Need a break from the same 4 walls of your bedroom? Look no further, Artmazing Gallery is opening soon to bring you new backdrops you never knew you needed! Artmazing Gallery is a brand new interactive art exhibit in the French Quarter. Located at 309 Decatur Street, this new pop art experience is perfect for a fun day taking cute pictures and spending time with friends!
Inspired by similar self art galleries in New York and California, Artmazing features different rooms throughout the 6,000 square feet. Each room is filled with different art installations, perfectly designed to have you yourself become the missing piece.
Owner Giselle Monteiro explained that most rooms were inspired by music videos and pictures that you love to see. One room, the money room, was inspired by Taylor Swift. The money room features fake $100 bills hanging from the ceiling, surrounded by cash covered walls. The room also has a fake vault backdrop with the classic money bags seen in old-timey robber movies.
The mugshot room features dozens of signs listing all the funny fake crimes you can pretend to have committed. A few examples include: “Dancing Queen: Crime: Busted For A Move” & “Goddess: Crime: Too Damn Sexy.” This room definitely allows for a good laugh.
The Rainbow Room and the Train a Flea room, my personal favorites, have a stronger message beyond being rooms for photos. The Rainbow Room features blank canvases attached to the walls with tubs of paint sitting adjacent. Beneath the canvases hangs a sign reading “You are invited to leave your message, express your art, create your rainbow or just add a special touch to our canvases!” Each canvas will be auctioned at the end of the year to support local charities in need. Now, imagine walking into a dark room lit up with bright neon colors and a black light. Hanging from the ceiling are little jars staggered at different heights with enough space to walk around and read the inspirational words on the jars. This room, which I labelled the Train a Flea Room, presents a little sign on the corner explaining the process of training fleas. According to the sign, when you put a flea in a jar with a lid on top of it and hit the lid over and over, the flea will eventually give up trying to escape. They even give up to the point that they won’t jump out when you unscrew the lid of the jar. At the bottom of the sign it reads: “People are the same way… so, I wanted to remind you, there is no lid, you can try again! Don’t create mental blocks for yourself. You are not a flea!” I thought this room and its message were beautiful.
The art exhibit is perfect for small gatherings, which fits into the pandemic guidelines of COVID-19. All guests are required to wear masks and use the provided hand sanitizer. The number of guests will be limited at each time slot.
The rooms are set to change every three or four months to keep those photos fresh! In addition to perfect picture opportunities, this gallery is open to brunches, and from Monday to Thursday, you can book private shoots and private events. Thursday to Sunday, the gallery will be open to the public.
Overall, I would recommend driving down to the French Quarter for a fun day with friends!
“I would love for people to come and have fun and of course, give us ideas! We need ideas!” Monteiro said. “We want to be a place for New Orleans to have a gallery, and for people to have this crazy idea that [Artmazing] can make a reality.”
Check out their Instagram: @artmazinggallery
Cover Photo: Natalie Askowitz
