Canal Street Menagerie

A new public art experience infuses new life into one of New Orleans’s most iconic thoroughfares

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In a new experience presented by Celebrate Canal—a coalition revitalizing New Orleans’s historic Canal Street—people strolling outside the Saenger Theatre can stop and view a new art installation by Jacques Francois, titled “It’s a Starry Night at the Saenger.” The artwork, situated just behind and above the iconic Saenger sign, features illustrations of Elizabeth Taylor, Louis Armstrong, Big Freedia, and Fats Domino—along with all their pets. And at the center of it is New Orleans’s own “runaway” pet of the collective: Scrim.  

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If the viewers take out their phones and scan a QR Code, they can listen to an interactive narration (by New Orleans musician Ivan Neville) of Scrim’s adventure down the “Canal Street Menagerie”: In the telling, as the lost pup looks up at the stars in Francois’s artwork, Patch—a mini police horse—tells him tales of Canal Street’s yesteryear, when the thoroughfare served as the “Champs Élysées of New Orleans.”  

This recollection of Canal’s glory days, and dreaming for its future, is at the heart of Celebrate Canal’s mission. The coalition’s debut activation, which is titled Windows on Canal, was created in partnership with Where Y’Art Works to serve as an “outdoor art gallery.” Installations on the façades of historic buildings all along the street feature work by contemporary New Orleans artists.

The artworks, accompanied by a digital narration, follow Scrim down Canal to landmarks like The Palace Café, where an egret offers him crabmeat cheesecake and turtle soup; and the Ruby Slipper, where Scrim meets a dove named Dodie, after civil rights activist Doratha “Dodie” Smith-Simmons. The experience brings together the work of contemporary artists, the rich history of the city, and baked-in experiences at some of its most iconic sites.  

In addition, the experience will feature some signature events, including an Art & Architecture tour on June 4 and a fashion show on June 19. The window installations will be on display through July 6. 

Learn more at celebratecanal.com.