If you couldn’t get down to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras properly, look no further than Warehouse. The gallery is currently hosting Arty Gras, an exhibition to celebrate artists displaced by Hurricane Katrina and raise funds for the Habitat for Humanity Gulf Coast recovery efforts.

The exhibition was organized by independent curator Beth Baldwin, who grabbed onto the idea after seeing offers of gallery space for artists whose shows were canceled after the storm. Baldwin immediately thought, “Why isn't everyone doing this? I'm going to make this happen in D.C.!”

She got the ball rolling by contacting Ben Claasson, a Louisiana-raised artist, whose provocative cartoons you have probably seen in the Washington City Paper. He contributed some appropriately biting Katrina-response drawings to the exhibit, and assisted Baldwin in tracking down other NOLA artists. She hoped to have at least ten artists to showcase, but ending up finding nearly a hundred; forty-four of whom were finally picked to squeeze their work into the Warehouse space.

The show opened on Fat Tuesday, complete with colorful beads, a jazz band, and king cake (don’t break your tooth on the baby!). Two distinct themes were woven through the multi-roomed complex. The first: Classic N’awlin’s Pride. Paintings of brightly colored clowns, trumpet-players, and masked figures jump off the canvases. These are the timeless pieces that will make you hear a brass quartet like you’re standing on the corner of Bourbon and Toulouse.

The second theme: Despair and Hope. These are works born from tragedy and riddled with imagery of broken houses and birds in flight. Anthony Carriere’s painting/sculpture titled float (pictured) is a perfect example. The inside of the pirouge, or Cajun fishing boat, is painted with a circle of black stones with a hole in the middle, making it look like it might sink at any moment. The boat is tethered to a red, white and blue pole secured to a study black base.

However, even the aftermath-inspired pieces don’t run low on optimism. It seems so appropriate to have artists show their thoughts on the city and its future, as it’s much like an artist itself – vibrant, inspired, but struggling hard to keep the lights and the heat on.

Arty Gras will run at the gallery at Warehouse through March 19. The gallery is located at 1017-21 7th Street, NW and is open Monday-Friday 5-9pm, Saturday 10am-9pm, and Sunday Noon-5pm.