From Lisbon to Baton Rouge

The Museum of Public Art has been an exciting project to follow as its founder, Dr. Kevin Harris, repurposes spaces in Old South Baton Rouge as a public canvas for street artists. He first brought some talented friends from New York City to paint a mural on the side of the old Habitat Imports on 14th Street (near Village Antiques) in August. Read a story about that mural here.

Over on Myrtle Walk, across from the old Lincoln Theater, Harris got some of those same artists to contribute to the outer walls of the gutted JT Patin building, painting portraits of neighborhood leaders and Baton Rouge landmarks. On the inside, Portuguese artist Odeith was given free rein to add his signature 3-D-style graffiti to the walls. He’s done works in Portugal, London and Germany, and his two 3-D-style pieces (one of which is shown above), as well as a huge throwback portrait of Richard Pryor, will surely attract more attention to the burgeoning project.

Harris has been funding the artists’ trips so far to get the ball rolling for an official opening of the Museum in December, with hopes to gain more community support and funding soon after. But the beauty of the project is its changing nature as more artists are commissioned to put their stamp on Old South. “Nothing here is permanent,” Harris says. “If you come by here six months from now, you are going to see something new. We’re going to have different styles. The artists we’re bringing in are not all doing the same thing.”

Which means not just graffiti art—the Myrtle Walk building is large enough (and open to the elements—there’s no roof) to accommodate big sculptural works and other types of public art as well.

Check out the Museum’s Facebook page for images and more information.