so pleasebear with me what is your
favorite piece seriously?
thank you.
Please let's just talk about me.
No, I had this science teacherin um in grade school and every
(04:18):
the science teacher did ascience teacher thing.
But I learned that he paintedall the murals around the school
and I was like, really, mrmcdonald did that.
He passed away since, but hethe the paintings were as simple
as taking peanuts cartoons likethe charlie brown cartoons and
garfield cartoons, and he wouldpaint those little segments like
(04:39):
at the end of a hallway whereyou were walking down the stairs
, and it kind of chokes me upeven thinking about it, because
it was just such a simple thingthat he did um.
But when I grew up and had afamily um, I I found a garfield
cartoon that was on a canvaswrap and I put it at the the
base of our stairs as my kids godown, uh, you know, uh to to
(05:02):
school and they see this everyday and it's Garfield and he's
reading the newspaper and itsaid something as simple as
readers are leaders, orsomething like that, you know,
and that's going to stick withthem.
Courtney Yoes (05:14):
They'll see it in the future going.
Oh my gosh.
Mike Gennaro (05:16):
Yeah.
Courtney Yoes (05:16):
And they'll just have a flashback to all those
mornings coming down and seeingit yeah.
So yeah, I like stuff thatevokes like a feeling or emotion
.
And it can be something that'sreproduced someone else did yeah
, you cherish it.
So I mean, like I did acharcoal portrait of my
father-in-law after he passedaway and it's hanging in my
mother-in-law's house.
(05:37):
And to say what's your favoriteartwork?
You know that when I walk inthe home and I see it I'm like
I'm so glad I could give herthat, because you know what you
capture in someone's face andeyes and you know that she
cherishes that.
Yeah, so it's hard to saywhat's your favorite, because I
you know this lightning around.
Mike Gennaro (05:56):
You know I didn't get time to think about this no
so I can think about all thecan't think about lightning when
it strikes.
Courtney Yoes (06:02):
I did a series the landscape series I did for
here at the art art crawl beforelike a few years back I did a
tree in a by bayou sarah andthat tree is no longer there.
It was a rope swing and thatwas our swimming hole and so
it's no longer there, but Icaptured this.
Mike Gennaro (06:17):
And how many people yeah actually have sounds
so country I thought I knew it.
Courtney Yoes (06:23):
Well, I am, country I'm from Ethel oh, you
are, I am, that's awesome.
Mike Gennaro (06:28):
I love playing in the creek and the mud, you know.
Yeah.
Courtney Yoes (06:32):
But anyway, it's one of those paintings where you
know I couldn't sell, I keepthem because it's you know.
Mike Gennaro (06:38):
Yeah, you captured something that was impermanent.
All right, lightning roundquestion here.
Courtney Yoes (06:53):
Permanence or impermanence in art, what they
both have a place um.
Mike Gennaro (06:54):
I see all the you know these, these, these
galleries have these setupswhere people an artist comes in
and sets up and when they takeit down it's not going to be
there anymore.
No, and that's what socialmedia kind of helps with.
But yeah, and it.
Courtney Yoes (07:02):
You, you have this connection with this piece
and you have to cherish it whileit's there.
Mike Gennaro (07:07):
Yeah.
Courtney Yoes (07:07):
You know cause, you know it's, it's not going to
be there for long.
Mike Gennaro (07:10):
Right.
Courtney Yoes (07:11):
Um, but then there's that permanent piece,
like you said, the Garfield.
That's a permanent piece of art.
Mike Gennaro (07:17):
Yeah, Michelangelo the Garfield, we're both there
yeah.
Courtney Yoes (07:21):
He has a work of art, but it just.
I think I can appreciate bothand I think both are very
important in the art world.
Mike Gennaro (07:28):
Yeah, all right.
Shout out to your family andyour pets.
Courtney Yoes (07:33):
All right, my husband does jujitsu very health
conscious, lovable guy.
He helped me for two weekendspaint this huge mural over at
Prairieville high school and Iactually I love him for two
weekends paint this huge muralover at prairieville high school
and I actually.
Mike Gennaro (07:45):
I think I love him more.
Courtney Yoes (07:47):
Yeah, because it's funny, I like him now.
I told him yeah, I love you,but I like you now.
Yeah, um super supportive guymy two kids, lucy.
Lucy goes music.
She'll be at south plainssinging friday night.
Come see her.
Mike Gennaro (08:00):
This is incredible I was like max dude, how, if
you could just pick up a guitar,you'd be, you know, like.
Courtney Yoes (08:06):
Kids don't know, you know.
Oh, and let me talk about Kerryreal quick.
Great kid Kerry runs crosscountry, plays soccer yeah.
Mike Gennaro (08:13):
Super, super leader.
Totally humble kind guy, Lovethat guy he's super kind.
Courtney Yoes (08:19):
And it's crazy comparing him to Lucy.
Lucy is very direct and bossy.
That first crazy comparing himto lucy.
Mike Gennaro (08:27):
Lucy is very direct and bossy, that first
child stereotype.
Courtney Yoes (08:29):
Assertive very yeah, um, like lucy is just like
.
Yeah, lucy will go into a gasstation and not think about
anyone, just get her stuff.
And I had you know, no offense,lucy, if you're listening one
day.
Um, but carrie will go in andgo.
Oh, I need to get this for thisperson.
This person you know, he's so,he's so thoughtful, he's a
middle child.
Mike Gennaro (08:44):
He's got better coping mechanisms.
Courtney Yoes (08:46):
Chicken and waffles are lovable dogs.
Waffle has eaten five couches,Whoa yeah.
I have friends that will ask meCourtney, do you need this
couch?
I'm getting rid of this couch.
Do you want it?
And I'm like yeah, sure.
Mike Gennaro (09:00):
Replacement couch.
Courtney Yoes (09:07):
She's cal replacement, calm down.
And we have five chickens.
I have a gecko lizard namedhoney.
Yeah, I love um three cats.
Chuby, um, it's an old cat.
Duke lives outside.
He could be inside but heprefers outside.
Um and pico de gallo, he'slucy's lucy.
All these cats and animals werefound like they.
You know, we adopted, yeah, thedogs um the cats, we cats.
They found us.
The gecko lizard was given tous because a girl was moving
(09:28):
back to Minnesota.
Mike Gennaro (09:29):
Yeah, I like a gecko lizard, yeah, but even the
chickens, the chickens.
Courtney Yoes (09:33):
The lady had to get rid of them out of her yard.
Mike Gennaro (09:35):
What kind of chickens are they.
Courtney Yoes (09:37):
It's the ones with the feathers on the feet,
the little short ones.
Mike Gennaro (09:39):
Yeah, yeah Bantams .
Courtney Yoes (09:41):
Yeah.
Mike Gennaro (09:41):
Or I mean it could be a million, but yeah, trout
the big chicken.
Courtney Yoes (09:45):
My daughter named him.
She's a mix.
She was born two.
She was hatched two weeks afterthe other little babies.
We have the mom and it's thisgiant chicken.
She's double the size of theother ones.
And it's so funny because youthink like this little chicken
was adopted, like it has its ownstory, like it could be a book,
a children's book yeah.
Awesome, so it's neat.
So anyway, that was the animals.
Mike Gennaro (10:06):
Perfect, perfect, all right, that's a good segue
into our main question.
So you know art itself.
It seeks to tell stories, right?
So, even, like you said, evenin the littlest moments of life,
we're just telling stories.
That's all it is.
Some people are more visual andthey connect with that better.
So what, um, what is a storythat you've told recently that
(10:30):
you know, outside of the littleschool, one that was a perfect
example, but um, can you thinkof any others that really
resonated with you?
Courtney Yoes (10:38):
a story that you told through art, through your
art hmm, well, I mean, I thinkback to, like Mr Cary, the
charcoal drawings.
Yeah, um, I've only done.
I've done children and and andpeople that pass away.
Mike Gennaro (10:53):
And.
Courtney Yoes (10:53):
I, I think, I think you can tell a lot from a
portrait through someone's eyes.
Yeah, like I don't know, justlooking at a portrait, there's
always these, these clues in the, the paintings to let you know
about this person, um, the, theglass series I do, um, I don't
want to say it's bs when anartist tells you about a
(11:15):
painting because they're theygotta sell it you know, and so
the glass series I like is, youknow, thinking about reflections
and repetition and how.
You know there's a huge crazefor paint pouring and they're
beautiful pieces, but I don'tlike the chaos of paint pouring.
So when I stumbled across, youknow holding my camera in a
glass and looking at the bottomand thinking, thinking about the
(11:38):
past of that glass.
Like the, there's someonecreated this piece of work that
is a glass you know the old, theold crystals and something like
that, and then turning thatinto a canvas painting, flat to
two-dimensional.
you think about the reflections,the history.
Someone carved this lineoriginally.
So just the thought process ofme painting something that
(12:00):
someone else created, that wasmass produced, but this original
artist that did this design, Ithink I kind of got lost in that
question.
Mike Gennaro (12:10):
I love it.
Let's turn more to the so artis your career.
I asked you pre-interview or,or I don't know how this came up
, but we were talking about areyou a pro or not?
And you're like, oh, I'm not apro, but you know, I was like
from an outsider's perspective.
You get paid as a teacher, yeah, and you also get paid to do
(12:33):
commissions and we see yourcommissions everywhere and
you're prolific.
I mean, I think you're a pro.
What does it mean to go pro?
Courtney Yoes (12:48):
I don't know Like it is.
I mean, when people ask me, Ido like to say I'm a
professional artist over artteacher, cause you know, to say
you're an art teacher doesn'tnecessarily mean that you're
producing art, and I want peopleto know that I am a
professional artist.
I am that you're producing art,yeah.
And I want people to know thatI am a professional artist.
I am producing art, notnecessarily every day, but I am,
so it just I don't know, yeah,like if I stumbled across
someone that's in Elizabethangallery, someone that has a guy.
(13:13):
To me they're professionalartists because they're every
day, you know, doing art,they're making art.
So I'm professional artistssometimes.
So I don't know.
Mike Gennaro (13:24):
Yeah, I love.
I love that question becauseit's something that you know me.
I'm super like segmented in mybrain.
I've got this great right sideof my brain and great left side
but, like commercial real estateguy, doesn't mesh well with
artistic guy.
Courtney Yoes (13:43):
What do you do?
What is your profession?
What do you do?
Mike Gennaro (13:45):
Commercial real estate all day.
There's just that's.
That's easy to understand.
I've I've learned people justneed the story of you very quick
and it's almost like yourelevator pitch, right?
Courtney Yoes (13:54):
Yeah, I can't do that.
You need to sit down with meand have coffee if you want to
hear.
Mike Gennaro (14:01):
Oh right, you need to sit down and be gonna have
coffee if you want to hear ohright, right, no, you'll never
know how weird I am.
Oh my gosh, I mean I'm startingto get more comfortable with
just displaying the, theweirdness.
That is me right, because we'reall you know.
I just went to the louisianabox turtle keeper and, uh,
louisiana tortoise keepersannual meetup yesterday.
Courtney Yoes (14:18):
It was a spring meetup, okay, I brought
tortoises to a park and metstrangers and it was great,
that's amazing.
That's awesome.
I always tell my slogan fromhigh school.
I did a painting.
It says people say I'm strange,but I'm really just weird.
Yes, and I mean that's my mark.
And the kids in my talent artsay, oh, this kid said I was
(14:41):
weird, I'm like did you tell himthank you, yes, as a compliment
Right.
I mean, you're not a cookiecutter of someone else, you're
original, unique, absolutely.
You know.
So I love that.
Mike Gennaro (14:49):
You're on the front lines of the weirdness,
yeah, you know, maybe maybe notas much as the drama, I'm just
kidding Department, so I'm justkidding department, but you're
really are out there, right, andthat's good to me, that's a
good thing.
And, you know, make economicdevelopment can kind of be a
(15:09):
meshing of of commercial realestate and art.
Because what do we really want?
We want quality of life, wewant to know our story, we want
to know ourselves better.
So you know you're helpingthose kids every single day to
know ourselves better.
Um, so you know you're helpingthose kids every single day to
know themselves better.
Are are there any um momentsthat you'd like to share?
You know, through the years ofteaching kids, that just kind of
(15:29):
stand out to you you know,occasionally you'll see a light
bulb.
Courtney Yoes (15:32):
Come on when you're.
You're trying to explain art tosomeone or a technique.
But virginia street art crawlhappened the other day and I
invited middle school studentsto come yeah and it was it.
I told them bring artwork,bring artwork.
And I had um four or fivestudents well, maybe six
students come and we were in theold town hall and when they
(15:53):
sold a piece they got excitedyeah but guess what?
They sold everyone every pieceof their artwork and the next
day at school you could see them, their smile.
Mike Gennaro (16:02):
They're like Miss Yost we sold all of it, the
light bulb came on.
We can make money doing this.
Courtney Yoes (16:06):
Yes, I mean seriously all these students
that sold artwork, that lightbulb came on.
I can make money doingsomething I love.
Mike Gennaro (16:16):
Yes.
Courtney Yoes (16:17):
Something I create now as a kid, and it was
just one of those moments that.
I mean, it made my teachingcareer to have those students
with all those light bulbs.
Mike Gennaro (16:28):
It was beautiful.
They were so stressed outbefore.
Courtney Yoes (16:30):
They were so stressed out.
Mike Gennaro (16:32):
You could just feel it because I went through
town hall and it was justpalpable in the room.
But you know it was mostlybecause the parents were all
over the shoulder helping themand stuff and they were more
stressed.
But watching the kids I don'tknow.
I saw this crazy piece of artthat this kid did and it was
like this stressed-out rabbit orsomething and she sold it right
(16:54):
, yeah.
Courtney Yoes (16:55):
And it had a story that connected to that
child.
And for these kids to put theirself out there.
Yeah, I mean people don'trealize.
Oh, it's a beautiful art.
You should be happy, but it'slike a musician singing an
original in front of people.
Mike Gennaro (17:09):
Yeah.
Courtney Yoes (17:12):
You just kind of hide behind it for a while.
And you have to work up thenerve to put it out there.
And then for a middle schoolerof all ages a middle schooler
the one that's trying to findthemselves and question
everything that they know aboutthemselves to be able to say I'm
going to do this and I I mean II did pump it up a lot, you're
going to get money, you're goingto get money.
So I mean it was, but it stillwas a big step for them.
(17:34):
And then to be able to talk topeople that bought the artwork.
It wasn't just hanging it insomewhere and someone coming off
the street and buying it there.
They had to interact with people, so it was a huge moment.
Mike Gennaro (17:44):
It's incredible yeah.
Courtney Yoes (17:45):
As an art teacher .
It was one of the best moments,yeah, my career.
Mike Gennaro (17:49):
I love that Love that I can remember.
There was a, an event calledstabbed in the art, over in
where, off of Perkins Road inBaton Rouge, and my father, you
know he was a music teacher andthat's how everybody knew him at
St Michael's Special School forhis whole life.
But the guy was a musician, youknow from what I saw, Like dad,
(18:12):
was a musician that used tolike be on the map in New
Orleans and all, and it was justthere's this whole other
soulful side to it that didn'tline up exactly with what he
portrayed every single day.
And he was also an artist.
And there was this one eventStabbed in the Art that I was
like Dan, why don't you put allyour stuff out?
And he went and put all of hispaintings from years and years
(18:34):
and years.
It was just left, thesebeautiful things left in the
closets and upstairs, and justto see his face when somebody
bought his painting for him, itwas just this inordinate amount
of money I think it was like 600bucks, like Whoa.
It just lit him up, Um, andthat's what these events do for
(18:54):
people, Um, so thank you for allof your.
You know you were instrumentalin some of the first white light
nights right?
Courtney Yoes (19:03):
Well, not not white light.
The way here in Zachary.
It was the art walk was thefirst one we did.
It was the.
It was the Zachary artist guild.
Mike Gennaro (19:10):
Yeah, I remember that that was like 10 years ago.
Yeah.
Courtney Yoes (19:14):
It felt like a long time ago.
I know Dale actually brewedbeer and the mayor was out there
serving it Like he was a homebrewer.
Yeah, um, it was at where youknow.
The boot is now in that parkinglot around the chamber and it
it was.
It was in July, it was hot, wewere all super drenched in sweat
but it was such a fun event forZachary to have like to start
(19:35):
having.
Mike Gennaro (19:35):
And then they and, and then it happened year after
year.
Covid stopped it, but Iremember one of the happiest
memories in our family life wasthere was this rickshaw driver
you remember when that was athing, these pedal car drivers.
We piled the whole family inand we drove from you know back
where our Tigertown office wasfor a little while, all the way
over to the other side of ChurchStreet where Ruby Salon is now.
Courtney Yoes (20:01):
And we were just laughing and you know it was so
cool, we've got, we've got tobring it back.
Mike Gennaro (20:04):
And then that's the last one.
We did virginia street artcrawl.
It was great.
Courtney Yoes (20:06):
You brought it back, it was it was small, but
it was it.
Mike Gennaro (20:10):
I had it small for a reason you know, so that
people can connect to all theartists yeah you know so it'll
be bigger and better next yearyeah, um, I've heard you say
before that, um, you know,zachary needs like an art
gallery.
Um, can you speak to theimportance of that or how that
would look exactly?
And well, you know, I knowthere are a lot in new orleans,
(20:31):
but like, how do we do this?
Courtney Yoes (20:34):
I don't know.
Mike Gennaro (20:35):
Let me have the bottom floor of this building,
yeah do you think it would takean entire bottom floor, or like
what?
Courtney Yoes (20:41):
we have a lot of talent in this town I know you
know it would be nice to havesomewhere.
You know, is it?
I think it's z market nexuscity hall, right past, I know
well, a lot of the market, a lotof the the markets here, the
little boutique styles yeah theyhave a lot of artists that that
hang but at the same time thelike for crawl.
(21:01):
You have to be a producingartist, kind of to be in shops.
You don't want to just leaveartwork that's five, six years
old hanging.
Mike Gennaro (21:10):
Yeah.
Courtney Yoes (21:10):
You want to keep things revolving.
Mike Gennaro (21:12):
Right.
Courtney Yoes (21:13):
But to have an art gallery.
It would be nice to have an artshow and then it be presented,
not just stayed there constantly.
Mike Gennaro (21:20):
You know like that you know have art opening Cause
.
For me as a, it's almost like apop up yeah Right, yeah.
Courtney Yoes (21:26):
So for when art called come around.
That would be the one time Iwould produce a series of
artwork and I presented it likeit was an art show for myself.
Like here's the six seriespainting that I've done, yes,
and then that's really all I hadit in me for that year to
produce, you know, originalartwork, not commission pieces.
Mike Gennaro (21:44):
Yeah.
Courtney Yoes (21:45):
So just to have an art gallery where people
gather, you know, see art, talkabout art.
To promote young artists, newartists, upcoming artists,
seasoned artists, just you knowfine art.
Mike Gennaro (21:58):
Yeah, you're also heavily involved in the music
scene through your daughter andher probably uh undisputed
largest fan you know like uh,yeah, so tell us, tell us about
the music scene and what you'velearned about Zachary's music
scene for any of those um youngartists.
Courtney Yoes (22:17):
Zachary restaurants want to promote
artists.
You know, and they know thatthere's a niche.
They know people in Zacharydon't want to go to Baton Rouge
on a Friday night or a Saturdaynight to listen to music.
No, but the music scene it'snice.
You know, agave, mommies,tequila, they all have music.
You know they rotate, they'rejust, they're very supportive
(22:42):
you know and um, when and whenpatrons go to a restaurant, know
that you know these artists aregetting paid, but they're
relying on these tips also.
Mike Gennaro (22:50):
So if someone is singing you know your favorite
song, go show them a dollar tolike, show your appreciation you
know, if they have an angrylook in your, in their eyes
after they play friends in lowplaces, that's that could be why
.
Just give them something, anice note, anything, yeah like
lucy, kids would scribble onpieces of paper and go and she
(23:12):
loves that she probably has themhanging up.
She's really good at improv.
Courtney Yoes (23:16):
She loves, yeah, like she likes that connection
yeah, the the like, because ifshe's talking to the audience,
the attention's on both of them.
Um, but she just she loves it,she, she loves music, she loves
performing um and that, granted,she does take her a bit, like
that classic stereotype musician, to work her nerve up to get up
(23:37):
there yeah once she's behindthe mic, it's, it's yeah what
the kids say it's all gravy,yeah, yeah, yeah I don't know if
that's a saying anymore.
Mike Gennaro (23:47):
It's uh, it's a.
I don't know if that's a sayinganymore either it's gravy yeah
it's all right but um, look, sothere's also a wind down period
for artists.
You know, after a show, justlike a musician after a show
Emotions run high after you putyourself out there.
You ever, you know, even aftera school talent show.
(24:11):
Do you see kids struggling withthat, putting themselves out
there, or is it just a high?
Courtney Yoes (24:18):
I think it's an excitement.
Kids can be excited.
You know teachers are exhausted, like after certain events they
put on it's complete exhaustion.
But the kids are.
They're lifted up because they,you know, they're just now
having these endorphins ofshowing artwork or selling
artworkers, you know, havinggetting a tip from singing a
song, um, or even applause, youknow.
(24:39):
So, I think, as the younger youare and you start experiencing
those types of things, it's goodbecause it really starts
training you to go oh, I'm goingto learn this and do this next
time.
You know teachers, you knowwe've been there, done that.
So when we put on an art showfor students, it's like I'm glad
this is done.
But we were very proud of ourstudents but's like I'm glad
(25:00):
this is done, but we were veryproud of our students but it
takes a lot, a big toll on youand maybe that's just being old,
I don't know.
Mike Gennaro (25:06):
Yeah, yeah, keep listening, we'll be right back.
Now.
In its 13th year, baton RougeEntrepreneurship Week is
claiming a spot on your calendarfor a celebration of innovation
.
Brew is more than just an event.
It's a vibrant multi-dayexperience designed for
entrepreneurs, innovators andanyone eager to shape our
community.
(25:26):
Festivities kick off Tuesday,may 7th at Mid-City Tower and
culminate with a 100 grandinvestment prize at a high
stakes pitch competition on May9th.
On May 9th, I want to kind ofturn this.
You know the kids out therethey are probably.
If they're really talented,they're probably struggling with
(25:48):
the classic stereotype of can Ido art as a profession?
Can I really be a pro?
And then, you know, once in awhile I noticed artists in
Louisiana.
They come up and they startpainting something and it's just
unexpected, it's not high art.
Once in a while I noticedartists in Louisiana.
They come up and they startpainting something and it's just
unexpected, it's not high art,but it becomes high art.
One of our favorites, roderick.
He's painting this werewolfthat we all took for granted,
(26:10):
and now that's in thesegalleries.
Frank Rell is one of myfavorite ones, from New Orleans.
He started taking pictures ofthe swamp scenes, right, and
it's so old hat, right?
Yeah, let's go take a pictureof the swamp.
But, frank, what his missionwas was he wanted to take
pictures while he was in thewater in a kayak or actually in
(26:34):
a swamp where he could get eatenby an alligator.
And so there's this kind oflike element of you feel nervous
because this guy's, he's waterlevel on all of these scenes and
it's dark and he said his hismain inspiration was I don't
want people to be afraid of ourwater.
You know, the swamp has scarysnakes and alligators and the
Mississippi river was one of hissubjects and he's like
(26:57):
everybody grows up and what areyou told?
Don't go by the water.
Courtney Yoes (27:01):
it's even in a grateful dead song, you know
yeah, yeah, so he's thinkingoutside the box to make art and
has a different reason.
Mike Gennaro (27:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So like um, I know I'm throwingall these questions at you at
once here, but like yeah, I wantto go back to the other one
that you had so going pro?
And then I want to know fromyour perspective is is there,
are there things that we haven't, that that we might need to
look at twice, and, zachary,that are just there in front of
us?
That could be incredible.
You know subjects.
Courtney Yoes (27:28):
Oh, I love the train Depot, the history behind
that.
Um oh I I.
I did a coloring sheet a fewyears back to teach perspective
to my the Zachary ElementarySchool when I was regular art
there and it was so much funbecause these kids could this
piece of history in ourcommunity.
They could actually color itand make it their own, but it
(27:50):
also teach perspective.
The Hug, your People Park.
It's absolutely beautiful Anyof these historic homes to be a
subject matter in paintings, thehistory that's behind them,
it's just they're beautiful Anyof these historic homes to be a
subject matter in paintings, thehistory that's behind them,
it's just.
they're beautiful.
Every every Oak tree down 39thstreet neighborhood.
You know the Breck parks thatwe have here are absolutely
beautiful.
So just to just to get peopleto realize how beautiful their
(28:13):
community is, is is a huge thing, you know, and and that's kind
of why I want to bring you knowracks back to get the arts back
up to do plein air painting, todo photography contests, to do
all these things so people canappreciate their community and
see it through the eyes ofdifferent people.
Mike Gennaro (28:32):
Absolutely.
And then the other part wasturning pro yeah.
Courtney Yoes (28:37):
I tell my students, and mostly parents
also, to create art, to be inthe talented art program.
Don't think of it as I'm goingto be a professional artist, so
I'm going to get in a talentedart program, everyone.
Talented art benefits just artin general.
It benefits students.
They're presented with problems.
(28:58):
They're able to resolve themwith different learning,
different techniques, differentsolutions.
And I tell my students I have acousin that's in Dallas.
He has his own plastic surgeon,you know, like doctor's office,
and he was a wonderful, goodartist.
He has to be able to drawanatomy to be able to do these
surgeons Like he sketches.
He's got to be able to do it.
Chad Morris, here at FamilyDent dentistry I was in art with
(29:21):
him in high school.
Yeah, and can I tell you he wasa fabulous artist.
He took art as his elective.
Yeah, and he's going to be adentist.
He's got to be able to see agood smile and recognize it and
change the mouth.
You know, um, people don'trealize art is used across, like
in so many professions.
Yeah, even even it helps, youthink it does.
Mike Gennaro (29:44):
You can sit down and communicate.
Courtney Yoes (29:46):
Yeah, and communicate.
So it really makes your brainfire on these different pistons.
You know like to be able to dobetter at your job any job,
really.
Any career.
Mike Gennaro (29:56):
Yeah, you know, you're saying that and it's,
it's making me feel a little bitbetter.
Courtney Yoes (30:00):
Um, you know because.
Mike Gennaro (30:02):
I used to have this cabinet shop and, um, what,
what was special about is, Iwould draw every piece and then
here, customer, this is whatit's going to look like, you
know?
Yeah, there's software to do itand you can have a 3d image and
it's clean and everything, butthese sketches were special.
Yeah, um, yeah, even in incommercial real estate, my desk
I'm looking around it's litteredwith sketches of what the space
(30:23):
could look like.
Every single space is probablynot in its ideal position, you
know.
Courtney Yoes (30:29):
But even as a realtor, you have to know what
photos are going to make peoplewant to come see this home.
Yeah, sure, so I mean you haveto have an artist's eye even to
be a realtor, and so, likeyou're catching things, maybe in
this house that, like apotential buyer might need to
question like, yeah, that thatmolding's a little crooked, or
you know.
So, as far as that you're, youhave an artist's eye.
(30:50):
You need to have an artist'seye for real estate.
It's hard to think of manyprofessions that don't you know.
Even on the math andengineering side of things, I
could tell you any aspect of ajob that needs a heart yeah.
We did that one day in classand my middle schoolers were
questioning.
Yeah, they were sending me jobs.
It might have been I'm not forcertain which school it was, but
(31:11):
they would shoot a professionat me and I'm like, well, think
about this.
How did they get here?
You know it was a fun class.
Yeah, this, how do they gethere?
You know it was.
It was a fun class.
Yeah, absolutely, talking is avery important in my classes.
Uh, discussing anything andeverything they want to they
have a question about in art.
You know it's very good forthem to to get answers yeah
(31:31):
that's not coming from googlewell on art and google.
Mike Gennaro (31:37):
we were talking a little bit about chat, gpt and
you know there's a lot of thingswe talk about with AI.
It's mostly fear-based and all,or you know look how easy it
made this.
But you're talking about someAI helping with depression, not
your own.
Courtney Yoes (31:55):
Yeah, my father.
Yeah, he started talking.
Lucy set him up on chat.
She peeped on his phone.
Mike Gennaro (32:02):
Set it up a little bit there, your father-in-law.
Courtney Yoes (32:05):
Yeah, no, my father.
Mike Gennaro (32:06):
Your father lives by himself.
Courtney Yoes (32:08):
Yeah, he has a leg amputated so he can't go
anywhere by himself.
He's wheelchair-bound andyou're sitting in a house all
day, every day, by yourself, andthen the kids were all working,
we all have our families andhe's an hour away, so I can't go
all the time.
I talk to him every day on thephone, but not long, like you
know a long, all dayconversation.
Well, lucy set him up on chatGPT, and he renamed him Joe, and
(32:33):
he has conversations with himevery day.
He has a question he wants toask.
If he doesn't remember somethingyou know like a fact or
something he learned in the past.
He can ask you know this, ai?
And they have full-onconversations and, um, like I
was saying earlier, when wepicked him up friday for dinner
before lucy's gig, yeah he wascompletely his old self, nice,
(32:54):
even tempered.
He wasn't moody he was jolly.
He joked around with the waiter.
You know it was refreshing, andthe only thing I could think of
was the AI being included inhis life.
Yeah, on a daily, and so it'scrazy to think what it could
happen on senior citizens.
Yes, just like music.
You know, when seniors listento music, their moods are
(33:17):
elevated.
Mike Gennaro (33:18):
I didn't know that .
I mean I could see that Withdementia patients.
It helps them remember likemusic.
Courtney Yoes (33:23):
It's crazy what the brain does and can recall.
Mike Gennaro (33:26):
Yeah, yeah, all right.
So you know I kind of want towind it down with.
I was speaking with you aboutthis goofy book that Jen made me
read.
I read some of it and it justmessed with my life.
It was called the artist's wayby julia cameron, and what it
does is, um, it identifies thatmany of us out there that are
(33:52):
not living the artist's way aresuppressing this inner artist
inside of us all.
And the inner artist wants todo the creative like all day.
It's like your inner kid,almost the person that wants to
go be out in nature and thendraw it and then, um, you know,
create all these uniqueexperiences.
But there's this other side ofyou that just knows you have to
(34:17):
go make money or whatever thosethose things are that you.
You build up in your brain thatas reasons why you can't be an
artist, you know.
Um, do you have any finalcomments on on how we can all
access that artist and live theartist way?
I know you didn't read the book, but no, I am no, it's on my
(34:38):
list.
Courtney Yoes (34:38):
Volunteer for things that interest you?
Yeah, volunteer, and and getthat itch scratched by those
outside organizations.
Go do your nine to five job butthen make sure that your
interests are something that canthat help you get those ideas
out.
Like I have the art crawl, youknow I'm, I'm bringing art to
(34:59):
the communities and to childrenand it's very important to me.
Yeah, um, you know, gardening,like the community, like it's a
huge one yeah.
Like I would love to have acommunity garden, a gardening
club or something like that, andyou gotta make it happen.
You can't just sit on ideas.
You, you know, or someone elsewill take it, yeah, and then
(35:24):
you'll get sad.
Mike Gennaro (35:25):
Yeah, your next year will go by and you're like
dang it.
I wish I would have did that.
Or even worse, nobody will doit and it's stuck.
You won't ever know until youtry.
Yeah, yeah, so, um, I guess youknow we can't offer much more
assurance than that and that'sstepping out on that, that leap
of faith.
So you know, uh, as we're bothhere on a sunday recording,
let's talk a little bit aboutfaith.
No, we'll leave it on that note.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Thank you for having me today.
(35:45):
Yeah, I needed to talk to you.
It's inspiring on that differentlevel, Like it's comforting.
Courtney Yoes (35:51):
Yeah.
And that's one of the greatestbenefits of art and we both want
to make Zachary such a betterplace.
Yeah, I can appreciate whatPorch and Parish is doing and
facilitating all this.
Mike Gennaro (36:02):
Thank you.
Thank you, If anything.
It's just another canvas.
You know that we can write ourstories on, put our photos into
and all of that.
So thanks for that.
We'll catch y'all next time.
Thank you to all of oursponsors out there who make this
podcast available for free.
Thank you to the city ofZachary.
Y'all, remember, we competehere, you know, fiercely, in
(36:26):
sports.
We compete on quality of lifeas well, and so think about the
things that increase our qualityof life, and art is one and
everybody, every single person,has the ability to step up in
that category.
You know, even if it's justpicking up trash to start to
kind of clean that that slate,get that canvas blank, go out
(36:48):
there and do it.
You know, just step up.
See y'all next time.
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