Bead Town: Recycling Mardi Gras Beads … for a purpose

Sunday, 31 March (Part II)
Aviation arbor Famcamp — NAS JRB New Orleans — Belle Chasse, Louisiana
Temps: Lo 58F / Hi 80F (14C / 27C)

In my quest to photograph murals around New Orleans, I posted a note on the Trip Advisor New Orleans forum for tips on where I might find them.  One poster suggested that I might enjoy checking out an exhibit in Slidell.  He was right!

One of two over-sized murals at the Community Feed Store in downtown Slidell.
Featuring the NOLA skyline at night, The 42 x 8 feet (13 x 2½ m) mural contains 1.5 million beads.

A closer look at a portion of the mural featuring the NOLA skyline at night.

The links that the poster provided led me to several articles which gave interesting insight into a community art project undertaken by Stephan Wanger, a German-born, NOLA-based artist.  For Wanger, this project — which he has been working on for five years — is not just a means for recycling Mardi Gras beads.  It is also a means for teaching children about Louisiana … one Mardi Gras bead at a time.  As well, working on the murals teaches kids the value of persistence, something that seems to be a foreign concept to some in today’s society.

The articles describe Bead Town better than I can, so I will provide the links here for those interested in reading more about the project:

Article 1 — Article 2 — Article 3

Also, I uploaded an article from Slidell’s local magazine to my Google Drive.  If you’d like to read it, just click here.

At first I didn’t think we’d be able to squeeze in a visit to Slidell to see the murals.  When Mui told me the swamp tour (post here) he had picked out was just a few miles outside the town proper, however, I knew we just had to stop by and check them out.

I’m going to share several of the photographs I took at the gallery in this post, but if you’d like to see more and read the extensive captions, click this link for the series of photos I posted of the murals/artwork in my online gallery.  If you’re so inclined, it’s worth checking out the posted images in full size to appreciate the minute details.

Zapp's Cajun Craw-tators Potato Chips created by Randolph Matas Elementary School, Metairie, LA and Stephan Wanger. these kettle-fried chips have a Cajun crunch that packs all the flavor of Louisiana.	New Orleans’ Resilience is characterized by this woman who is walking away from a cemetery; the dates of Hurricane Katrina and the BP Horizon Oil Spill are inscribed on the gravestones.

A portion of Sanctuary of Alegria — Home of Happiness.
the mural showcases a view across the mighty Mississippi River towards downtown NOLA.
(record holder for size before the nighttime skyline mural was created.)

A portion of the Sanctuary of Alegria — Home of Happiness mural depicts the
Saint Louis Cathedral with the paddle wheeler Natchez in the foreground.

Center of the Universe
Priced at $14,000, this piece contains 49,000 beads.
It is a tribute to the influence the music of Louisiana has had on the rest of the world.

Tabasco Sauce — created by Randolph Matas Elementary School, Metairie and Stephan Wanger.
Tabasco products are made by the McIlhenny Company, founded in 1868 on Avery Island,
Louisiana, and still family-owned and operated on that very site.

My Beauty Underneath
Priced at $8,000, this piece contains 66,048 beads.
Mask or no mask, we are always challenged to see the beauty in every human.

The Titillations of New Orleans
Priced at $36,000, this piece contains over 200,000 beads.
It is in tribute to the French Quarter's Historic Pontalba Building.

Crawfish Boil — created by Randolph Matas Elementary School, Metairie and Stephan Wanger.
The traditional way for diners to eat crawfish is to "pinch the tails and suck the heads."

Walking to New Orleans — This $20,000 piece contains 75,000 beads.
The work shows Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav bouncing off the spirit
of New Orleans and Louisiana.  The notes in the song are the
beginning notes of "Walking to New Orleans" by Fats Domino.
The sale of this piece will benefit Tipitina's Foundation.

Louisiana State Flag
created by the Andrew H. Wilson Charter School of New Orleans and Stephan Wanger.
The pelican has been a symbol of Louisiana since the 1800s. The flag depicts a mother pelican
feeding blood from her chest to her babies; teaching our children the importance of sacrifice.

Work in progress — showing a great blue heron in flight as part of a swamp scene.

What a fantastic find this exhibit turned out to be!  Free, too.  And what a great way to recycle the zillions of Mardi Gras beads that are thrown from the floats during the pre-Lent festivities each year.  What is truly amazing is that Stephan Wanger is not a formally trained artist and was not involved in art until he began this project!  What a way to make an entrance!