Jackson Square Artists

FAQ: How can I become an artist on Jackson Square? Do I need a permit?

ANSWER: Yes, you must have a permit to be an artist on Jackson Square. Only 200 permits are issued annually, and there is currently a waiting list. The permits are renewable in January; those not renewed become available to new artists. Interested persons must contact the Bureau of Revenue, Permits Department, about getting on the waiting list for a permit. The required mayoralty permit and occupational license cost $175 per year. The application fee is $20. These permits allow original hand-painted or "drawn on a plain surface" works only. Reproductions of any sort are not permitted.

Lee Tucker   Visual artist/photographer Lee Tucker has exhibited in galleries in the U.S. and England. He has had numerous one-man shows, including at Chicago's prestigious Steppenwolf Theater in tandem with a production of "A Streetcar Named Desire".   Tucker's art graces international collections such as those of Freeport-Indonesia, and the Omni, Wyndham, Holiday Inn, Westin and the Ritz-Carlton hotel groups.

Jack McCann New Orleans artist Jack McCann is known widely for his watercolor originals and New Orleans art prints, scenes of the colorful New Orleans French Quarter, and "jazz art" scenes of famous Bourbon Street.    Jack was educated at the prestigious Cooper Union Institute of Art in New York City. He's been the recipient of many awards for his watercolors, including honors from the Alabama Watercolor Society "Cotton" Show and Birmingham Watercolor Society Exhibits. He also served his country in the U.S. Navy, 7th Fleet, stationed in the Philippines.    Jack has been creating original watercolor New Orleans art scenes for nearly thirty years, and his paintings have long been popular among visitors to the French Quarter. Now, some of his watercolor paintings have been made into quality art prints available for you to order online.

James Hussey   James (Jim) Hussey is a New Orleans native who has become an American artist of note. Born in 1936, Jim was educated in New Orleans; upon completion of his academic training, he began a career as a salesman and merchant.   In the summer of 1970, he decided to leave the business world, and equipped only with the paints and brushes his mother had left him, an interest in art from early childhood, and inspiration from his surroundings, family, friends, and prominent artists, he decided to pursue his love for art on a full-time basis.   Jim's paintings reflect his personal feelings, with nostalgic and romantic moods, settings, and the history of the South as seen through the eyes of numerous novelists and historians.

Cath Wilson   Born and raised in the heart of New Orleans, Cath creates watercolor and acrylic paintings of the buildings and scenes of New Orleans that she has come to know and love. As a licensed artist on Jackson Square, she sells her originals at the square and also creates commissioned paintings from photographs. She can be contacted at www.neworleansartbycath.com.

Gregory Giegucz   "My work is a personal journal of illustrated characters and symbols guided by memory and intuition. These signs depict monsters, machines, nature, and different notions of home and self-reflection. Like roots growing from a tree, my pictures evolve and branch from one another. Their energy captures the muted inner path of the human spirit. I embrace life's coincidences and the endless overlapping of metaphors embedded in reality. The French poet Antoin Artaud (1896-1946) once said, "Art is not the imitation of life, but life is the imitation of a transcendent principal with which art can put us back in communication."

Miriam Ragan   Miriam Ragan has been painting in the New Orleans French Quarter for over 30 years, and has been available during this time to painting customers and art lovers on Jackson Square. Her paintings are of varied subjects, but the bulk of her artwork is of Louisiana swamps, New Orleans and French Quarter scenes, and paintings of floral still lifes and southern flowers, such as the magnolia.    Although Miriam has tried painting in acrylics, the medium doesn't suit her style, so she returned to the oil and watercolor media that she loves so much. In recent years, she has made some of her work available in the form of printed reproductions.

Sam Infiniti Hurwitch   A native of New England, Sam Infiniti Hurwitch came to New Orleans in 1970, where he fell in love with Jackson Square. Sam began painting in 1977, and in 1983, began a three-year study of art at U.N.O.

Mohamadou Sani   Sani moved to New Orleans, where the inspiration and opportunty to paint abound. He has been a featured artist for many years at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, where he won the award for "Best Display" in 2003. He took part in the public art project "Restore the Oaks," inititated by the African-American Museum of Art, Culture and History and Mayor Marc Morial in 2002. He has shown his work throughout the United States.   Sani's rich culture and people serve well as the subjects of his works. Some important themes, such as the spiritual influences of religions, tribal ceremonies, and music, are present in his art; friends used to call him the "lord of the dance". Sani was forced to close his gallery in New Orleans after Katrina, but has not given up on his art.

Stanley Beck   Stanley Beck was born and raised in New Orleans. He attended elementary school in New Orleans and Metairie, and graduated from De la Salle High School in 1961. Within weeks of his graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force; he served on active duty for four years, most of that time as an electronics instructor.   Upon his discharge, Stanley, his wife and their young daughter moved back to New Orleans. After working for a few years, he began to take art classes at night at the John McCrady Art School on Bourbon Street. It was here that he developed his lifelong relationship with the French Quarter culture and architecture, which set the tone for his paintings for years to come.

Ann deLorge   "I enjoy looking at a painting that takes me on a trip while giving me something to discover and think about with each visit. The interaction and tensions between the various compositional elements are what I love about jazz music and painting."   A native Southerner, Ann moved to New Orleans, LA in 1971, where she began a painting career in watercolors. She began producing limited edition serigraphs and painted several sets of prints for New Orleans Images Gallery in the French Quarter to reproduce exclusively. Ann started experimenting with acrylics on canvas, as her painting gradually evolved while she listened to contemporary jazz . The two interests melded into what she calls "Jazz Art".

• Natasha Mylius
• Gustavo Trujillo
• Jeffrey Passage

• Karla Hunt
• MOUSIE
• John Perret

Are You a Jackson Square Artist?

We strive to keep a current list of artists who work in the Square as a resource for our readers. If you would like to create a listing or update any information we have listed, please contact us.