318 Art and Frame a destination for all things Louisiana

Louisiana is a very creative state, art-wise, and you can find a number of Louisiana-themed gifts just in time for Christmas at 318 Art and Frame, which recently set up shop at its new location at 855 Pierremont Road, Suite 100 in Towne Oak Square.

318 Art and Frame started as 318 Art and Garden, a small, 600-square-foot gallery in a two-story, red-brick building behind Maxwell’s Market in April 2018. “We started with the idea that we would curate art from all over the state and offer a sampling of things that you can get in New Orleans, such as pottery or jewelry,” said store owner Cassie Stone, “all sorts of stuff that were made in New Orleans that I thought that women up here would appreciate and they wouldn’t have to go as far to get it. I would drive down, pick it up and bring it back.”

Cassie Stone

Stone moved her operations to Towne Oak Square under 318 Art and Frame in May of this year.

She described her shop as a prominent destination for all things Louisiana — art, custom framing and specialty Louisiana gifts. “We work with over 75 different Louisiana artists and artisans. We’re continuously moving their work in and out. And we’re always looking for new artists,” she said.

“We also source pottery from multiple different potters all over the state. And then our gifting merchandise — about 95 percent of it is purchased from Louisiana small businesses. So we work with three or four different Louisiana wholesale companies that produce Louisiana-themed goods. We try to source as much as possible from them, so that at the end of the day, we are keeping our dollars within the state as far as creativity and helping artists and creators and designers,” said Stone. The artists represented at her shop come from all over the state, “from Thibodeaux to Houma to New Orleans to Baton Rouge to Lafayette to multiple small towns.”

And if Stone can’t find an item in Louisiana, she’ll try to find it somewhere in the South. “I try to keep it first, Louisiana. And if I can’t source it in Louisiana, then I will try to source it somewhere from the South,” she said.

How do customers, especially those from out of town, respond to Stone’s many Louisiana-related gifts? “We’re one of the only places that you can get just Louisiana art and goods,” she said, “and so when people Google for Louisiana souvenirs, we’re going to be one of the first things to come up. Also, we have a really big word-of-mouth community. We’ve been at it for almost seven years, so there must be something they like about it.”

So what does 318 Art and Frame offer? You name it: Hand-painted wine glasses, ceramic ornaments, Mardi Gras items, cards, pottery, art prints, socks, towels, books, candles, items decorated with pelicans, alligators, fleurs de lis and much more.

She pointed out a few unique items on display. “This is one of our new texture artists,” she said. “This is (by) Rachel Ball. She lives in Benton, La.” Swirls of paint are applied in small heaps to create a 3-D appearance to her works.

Another has made a variety of Christmas ornaments called “Hanging With the Stars,” in the form of caricatures of well-known celebrities. For example, there’s a bearded dude who is apparently Willie Nelson. In addition to him, there’s Gene Simmons of KISS, Madonna, Jimmy Buffett and Snoop Dogg. “They’re just incredible. They’re very creative,” she said.

Yet another artist from the New Iberia area makes “good juju dolls,” considered good luck dolls, with their own names and backstories.

Still another has created Christmas ornaments out of crawfish shells, garfish scales, crab claws and carapaces.

In addition to selling Louisiana gifts, Stone offers custom framing for artwork.

“But it started with the passion. I was a Louisiana art collector, and I fell in love with the New Orleans art culture lifestyle, everything that was going on down there and the creativity, and I wanted to bring that back to our city,” Stone said. “So I just had that belief that if I was passionate about it and that’s something that I wanted, then I thought that other women in my age range would also think that was very interesting.”

Stone said probably 90 percent of her shoppers are female, “but we still have our guys come in and shop, too. Men are very directed shoppers and will stop in if something catches their eye as they drive by.

“I like to think that we probably were the first to kind of bring this idea in seven years ago,” she said. “I think it promotes an interest in Louisiana culture and a feeling of pride about Louisiana culture, and so that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”