Framing History

Brit and John here from the Paper Monuments outreach team. Over the last couple weeks we’ve been coordinating a new installation series that just debuted at Backatown Coffee on Basin Street. The new series is called Framing History! Look for framed installations of narratives from New Orleans’ history popping up over the coming weeks. Individual framed posters will appear across New Orleans neighborhoods, where folks will happen upon the stories that have created the city around us. While our previous installations were based around the Canal/Basin transit area to reach people as they were commuting, Framing History spreads the stories across the city, bringing them into the various neighborhoods where they took place. We invite people to use the tag #FramingHistory to share the stories they’ve found, and to see what else has been installed.

This debut collection of #FramingHistory was put together this past Monday, MLK Jr. Day, with the help of a bunch of amazing volunteers! We painted old picture frames, wheatpasted posters onto plywood sheets, and assembled the final products together. Folks also proposed their own new monuments for New Orleans, telling us the stories they’d like to see represented in public space. Thank you to everyone who showed up to help, and stay on the lookout for further opportunities to come help build new installations. If you’d like to be put on the volunteer list, sign up here and we’ll make sure to text you about future events! Big thank you to Backatown for hosting the first round of frames, so go get some great coffee and food and read up on New Orleans history!

We’re looking for blight and eager to re-use! Do you know of a boarded-up house or business that we should install on? Do you have some old picture frames that you’d like to donate? Send us a message on Facebook or email us at info@papermonuments.org. Thank you!