Robert Tannen is an artist, urban planner and one of the founders of the Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans. He has been engaged in urban planning and urban design since 1965 throughout the nation and internationally with work in Iran, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Panama. During his career, Tannen has participated in major museum exhibitions, public art projects, festivals and expositions. He has directed large-scale transportation and redevelopment projects, bringing a public art perspective to the management of such projects. Since 1972, Tannen has created art based on the shotgun-house form, both large and small in scale.