With the help of the Tulane School of Architecture, a new center for Mardi Gras Indian performances, cooking demonstrations and classes on reading and health is being built in the Upper 9th Ward. (Photos by Emilie Taylor)

At the groundbreaking ceremony, representatives of the Guardians Institute celebrate the start of work on the center. The institute works to preserve African American cultural arts and literacy.

Architecture students pour the cement foundation for the building, which they also designed. The Guardians Institute was awarded a $50,000 grant through the Tulane City Center for the project, to be named after the late Donald Harrison Sr., a renowned Big Chief for several Mardi Gras Indian tribes.