New Orleans: Street Art Walk ft. Banksy & Local Murals

4.93

(139 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

“You see that one? The paint’s barely dry,” our guide grinned as we squinted up at a wall off St. Claude Avenue. I’d just finished my coffee (the kind that leaves a little grit on your tongue), and already the city felt different—more alive, maybe. We were somewhere between the 9th and 7th Wards, where the sidewalks crack and the murals seem to grow out of nowhere. A local guy with paint on his jeans nodded as we passed; he didn’t say much but smiled when our guide mentioned his name. It’s weird how quickly you start noticing things—tiny stickers on lamp posts, the way old bricks feel under your shoes, even the faint smell of spray paint drifting in the air.

I didn’t expect to get hungry so fast, but after wandering around Bywater and St. Roch (and pausing way too long to photograph a mosaic by Laurel True), we ducked into St. Roch Market for a break. It’s been there for almost 150 years, apparently, but it still feels fresh inside—cool air, clatter of plates, someone laughing over oysters at noon. I grabbed something sweet and cold water; honestly could’ve stayed longer just people-watching if we hadn’t had more murals to find.

Later in Faubourg Marigny, our guide pointed out a whole stretch of road where every other building has some kind of art—some bold and wild, others almost hidden unless you look twice. There was this moment where we all stood quiet in front of one piece (I think everyone was trying to figure out what it meant), then someone made a joke about Banksy hiding behind a dumpster. Eventually we ended up at the edge of the French Quarter, staring at one of Banksy’s last works left in New Orleans—a little faded but still sharp somehow. Our guide told us how much these murals mean here after Katrina; I didn’t know street art could carry that weight.

I keep thinking about that last mural—the way everyone went silent for a second before drifting off toward their next thing. Maybe it’s silly but I still see flashes of color when I close my eyes now.