Lady Bleu Devils
Louisiana • Annie Flanagan, Ashley Teamer
From the 2021-2022 We, Women nationwide exhibit.
About the project
She laces up her sneakers, a cross hangs around her neck. Her blue warm-up shirt reads “Create Yours” in bold, white letters. Headphones in, she grabs a basketball off the rack, the sound of each dribble echoing off the walls as she steps closer to the court. Without skipping a beat, she jabs left, squares up, shoots, swoosh. The buzzer rings. After coach Rome reviews the plays, the team gathers in the center of the locker room: arms up, they pray.
In 1973, after the passage of Title IX, Mary Dixon Teamer founded Dillard University’s Lady Bleu Devils in New Orleans, Louisiana. Nearly 50 years later, Mary’s granddaughter, Ashley Teamer, along with friend and collaborator Annie Flanagan, have documented the present day Lady Bleu Devils team over the course of two years. They’ve witnessed them become the 2018 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference champions as well as how their deep interconnections and unwavering community grew over the seasons.
Through a billboard series in New Orleans coming this year, their project inserts Black women in the landscape of the city, highlighting the significance of the team and the relationships and complexities of each player in their pursuit of athletic and academic excellence at a historically Black university.
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
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About the Artists
Annie Flanagan is a photographer and journalist based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Their work is rooted in the documentary format and focuses on gender, sexuality, and the environment throughout the United States. Annie has been recognized and supported by organizations including the Alexia Foundation, POYi, and New Orleans Photo Alliance. Their clients include The Washington Post, The Players’ Tribune, AARP, Mother Jones, Neon Magazine, CNN, The New York Times, and Smithsonian Magazine.
www.annieflanagan.com • @annieflanagan
Ashley Teamer is an artist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her multimedia artwork explores the nuances of Black femininity through painting, collage, and video. Ashley’s work has most recently been exhibited at Siena Heights University, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Los Angeles LGBT Center, and Echo Park Film Center.