Writer + Visual Artist
New Orleans, Louisiana
thejrwelch.com | @thejrwelch

The Witnesses
Charcoal and mixed-media works exploring family constellation, inherited memory, witness, and generational narrative.

The Contested Seat
Large-scale pastel and mixed-media works using chairs and avian imagery to examine power, displacement, authority, and belonging. Works include The Last Claimant (50 × 37 in.), featuring the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and an American flag chair.

Pink Elephant (in progress)
Acrylic and mixed-media works examining the Mississippi Delta through nostalgia, civic decline, regional mythology, and the tensions embedded in the American Dream.

The Sound of Rooms: Studio in the Country
Documentary photographs of the historic Bogalusa recording studio, tracing its material textures, musical residue, and cultural legacy.

Super Sunday
Documentation of Mardi Gras Indian traditions in and around A. L. Davis Park, New Orleans, with attention to ritual, regalia, community, and intergenerational cultural expression.

When the Churches Sang Together
A photographic record of the relationship between First Baptist New Orleans and Franklin Avenue Baptist Church twenty years after Hurricane Katrina, exploring race, worship, memory, and public reconciliation.

Rising Voices
Street photography documenting civic protest and contemporary public dissent in New Orleans.

The Christian Century
Reckon Review
Blueline
The Queens Review
Pictura Journal
Amethyst Review
Tendrils
Microscopic
Up the Staircase Quarterly
Down in the Dirt

Recognition
Short fiction longlisted for The Southeast Review’s Best Short Short Award, judged by Kristen Arnett.

River Calling: The Cost of Myths
Memoir / creative nonfiction manuscript.

Ditch Promises
A literary portrait of Missouri’s Bootheel and the northern edge of the Mississippi Delta.

Every Fiber
Poetry manuscript exploring inheritance, faith, family, the body, and Delta life.

Through Line — University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, 2026
Group exhibition of first-year MFA artists.

LSU School of Veterinary Medicine — Baton Rouge, LA, 2026

George Dunbar Gallery — Slidell, LA, 2026

Kit Gilbert Center — New Orleans, LA, 2026

Texarkana Arts Center — Texarkana, TX, 2026

Arts Interchange Residency — Ross Lynn Foundation
Ruston, Louisiana | 2026

Writer + Visual Artist
New Orleans, LA | June 2006–Present

Working across fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, painting, installation, and photography. 

Founder & Lead Cultural Architect — Harbor Community Collective
New Orleans, LA | March 2006–February 2019

Founded and led an emerging New Orleans faith community centered on spirituality, creativity, neighborhood life, and service. Directed organizational vision, communication, community partnerships, and cultural initiatives.

Co-Founder & Director — Convergence Gallery and Center for the Arts
New Orleans, LA | June 2006–January 2011

Co-founded and directed a post-Katrina gallery and performance space presenting visual art, music, theater, and public storytelling while providing an early platform for New Orleans artists and performers.

MFA Candidate, Fine Arts
LSU New Orleans
Expected graduation: 2028

Master of Theology (M.Th.)
Campbellsville University

Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Organizational Management
Campbellsville University