Streetcar Art

Luis Colmenares’ “All That Jazz” is located across the street from his streetcar “Mardi Gras Time” inside the Astor Crowne Plaza. Sponsored by Lee Laporte, it is off the street in window of the office at 622 Canal Street, next door to Rubensteins.

This little gem was painted by the RTA employees that usually paint the famous New Orleans’ streetcars.  Young Leadership Council is the sponsor of this car, having donated it to the RTA.  The car is located at the end of the St. Charles streetcar line on the neutral ground at the corner of Carrollton and Claiborne Avenues.

“Strength and Beauty of Community” is sponsored by and located at the Jewish Community Center. It was painted by JCC art class students and Hugo and Lis Kahn are the patrons behind their creation.  This is another car located on St. Charles streetcar line, at 5342 St. Charles Avenue.  Hugo Kahn is the former president of New Orleans’ beloved Krauss Department Store, and the artists give a nod to this New Orleans icon with the “1201″ on the front of the car; Krauss was located at 1201 Canal Street.

Chris Kaiser’s gambling-themed streetcar, “Big Money,” is appropriately sponsored by Harrah’s Casino.  This car can be found at Harrah’s on Canal Street. Be sure to rub it for luck before entering Harrah’s!

Last weekend at the Palmer Park celebration of the return of the streetcar to Carrollton Avenue, they were handing out free CD’s of an audio tour of the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar Line.

A sticker on the wrapper says the CD is outdated, and that for a limited time (until July 31 or until a certain number are downloaded), you can download the new version for free at www.citysoundtracks.com.  So go get yours for free while you can!

Victor Daniel Ortiz’s streetcar “Superior Spirit” is in front of the Superior Grill, its sponsor, at 3636 St. Charles Avenue. Another car on the big-boy streetcar route, Otiz’s car keeps with the restaurant’s Tex-Mex food and tequila-slinging theme with silhouettes of dancing party people inside and hot chiles on the outside.

Superior Spirit got paid a visit by NOLA bloggers Yat Pundit, Stacey, Katie, Charlotte, Nola and Pete this week. I think they were visiting the margaritas more than the streetcar, but I guess that’s what Superior Spirit is all about.

Paulette Lizano is currently working on her streetcar and invited us in to see her car come to life.  If you will recall, she previously provided us with a sketch of her car along with her reasons for its name, “Perley’s Barnyard Party.”  She took time out of her busy schedule to tell us a bit about her process in creating a glass-crusted streetcar.  She’s also taking pictures at each step.  You can click here to follow her progress.

For the barn, she and her parents (who collectively own Lizano’s Glass Haus) individually cut and grind (or shape) each strip of glass.  After the cutting and shaping, each piece is painted to mimic wood grain; this is done with pulverized glass in paint form, the small rivets are placed using glass frit, and then it is kiln-fired to 1380°.

For the animals, paper patterns are first made.  Then the animals are cut out of glass and layered to achieve the right dimension.  They to are kiln-fired to 1380° to keep the dimensional quality.

The roof is made with iridescent glass to give it a metallic feel.  It resembles a New Orleans slate roof.  And for the billboards on the side of the car, a stencil was first made.  From there the billboards are sandblasted onto the glass, then painted, fired in the kiln, and put in place.

The sponsor of this unique streetcar is AT&T.  In order to personalize the streetcar for AT&T, the Lizanos have incorporated some telecommunication apparatus to some of the passengers.  There will be traditional phones, antique phones, operator head set, cell phones, as well as a lap top and a television.

In the end, the entire car will be covered in glass then grouted for a finished look. Stay tuned as we follow the completion of this car in the following weeks.

The Times Picayune posted this video of Saturday’s celebrations:

Nola’s taken the coolest streetcar pics yet: The RTA’s own streetcar at Carrollton and Claiborne. Isn’t he precious? More to come…

YA/YA–Young Aspirations/Young Artists, Inc. and Rontherin Ratliff present this car at One Shell Square. YA/YA artist intern Jourdan Barnes assisted Rontherin on it. The car is entitled “Creative Energy on Track”and is sponsored by Shell Exploration & Production Co.