In Baton Rouge’s smallest neighborhoods and largest streets, vibrant colors and intricate paintings decorate the city’s buildings. Murals are plastered along the levy, in the airport, outside hospitals and even on LSU’s campus. Many of these murals are the product of a large team of hard-working artists who prioritize public art that makes an impact.
The Walls Project is a nonprofit organization founded in Baton Rouge in 2012. The organization engages with the public through a variety of projects, but its most noticeable undertakings are the 155 murals that accessorize Baton Rouge buildings. These murals deliver purposeful messages about the city, from raising awareness about civil rights to celebrating local cuisine and culture.
Morgan Udoh, the mural arts senior program coordinator, said the primary function of the art program is to connect Baton Rouge artists to clients who are willing to pay for their work. The Walls Project handles the contract and logistics of each operation, so the artist can focus on creating the mural.
“We are more of a career launch path for artists that are either emerging or already in the field,” Udoh said. “We manage the project itself, so all the artists have to do is show up, be creative and leave.”
Udoh first became involved with The Walls Project in 2016 by volunteering at annual Martin Luther King Jr. festival, a major community service event. Volunteers at MLK fest use art as a form of public service by restoring murals or painting houses in neighborhoods suffering from neglect.
“There were thousands of people coming together to just transform a space, fight blight and paint together,” Udoh said. “I was just impressed by how well-oiled of a machine it was.”
Inspired by the organization’s wide scope of work in the community, she joined The Walls Project as a mural artist in 2021 and later became the senior coordinator of the program. Now, in addition to helping paint murals, she assists in the behind-the-scenes process of matching a client with an artist who meets their needs.
Many of The Walls Project’s mural clients are small businesses, nonprofit organizations and education institutions. Udoh explains that artists on the project’s roster can submit design concepts or art portfolios, and the client can select an artist whose style harmonizes with their goal for a mural.
Other times, artists get paired with clients through demographic and identity similarities based on what the client wants to represent through the artwork.
Udoh said the artists typically get full freedom over the design of a mural, but The Walls Project helps negotiate a compromise between the artist and client if there are any differences of opinion.
“We find a happy midpoint so that the creative expression is still maintained,” Udoh said.
Once the project is approved, the physical work begins. Udoh said a typical day on a mural site starts early in the morning, jam-packed with preparation and painting.
When they aren’t interrupted by the weather, one mural takes about one to two weeks to finish. Ashli Ognelodh, the artist in residence for the project from 2022 to 2023, said painting the murals requires intense mental creativity and physical labor.
“People don’t realize the physical labor component until they actually paint with you,” Ognelodh said. “I work in this capacity, so this is a muscle I exercise constantly.”
Both Ognelodh and Udoh said that artists get to interact a great deal with the public while they paint murals, whether it’s cars honking in support as they drive past or pedestrians stopping at the site to chat.
“While you are working it’s absolutely amazing because no matter where you are in the city, everyone loves art,” Udoh said. “It’s such a positive environment to be able to leave a mark on the city and know that it’s appreciated.”
Ognelodh will even pass a paintbrush to someone who approaches her and let them assist with the mural. This part of the mural process is impactful for both the artists and the public who interact with them.
“I always see a kind of relief moment which I really enjoy,” Ognelodh said. “Being able to ignite that inner child in a difficult world is always a beautiful thing for me.”
In their future work with The Walls Project, both Udoh and Ognelodh hope to continue to see greater engagement with public art. As public interaction increases, they also hope that equitable compensation for the arts rises.
“I hope it moves the art-business needle,” Ogneldoh said. “If a person has a talent, they should be able to make a living off of it.”
Udoh is working on The Walls Project’s most current mural alongside her student apprentice Jessica Wilson, a fine arts and liberal arts major at Baton Rouge Community College. Located at 3434 North Blvd., it is Wilson’s first mural with The Walls Project. She enjoys letting her creativity take over and hopes to work on more murals in the future.
“You know how when you’re a kid, your parents don’t allow you to color on the walls?” Wilson said. “It feels like I’m actually being granted permission to do that.”
A major focus of The Walls Project, in addition to creating new artworks, is mural upkeep. Some murals are over 10 years old and require restoration to ensure their impact lasts. Ognelodh and Udoh both feel that the Baton Rouge community has been vibrantly enriched as a result of these murals and the powerful social and cultural messages they depict.
“I hope they make people feel like they live in a cool place where art happens, and they feel like they can leave their mark as well,” Udoh said.
