How Outdoor Art Changes a Neighborhood

Community Visions Unlimited created a project called "New Orleans Street Gallery." It began shortly after Katrina and was implemented to assist local artists and neighborhoods with recovery. What we found out is that outdoor art in unexpected places like our traffic signal boxes really gives the neighborhoods a lift by stopping graffiti and litter.

People email us all the time to tell us how the art work makes their day pleasurable while driving around New Orleans. Our streets here leave much to be desired (pot hole city) but the art work helps make people smile. One email recently said "my son is crazy about the boxes and points out all of them wherever we go." This makes all of us at CVU happy and proud of the talented artist we have living in our community.

The New Orleans Street Gallery is a part of a bigger picture we have for our city. CVU is just finishing touches on our manual "Operation Street by Street" which gives 15 chapters on empowering neighborhoods with all types of resources.

The artist who did the box above at Claiborne & Canal is Jennifer Lindsley. She often has her son in tow while working on a box. Jennifer is a teacher and also does illustrations for Pelican Publishing and has done boxes at Wisner & Desaix, Harrison & Wisner, City Park & Carrollton, Ulloa & Carrollton and Leon C. Simon & Elysian Fields.

This is our first blog and hope you will let us know what subjects you would like us to cover.