On the night of January 30th the Jackson Square Artist cart yard was broken into and 13 carts were stolen and cruelly thrown into the Mississippi River. The carts contained thousands of dollars worth of original artwork, prints, paint supplies, and set up materials. Essentially these artists whole livelihoods.

Many of the carts belongs to our beloved older members of Jackson Square, folks who have been part of the cultural fabric of the French Quarter for over 40 years. This is an especially big loss as these artists carts are vital to their ability to work everyday. It also comes at the worst possible time, with Mardi Gras season we are in the beginning of our busiest time of the year.

Thanks to the help and advice of Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans all of the money donated is going to be equally distributed to the 13 artists who lost their things via checks from a bank account specifically made for this campaign  thanks to long time artist committee member Lee Tucker and  the rest of the Artist Committee of Jackson Square. Each artist will use the money to build new carts, buy art supplies, tools to set up, catch up on rent and bills and get back on their feet after losing so much work.