Queen of the South: New Orleans in the Age of T. K. Wharton, 1853-1862, on view at the Historic New Orleans Collection, 533 Royal Street, has been extended by popular demand through December 2000. Thomas K. Wharton, an accomplished architect, arrived in New Orleans in 1845 and became superintendent of construction for the new Custom House on Canal Street. Beginning in 1853 and continuing until his death in 1862, Wharton kept a journal in which he faithfully recorded and sketched a revealing portrait of the city and its customs. Through paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, maps, and artifacts, the exhibition showcases aspects of life and culture in New Orleans from a peak of economic success to the crash of the Civil War.  Additional information, call 504-523-4662.

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   Pictures Tell the Story, the first exhibition to survey the photographic career of Ernest C. Withers, will be at the Brooks Museum of Art in Memphis, Tennessee, April 14-June 30, 2001. For half a century, Withers has made his living as a photographer, and for more than 40 of those years, he has emblazoned his business advertisements with the words “Pictures Tell the Story.” The story of Withers provides a compelling social history of the African American experience from the late 1940s to the 1970s. Included in the exhibition are Withers’s well-known images of the civil rights movement, as well as his photographs of musical entertainers, baseball players of the Diamond League, and Memphis life. Additional information is available by e-mail (caroline.vonkessler@brooksmuseum.org) or by telephone (901-544-6208).