French Quarter Festival Poster 2009

As a non-profit organization, French Quarter Festival 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.

The French Quarter Festival staff approached local Jackson Square artisan, Søren Vandegaard, a native New Orleanian, who 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. (Buy It Here!)