The Bogalusa Blues and Heritage Festival is proud to announce the two new additions to its Heritage Trail, which honors people with local connections who have earned widespread acclaim in any branch of the creative arts.

This year the festival will celebrate its first two women inductees — a still-active visual artist and a recently deceased song writer who kept her exceptional accomplishments “under cover.”

Franklinton native Ann Warner is a widely known still-life, landscape and portrait artist, and teacher, whose oil renderings have been exhibited in regional and national shows, and hang in corporate and private collections both locally and throughout the United States.
Her vibrant, mood-inducing paintings exude a strong, compelling energy that transports the observer into her peaceful scenes.

An advocate of the plein air movement, Warner most enjoys painting what she sees in the natural light of outdoor settings. She has painted from Maine to Santa Fe, from the Bahamas to Canada, Mexico and Europe. But her favorite landscapes are the ones she knows best, in her lush, fertile and endlessly rich Louisiana home.

Warner, who has a bachelor of science degree from LSU, was mentored by the late Carl Thorp, an acclaimed oil colorist, with whom she studied from 1979-1989. Her goal has since been to “be a part of continuing the gift of Carl Thorp” by working to expand the local visual arts colony.
Warner currently offers private classes in her Franklinton studio and workshops there, across the United States and internationally.

The second honoree is Enotris O. Johnson, who co-wrote the Little Richard hits “Long Tall Sally” and “Jenny Jenny,” and more than a dozen other songs.

After her death on Aug. 2 of this year, her family revealed her well-kept secret. Festival organizers were stunned, and are now delighted to give her the spot that she deserves on its Trail.
In 1956, she married Rev. Willie J. Johnson and put her music career on hold for the love of her life. The couple lived in Bogalusa.

Johnson had no regrets. She experienced 57 years of marriage and ministry. And when she heard her lyrics sung by numerous artists, she thanked God for giving her the gift of song writing.