Q & A with Community Creators: The Solimans
In this series, we chat with creative minds in our community. Meet our September Community Creators, Michelle and David Soliman. The Solimans are local professionals working in real estate and finance, respectively. However, in their spare time they like to turn their home into an installation art piece. It’s gotten such a positive response, onlookers have nicknamed it the “Kraken House” and visit it on holidays.
“[Our] kids are interested and involved, sharing their ideas and helping to create. You can catch our 3rd grader crafting some Taylor Swift skeletons, while our 2 year old is singing ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’ to the skeletons.”
Hometown? Metro Area (New Orleans and D.C.)
Michelle - New Orleans Metro (Metairie, Mandeville, New Orleans)
Dave - Washington, D.C. Area
Years in New Orleans? VARIES.
Michelle - 40
Dave - 25
What do you create? EXPERIENCES.
We create joy, silliness, and a fun experience for friends, community, and so many others in a wider Halloween andand decorating community! We spread cheer and happiness through our decor! Halloween, Christmas, and Carnival are the main focus of our decorations.
We’ve always decorated, but it was taken to a new level during Covid, we had time to fill in an otherwise diminished social calendar and found ourselves diving deeper into this hobby of decorating our home.
Why do you create? Fun… And Fundraising!
We decorate many reasons, including fun, entertainment, and an enjoyable hobby. However, we have used the attention the house garners for a purpose as well, raise funds to serve the community. Initially, we sought to help support local musicians and artists who were out of work during COVID, and while that environment has improved (thankfully!) we support homeless and underserved members of our community through organizations such as The Louisiana Music And Heritage Experience, Grace At The Green light, and Culture Aid NOLA.
We have an item from a local artist this year to auction and have to determine the best way to go about that to raise proceeds for one of the charities that we support. Stay tuned.
What is one misconception about your art form? Can’t think of any.
That’s a tough one, decorating in general is joyous and entertaining! I wish we had the ability and time to craft more of our own ideas using homemade items, we have more ideas than time and storage space allows for! Dave handles all of the lighting and he does amazing work really making the home and the decorations pop.
How does creating impact your work and daily life? Creates connections.
We have a connection with people instantly from recognizing our home, which is quite entertaining and provides a great conversation starter.
As the kids get older, schedules become more challenging! We have to find time where we can to get the decorations together - you might catch us out there at 7am or at 10pm, we squeeze it in when we can.
The kids are interested and involved, sharing their ideas and helping to create. You can catch our 3rd grader crafting some Taylor Swift skeletons, while our 2 year old is singing “head, shoulders, knees and toes” to the skeletons.
Hurricanes make decorations a bit more challenging for the early part of spooky season. We light to get started early and being on the Gulf Coast can present challenges! We got a jump on the decorations in early September and had to pull them back in for Francine. Ever since Ida, I prefer to wait until after 8/29, that day just isn’t great for South Louisiana. We have our main attractions out front, but we love the little details and need to get the rest of the display together.
Learn more about their installation at www.krakenhousenola.com/faqs
