“New Orleans Streets” is a commissioned public artwork by local artist Evelyn Menge that celebrates the city’s unique street names. The installation, commissioned in 1991 for the New Orleans City Hall by the Percent For Art Program, is 346 feet in length and runs in a continuous band on the walls throughout the building’s first floor corridor. In addition to the 59 distinctive and often unusual local street names, the artist has used designs from the tile and paving fragments, architectural details, local plants, and other objects (such as bus transfers, Mardi Gras beads, and lottery tickets) from life in our city. By drawing attention to these fragments of everyday life, the artist makes us conscious of our rich architectural, social, and political heritage and helps us realize what makes living in New Orleans unique.
The artist was selected through a competitive process that began in 1990. Following her selection by the project’s jury (art critic Luba Glade, artist Richard Thomas, artist Brian Borrello, and City Planning Commissioner Renna Godchaux), the artist and the Percent For Art staff worked closely with the Mayor’s Office, Councilmembers, and various City agencies to develop a scheme that would accommodate anticipated changes to the space and successfully express New Orleans’ cultural heritage.
- Created: 1992
- Current Location: City Hall - Floor 1, Corridor Walls - 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 (google map)
- Collections: NOLA Percent for Art