Board Elects New Vice-President

YA/YA would like to recognize Shelby Russ as the Board’s new Vice President. Russ, who joined the board in the fall and elected V.P. in December, is honored to serve on YA/YA’s Board of Directors.

Shelby is the President/CEO/Owner of Associated Office Systems, the largest commercial furnishings dealership in Louisiana and Mississippi.  With 65 employees, A.O.S. specializes in Bauhaus inspired office furniture, and is headquartered in New Orleans with offices in Baton Rouge, Shreveport and Jackson, MS. Shelby is a father of three and has been married to wife Susan for nineteen years. 

YA/YA Welcomes Two New Board Members
Two new members were also welcomed to YA/YA’s Board of Directors this past quarter: Hal Clark, a host/producer of WYLD-FM’s Sunday Journal and Executive Associate of the Chancellor at Southern University of New Orleans; and Jim Belfon, a New York City-based photographer and founder of The Photographic Center of Harlem, who relocated to New Orleans in August 2006 and established the Gulf South Photography Project.   We are very excited and proud of the addition of these new professionals to our Board of Directors and grateful for their commitment to our young artists in New Orleans.


Jim Belfon
Jim Belfon is a New York City-based professional photographer of Caribbean descent. Over the past 35 years, Jim has studied, worked with and been mentored by several distinguished photographers and graphic designers, including Richard Avedon, Alexi Brotovitch, Bruce Davidson and Gordon Parks.  His photographs have appeared in a variety of publications, including Ebony, Black Enterprise, ESSENCE, Smithsonian Magazine, American Home, Sports Illustrated, Saturday Evening Post, Harpers Bazaar, Look, TV Guide, The City Sun, New York Amsterdam News, The African American, New York Times, Encyclopedia Britannica, Columbia University Community Affairs Journal, Positive Community and Elle.

Eighteen years ago, Jim founded The Photographic Center of Harlem (PCH), a full service photographic learning environment for children, young adults and senior citizens.  PCH is the natural outgrowth of teaching photography to children and senior citizens at Harlem School of The Arts, where he served as artist-in-residence from 1986 to 1988.  PCH’s students have participated in more than 60 major exhibitions in museums, galleries and other public and community spaces.  More than 100 of PCH’s participants have established impressive careers within the communications industry. 

Not satisfied with merely making financial contributions to families impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, in December 2005, Jim visited Baton Rouge and New Orleans to contribute his photographic skills to the region’s recovery efforts.  He brought a portable portrait studio and professional printer and several professional cameras and proceeded to hold a series of photography workshops and free individual and family portrait sessions at several churches, community centers, trailer parks, and homes.

He has provided photography workshops for more than 120 students in Louisiana.  Along with his students and interns, Jim has produced and delivered multiple prints of nearly 500 individual and family portraits.  After several return trips to New Orleans, in April 2006, Jim relocated to the city and established the Gulf South Photography Project (GSPP). 

With the support of the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation (LDRF) and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church’s Coming Home Center, Jim is able to more effectively expand GSPP’s workshops and portraits program, serving New Orleans and several rural communities throughout Louisiana that were impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Hal Clark
Hal Clark, host/producer of WYLD-FM’s Sunday Journal, a live public affairs program, interviews a variety of local and national guests, including artists, community activists, politicians and a bevy of newsmakers.  He also works as executive associate to the Chancellor at Southern University at New Orleans.

A veteran public relations consultant, Hal has worked with State Farm Insurance Companies, ESSENCE, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Dillard University, T.D. Jakes Ministries, the Southwestern Athletic Conference and Coca-Cola.  This native New Orleanian also has worked as an announcer at several other R&B, hip-hop and smooth jazz radio stations in New Orleans, Cincinnati, and San Diego, where he also hosted a music video show. 

His debut novel, Chummy’s Spirit, was the number one fiction seller at Barnes & Noble Westbank (Harvey, LA) for several weeks in fall 2006.  He’s currently at work on a new novel tentatively titled A Change Out for Binta, and recently agreed to narrate a documentary film about legendary New Orleans jazz music educator Yvonne Busch.