This weekend, the University of New Orleans’ St. Claude Gallery will open an exhibition in honor of beloved New Orleans writer and photographer Christy Lorio, who was in the process of earning her second master’s degree from the university before she passed away from cancer in November 2022.
Lorio, who was 42 when she died at home, had been living with stage-IV colorectal cancer for four years — an experience she wrote and spoke about candidly and often with a sense of humor.
“Choose Joy,” which opens with a reception at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, is a posthumous thesis exhibition of Lorio’s photography. The reception runs until 9 p.m. and will include Lorio’s husband, Thomas Fewer, reading from her chapbook, “Cold Comfort.”
The exhibition will be on display through March 3. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, and admission is free and open to the public. Find more information at unostclaudegallery.org.
Lorio had earned her bachelor’s and then a MFA in creative writing from UNO before starting her MFA in fine arts for photography in fall 2020.
“Christy was a remarkable person, full of love and enthusiasm for life and art,” a spokesperson for the gallery said in a statement. “She was an excellent graduate student and grad assistant for the photography students in the fine arts department at UNO.”
“She excelled at anything she put her mind to, and her pursuit of photography and becoming an artist was no different,” they continued. “The New Orleans art community, and the photography community at large, lost a talented individual.”
A scholarship fund also has been set up in Lorio’s name to support UNO graduate students in the final parts of completing their degrees.
Lorio had contributed to Gambit as well as Antigravity, Uptown Messenger and other publications. Shortly before she passed, she published “Cold Comfort.” The chapbook of essays and photography is about her experiences with late-stage cancer and finding joy where she could.
“When your life exists in the dark spots, you need to interject brightness into your life as much as possible,” she wrote. Find the book at bellepointpress.com.
