Streetcar Art

After seeing Lizano’s streetcar sketches and seeing her work in progress again and again, Paulette Lizano’s streetcar, “Perley’s Barnyard Party,” is complete and has been placed in its location, Canal Place One at 365 Canal Street.  AT&T is the proud sponsor of this streetcar. The streetcar has 5,274 separate pieces of glass!  Lizano has named each animal with an AT&T theme: for example, Bundles the bunny, Ringo the rooster, Trace the mouse, and Voz the blue bird.  This streetcar twinkles in the sunlight and is truly dynamic.

Ann Strub’s “Hot Pepper Express” (the plaque also credits Charles Bendzans and Bobby Zabler as having executed the design) is located at the Hotel Intercontinental/Pan American Life building at the corner of Poydras and St. Charles (601 Poydras Street). It’s spicily-sponsored by the Gustaf Westfeldt Mcllhenny Family Foundation.

The Mcllhenny family have made Tobasco sauce at Avery Island near New Iberia since 1868. If you’ve never been to Avery Island, it’s a treat. The island (really a salt dome poking out of the marsh) is a garden paradise, full of wildlife and beautiful plants. I remember going as a kid and can still smell the pungent pepper mash that hits you as you walk into the factory.

While wilting in the August sun visiting the Freret Street Market today (it was nice; but I’m waiting until October to go back) we spotted this nifty streetcar in one of the booths. We snapped a picture just in time; a very nice lady (with good taste) had just purchased it and it was being taken down for wrapping.

The artist is RK Rowell. You can see the rest of his southern fried blues art at Vigoboom.com. Caroline Lamb is the streetcar’s proud new owner.

Laxman K.’s “We the People of New Orleans” is the second streetcar to don the entrance of the First Bank & Trust Tower at 909 Poydras Street.  Dr. Kewalramani’s lovely streetcar is sponsored by Hertz Investment Group, which owns and manages the prestigious First Bank & Trust Tower.

The Times Picayune’s Metairie section did a little write-up about Paulette Lizano and her streetcar, “Perley’s Barnyard Party.” The article has some general info on the Young Leadership Council and A Streetcar Named Inspire project as a whole.

We’ve been following Paulette’s progress (here, here and here) from sketch to installation (which will be coming soon at Canal Place). You can read the piece here. Congratulations to her, all the streetcar artists and the folks at the YLC!

Note: The TP article states that funds raised through A Streetcar Named Inspire will go towards a streetcar museum. The Young Leadership Council states, however, that the beneficiary of the project is the Downtown Development District and its development of a space on Canal Street at Basin Street relative to the Broadway South initiative.

Kathy Miller Stone’s streetcar invites all to join the riders inside and “Laissez Le Bontemps Roulez.” The car is inside the lobby at One Shell Square on Poydras at St. Charles and is sponsored by Shell Pipeline Company. For more of Kathy’s work (lots of nice watercolors) go to KathyStone.net.

Steve Ulness, a sculptor for Mardi Gras Decorators, is the artist of the streetcar sponsored by and located at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel.  Ulness’ streetcar is entitled, “Greetings from New Orleans.”  Ulness is also the artist that designed the streetcar blanks.

Water color artist Karen Larmeau Stakelum’s, “The Heartbeat of New Orleans” streetcar is located at 1415 Tulane Avenue.  The sponsors of this medical-themed car are, aptly, HCA/Tulane.

YLC Streetcar artists Paulette Lizano and Will Smith popped up during Tales of the Cocktail at the event’s Cocktail Marketplace on Saturday. Paulette, who is in the process of building her streetcar, “Perley’s Barnyard Party” was there selling glass coasters and plates featuring martini glasses and S&WB meter cover designs.

Will Smith’s (WMSJR) streetcar is located at the Prytania Theatre. It features Stella and Stanley from Streetcar Named Desire. He added sponsors John and Gayle Gish to it as well. Will was at Tales selling his Mardi Gras krewe giclees. He also had a new line of burlesque girl paintings on hand for sale. See more WMSJR art at WMSJR.com.

Also posted at MyBigEasyLife.com.

Paulette Lizano has continued her work on her glass streetcar and has allowed us in again to see her progress. The animals in the windows are mostly installed. She expects to be grouting it next week!

As I was leaving Paulette’s studio, my eye was caught by this lovely streetcar in the window:

Not only does Lizano’s Glass Haus sell these lovely streetcars, there are rumors that some of them will be auctioned at the YLC event when the Streetcar Named Inspired cars are auctioned, too!