As a non-profit organization, French Quarter Festivals relies heavily upon the sales of merchandise to help keep our events FREE and open to the public.  Therefore, it is important to select a painting that portrays the fun, festive atmosphere of French Quarter Fest.  This year's piece is no exception.

This year’s piece being no exception, the French Quarter Festival staff approached local Jackson Square artisan, Søren Vandegaard, a native New Orleanian, has shown artwork around the United States as well as internationally.  He is among the new class of up-and-comers within the artist community.

For this year’s festival poster, Vandegaard created a festive assortment of all things French Quarter.  Joan of Arc, ‘The Maid of Orleans’, leads a parade of revelers, which includes a collection of memorable French Quarter figures including the late Ruthie ‘The Duck Lady’, a bullish sanitation worker,  and an infamous hotdog vendor, as they second-line past the peaks of the St. Louis Cathedral and the paddle wheel of the Steamboat Natchez.  The original is a collage of photo-derived realism and hyper-color expressionism—in a mixed-media courtbouillion of recycled paper, duct tape, colored tissue, acrylic paint, markers, crayons, and cardboard, much of which is salvaged from French Quarter debris.  Tissue paper functions as a type of stain-glass filter, while the tape is used to provide depth, resulting in a multi-layered window through which viewers gain insight into the streets of New Orleans.

Editions:* 1,250 Artist-signed & numbered prints, $45, 32" x 20"

For more information about purchasing the original please visit sorenvandegaard.com.