On the 1100 block of Magazine Street—not quite as far down as St. Pizza, nor far up as Barrel Proof—a bastion of New Orleans culture sits hidden in plain sight. Discerning eyes will spot the signs reading “ART OVER HERE” on nearby posts, follow them past the conciliatory branches of a lush oleander tree, and find themselves at the left half of a double shotgun chock-full of local art: NOLA ‘Nacular Studio & Gallery. Any confusion the name might generate is cleared up by a sign hanging prominently in the front room: “Documenting the Vernacular Culture of New Orleans.” A few weekends a month, during the opening and closing receptions of rotating art shows, it’s one of the best free parties in town. There’s an array of musicians doing their thing in the living room and a hot, veggie-friendly meal on offer in the back, whipped up with love by proprietor Anthony “Turducken” DelRosario, who owns the building (and lives in the other half).
“Anthony is an institution unto himself,” was ANTIGRAVITY editor-in-chief Dan Fox’s response when I pitched this piece on the gallery’s two-year anniversary, which will be celebrated on May 31. Indeed, while the gallery is in mere toddlerhood, DelRosario’s impact on the New Orleans art and music scenes dates back much further. His legacy includes pre-Katrina stints as DJ and music director at WTUL, and as independent promoter at Mermaid Lounge (R.I.P.) and other venues under the legendary Turducken Productions banner. But it was the post-Katrina documentation of the culture he saw fading in the storm’s wake that ultimately led to this NOLA ‘Nacular project (a nod to a similar Las Vegas-based documentation initiative: Vegas Vernacular). He had a particular interest in the hand-painted signs associated with local corner stores and bars, and has dedicated much of his life to preserving the art form and bringing recognition to the artists behind it. I got to post up with him at the gallery, surrounded by his photos, screenprints, and linocuts of the bits of New Orleans iconography that serve as his muses, to learn more about his colorful story.
First of all, congratulations! Two years. I know the NOLA ‘Nacular brand had been established about 10 years before that. What was going on two years ago that you were able to make the leap and go brick and mortar with the concept?
Anthony DelRosario: [laughs] The last tenants were a mess! Left it a mess when they left and I decided I didn’t want to do that for a while. And I already had a bunch of things framed. So after I painted some of the rooms, cleaned it up, I decided to do a pop-up that went pretty well and decided, “Hey, let’s do it full-on.” I was working from home a couple days a week, so why not?
Going further back, it really is such an interesting story—how it was a coping mechanism after Katrina, going around, getting these photos that kicked it all off. Did you always have that nostalgic bone in your body? Trying to capture these things that are in transition, or is it something that grew?
I guess maybe a little bit, but not as much. Definitely Katrina happening and realizing that… life and things are fragile and ephemeral made me want to document stuff. That was before Google Street View and all that, too. People couldn’t just jump on the internet and see some street. So I decided to make a little Flickr and was trying to document things as best I could, the things I appreciated.
Can you talk about getting to know the people behind these signs that you were documenting?
I see things as problem-solving in different ways. And I was enjoying taking pictures, documenting things. Kind of landed on the hand-painted signs around town and decided, “Hey, these look similar, there must be somebody that’s doing this.” Then found some names, tracked ‘em down, befriended ‘em. Got commissions for ‘em. And just championed their work, I guess. A labor of love! I wasn’t making money from it. A lot of things I do end up being a labor of love. Like when I was booking shows at the Mermaid Lounge. I wasn’t making money. Every now and then I’d have a big show that would make some money, but most of the time I’d make food for the bands and break even, basically.
I feel like that’s so important at this time. When people are worried about all sorts of things, including money, that’s when community becomes so important. And hopefully there’s some karma in that! And that it comes back to you also.
Yeah. I mean, I’m not making tons of money doing this, but the house is paid for and I hopefully make about as much as I would make renting it out. Probably not quite as much, but close. But it’s a lot more fun. Keeps me inspired to do my own work. Hopefully [it] inspires other people to do new work as well. Continues my love of promoting music. The Mermaid Lounge—I guess that was before your time, right?
Yeah.
So the Mermaid Lounge was a music club that would also dabble in the arts. They’d do art shows there.
Where was it located?
Over here, where The Rusty Nail is now. I could just walk there. So when I booked shows there I’d tote my pot of beans for the band and set it up. But [NOLA ‘Nacular] is kinda like the inverse of that. This is more art-oriented, but with a side of music. But still intertwining the two.
And with the food in the back too; the pot of beans is still there!
That’s right.
And with some real hidden gems, like when you had The Rishis in last month and turns out they’re getting written up by Rolling Stone at the same time I’m writing them up for ANTIGRAVITY.
So the way they connected with me was through Facebook by Robert Schneider, from The Apples in stereo, who played in my kitchen in another house I lived in, 518 Bordeaux, which is kinda like the precursor to this and what I was doing at the Mermaid. I lived in a back house, had a huge kitchen, had bands play there. [The] Apples in stereo might’ve been the first, or one of the first.
And that’s another Elephant 6 band?
Yeah. They hung out with me for like a week. Had a blast. Apparently Robert said that was his favorite show ever in the Facebook message post to Ranjan [Avasthi, of The Rishis]. Robert connected me to the Rishis and they played here. Circle of life! And I guess everything kind of goes back to me being at WTUL, being a DJ, then becoming music director. I guess I booked my first shows when I was music director. Had Neutral Milk Hotel open for Jon Spencer when they only had a single or two out. Had Apples in stereo in my kitchen. Some other bands… Mecca Normal, who were kind of big in the ‘90s. A few other bands.
But you’re from Memphis originally, right? Did you come here for college?
Yeah. Well, I came here for vacations, and then something about it got its claws in me. So I decided to come here for grad school. Well, I wanted to move here, and the only grad school I applied to was Tulane. Mathematics. Soon after, I joined the radio station. Was there for 10 years, eight years as music director. Booking shows at the Mermaid for maybe eight years.
And you work for Tulane to this day, yeah?
Well, not at the radio station. But yeah, I’ve been around Tulane ever since I moved here in ‘91. Either as a grad student, at the radio station, math tutor, or employee at the library now. Or I continue to be a student too… I’ve gotten two more degrees. So I’ve gotten three degrees from Tulane.
From the Pests linocut series – 4” x 6”
Photo courtesy NOLA ‘Nacular
And going back to the sign painters—what was their reaction to realizing that somebody was interested in them and looking for them?
They were… surprised. [laughs] “Who’s this boy looking for me?” They wanted to know about me and see the pictures of the signs I’d taken. They’d be like, “Oh you got that? I forgot all about that. I painted that years ago!”
Was there a sense that they felt they were doing anything remarkable or noteworthy? I mean, clearly they were being asked to do this because they have this talent, but did they have a sense of pride or were they more amused that you had any interest?
Yeah, I guess amused. Tickled? Didn’t realize that there’s a whole other world of people that could be interested in their work?
Maybe the answer is different person by person, but were they still actively doing signs?
Oh yeah, all three. Lester Carey, Pam Collins, and Tom White, they were all still painting. That’s how I tracked ‘em down! They were still painting and I went to places they had painted or were still painting and got their contact info. Called ‘em. Said, “Hey!”
I know at least Pam you still have a relationship with, and she’s been here at some art events selling her signs and making her signs.
Yeah, and we’re currently (well, finished now) working on one of the rooms at the new JAMNOLA, which is opening this week.
Artist Pam Collins with a commissioned work, circa 2014
Photo by Anthony DelRosario
Oh great, so that’ll be timely for this issue, too.
We’re working with one of the owners, Chad Smith. His idea is a speakeasy, but “speak” being like, words. So we painted different New Orleans words and sayings—the vernacular stuff—but it’s all upside down, blacklight-lit. There’s a piano hanging from the ceiling. A bar hanging from the ceiling. So you can take your pictures and put your hands up and turn the picture upside down like you’re hanging from the ceiling.
That sounds really cool. So—“Defend Corner Stores.” That seems to be a mantra of sorts?
Yeah, I asked all the sign painters to paint that for me. And when I was doing my large corner store prints—there’s a series of four, including the Chicken Mart, which were all stores that Lester Carey had painted—I did 18”x24” linos and screen-printed the red on top, and then had a show for these at the Bywater Satsuma and decided to use “Defend Corner Stores” as the title for that show. And then continued to use Lester’s signs and keep his legacy alive. He passed in 2017.
I feel like that mantra applies to a bit more than corner stores at this point, right? It’s the signs themselves and these things that are falling more by the wayside, not just here in New Orleans.
Yeah. Defend the signs, corner stores themselves, because a lot of those have closed, unfortunately.
Do you have a favorite corner store? I’m realizing there aren’t too many around here.
Yeah, there aren’t many in walking distance. I mean, Chicken Mart, of course.
I’ve been sad—I don’t know how long ago it was but, seeing that the main Chicken Mart sign had come down. On the one side it’s the old sign, but on the front it’s just a vinyl sign.
Yeah, maybe like a month or two ago. Hopefully they do a new sign, though… that vinyl sign, I assume, is temporary. ‘Cause… that would blow away in a storm.
Oh, totally!
But I met the daughter of the owner—she’d seen that I did the big Chicken Mart print. She actually bought one. And she was telling me that they have another one down on St. Claude in the Lower 9th. It was already called the Seafood & Chicken Market, so they’re going to change the name up here.
Defend Corner Stores No. 1 – Chicken Mart linocut – framed 22″ by 30″
Photo Courtesy NOLA ‘Nacular
I’m going to do a kind of lightning round on some of the themes you’ve got going on here. There’s obviously the corner stores and the signs, and Mermaid Lounge appears a lot—you’ve already touched on that a bit.
Yeah, it was a home away from home. I probably booked… almost 500 shows there?
Wow. Over what years?
Let’s see, I booked a few shows between like ‘94 and ‘99? And then ‘99 is when I really started promoting a lot of shows and started really using the name Turducken Productions. Because I had a label called Turducken Recordings already.
You’ve done a little bit of everything. So when did Mermaid Lounge finally close?
They opened in ‘94 and closed December 2004.
Yeah. And now you keep Mermaid Lounge alive!
Yeah, I do Mermaid Lounge reunions. We’ve done three so far. The first one was like 2010 or so? And then 2016, and this past October. So we’ve been doing them like every six or seven years, but now with people passing and getting older, we want to do them more often. Not every year. Maybe every three years? ‘Cause it’s a lot of work. [laughs] But all the bands donate their time because we made it a benefit for the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic. And we raised like $6,000 for them this year, thanks to the bands, thanks to the people coming.
You also do a lot of cat’s claw stuff—the flower.
Yeah. It’s cat’s claw season!
Yeah! Across from the Chicken Mart is the big cat’s claw-covered… whatever it is.
Yeah! That used to be a [dry] cleaners I think? It was built back in the ‘50s. Mid-century modern. I can’t remember if it was a cleaners when it opened, but before it got abandoned it definitely was a cleaners. That’s definitely a great place to find cat’s claw. And right now it might slow down a bit, then when it gets warm again, really bloom again. They like about 70 to 80 degrees, then once it hits 90 they start falling off. Gets too hot. [Motions to his arm] But yeah, got my cat’s claw tattoo…
It’s just something that’s beautiful to you, or maybe that combination of beauty and destruction?
Yeah, as my one print over here says: “The bloom of beauty that destroys.” After Katrina we just saw it a lot, lot more. There were just so many buildings that were empty. A lot of these buildings have been demolished. [Motions to photos in the room] That’s gone. That’s gone.
The cat’s claw’s almost like the final harbinger.
Right. There have been places that were covered and have been renovated and are nice. But for the most part it’s like, here we come… End of lifetime for this building!
I’m actually wearing my [screen-printed NOLA ‘Nacular] roach shirt… you like to do the buggies.
Yeah, the bugs. I don’t know. They’re just fun to look at! [laughs]
It’s a little bit provocative too, something that’s maybe supposed to be off-putting, but it doesn’t have to be! It’s their world, we’re just living in it.
Exactly. Fleas are kind of annoying. Roaches I don’t mind—the big ones being in your house don’t mean that you’re messy. They just want to get inside. It’s [the] small ones… That means something gross is around.
You’ve also got some Confederacy of Dunces stuff.
Yeah it’s a book that anyone that moves here should be required to read. I’m due for another read… I try to read it about every 10 years.
Is there something about Ignatius’ green hat that’s kind of iconic, almost begs to be screen-printed?
Yeah, it’s what he’s known for in the book. The hunting cap. People all over the country know the book. I’ve met people who saw Nick Offerman do a stage version of it in Boston. So people know it, but here it’s just a local cool tradition or icon.
In the past two years are there any particularly memorable shows or exhibits that came through? Highlights?
The one up now, “In the Year 2525.” Megan Whitmarsh was in a band called The Hong Kong who put out a 7” in the late ‘90s. And she and her husband in the band moved up to New York in ‘98 or so? And they played the Mermaid Lounge New Year’s Eve turning into 2000 on their way moving to L.A., and that was the last time they’d been here. So she was happy to do a show and bring in old friends from under the rocks. So it was a great show. The first show was fun. Fat Kids. Do you know John Curry? He plays under the name Felix. That was fun. All the shows have been fun!
The one that you did for your parents [“Leap of Love”] was really sweet. The February 29 one. That was memorable to me. I think that was the first time I came through here, actually.
Yeah, that was special. A lot of work. A lot of memories. I went through pretty much every single family photo that I had. Some of them I hadn’t really seen since they’d been in photo albums for years. And there were things that I found like, a picture of my mom in a dress that I had.
That was the coolest part! You had pictures, and then there were things that were in the pictures, in the room.
Yeah! A picture of my dad painting a painting that I had, or a picture of me playing with toys that he had built that I still had. Again, circle of life.
What’s happening in May?
So the opening in May is Leah Perrotta and Anders Parker. They’re both doing paintings. Leah used to live in New York and is here now doing art stuff. Anders, I know he lived in Providence for a long time. He was in some bands in the ‘90s. Varnaline and Space Needle. And he’s been recently playing music at Snake and Jake’s every Saturday night. He came here with some friends and he saw the space, and I realized who he was—I knew he played music—so I asked if he wanted to do a show and play some music. And Leah was friends with another friend who had a show here, Mahoney Perkins. He had a big show here last September. So yeah, organized a show for both of them, and Leah is putting together some music with Kate Baxter.
So that’s the opening, May 3. Then, May 22 it’ll be David Dondero who I’ve known a long time. He played Circle Bar. I think he might’ve played Mermaid Lounge. He played here maybe a year ago. But he’s on tour again and he and Anders are gonna play, since Anders doesn’t want to play for his own opening. But Anders, he also does living room shows. Undertow Music, who books living room shows all over the country, he’s part of their living room show roster. So this’ll be his first living room show here.
Then May 31 will be the 2nd Anniversary Celebration, more music. First person I asked was Hex [Windham]… he’s played here like five or six times. He’s basically the house band. And then I just asked a friend of mine Michael Patrick Welch, a.k.a. White Bitch. He kind of helped me get into the art thing again because he had a restaurant on the West Bank called Beside “the” Point, and he asked me to come put up some of my photos. That was probably four or five years ago? That inspired me to do some more stuff. He had me spray paint some crabs out there, since he’s a crabber/fisher. But his restaurant’s closed. But he plays music so hopefully he’ll play for the two year anniversary as well.
Has this been the experience you expected it to be when you decided to start the gallery in the other half of your house?
I think so. I wanted it to be a kinda low-key place, where I could show off and sell my stuff more easily and help friends sell their stuff and have fun events. I used to throw parties when I lived at 518 Bordeaux quite a bit, and ever since I moved up here on that side of the house I haven’t had too many parties. So that’s a lot of fun again, the music. And being the host.
The second anniversary of NOLA ‘Nacular will be held on Saturday, May 31 at the gallery, 1172 Magazine St. For more info, check out @NolaNacular on Facebook and @nola_nacular on Instagram, as well as linktr.ee/nola_nacular, which includes links to download typefaces based on the works of Lester Carey, Pam Collins, and Tom White. You can also find hundreds of photos documenting New Orleans signs, graffiti, and more at flickr.com/photos/anthonyturducken.
Top and bottom photos by Angela Calonder
