Michael Hecht has more on his plate than he'd have at a tailgate party. In June, Gov. Jeff Landry handed Hecht the task of preparing New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX in January.
Hecht is president and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Inc. booster organization, and all he has to do before then is fix up the city’s roads, curbs, sidewalks, lighting and drainage to make the city “shine,” as he put it.
But in a telephone conversation last week, Hecht said he’d also like to see some regional artworks on display for the international Super Bowl crowd and the army of media that will be coming to town. Some really big artworks.
Hecht said he hopes to find a few “blank or ugly” walls downtown where select artists could paint large-scale murals. He admits that so far, the idea is more like a dream than a plan.
New murals might pop up in New Orleans before the 2025 Super Bowl. In presentations promoting the project, New Orleans' Super Bowl coordinator Michael Hecht used Becky Fos as an example of a possible artist.
He has a few walls in mind, he said, like the outside of the HEAL parking garage adjacent to Duncan Plaza, and maybe one wall of the main post office.
Hecht said his rough estimate is that each major mural could cost $100,000 to produce, with the artists being “paid appropriately.” He said he hopes the artworks would survive at least 10 years.
Who’s going to pay for all this? Hecht said there’s no budget for the project yet, but he hopes private donors might step forward to underwrite the murals.
During presentations announcing the potential mural project, Hecht used New Orleans artist Brandan “BMIKE” Odums, known for his enormous portraits, and Becky Fos, known for her colorful wildlife paintings, as examples of Louisiana artists who could fit the bill.
But he was quick to say he’s seeking suggestions of other artists to help paint the cityscape before the big game.
If you’d like to propose an artist for the potential project, send your suggestion to [email protected].