Quarter Kaleidoscope
Storytelling Project
This project is underwritten in part by:
Welcome to this collaborative community project by The Historic BK House & Gardens, The Vieux Carré Property Owners, Residents and Associates, and French Quarter Journal.
This digital archive is underwritten in part by a Community Partnership grant from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation
Chantell Nabonne: Backstage at the Toulouse Theatre
Growing up in a live French Quarter theatre where your mother stars in a jazz musical – alongside some of the most iconic musicians and performers in New Orleans – leaves an indelible impression.
~ by Chantell Nabonne
Craig Tracy: Becoming a Quarter Caretaker
An artist housesitting a home with one of the Quarter’s largest courtyards has an unforgettable ephiphany: No one owns the French Quarter, we’re just fortunate to be its stewards for a time.
~ by Craig Tracy
~ by Craig Tracy
Margarita Bergen: Dressed to Kill
This spitfire socialite has been enlivening the French Quarter’s social and art scene since she arrived in the 1970s.
~ by Margarita Bergen
Farrow Stephenson: Mona Lisa’s Post-Katrina Smile
The co-owner of Mona Lisa Restaurant on Royal recounts how he and husband Tom Moore took over the reins of the beloved neighborhood eatery in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
– by Farrow Stephenson
Batou Chandler: Always a Quarter Kid
Decades may pass, but if you grew up in the French Quarter, it will always lead you home.
~ by Batou Chandler
CJ Blanda: Seven Decades in the French Quarter
A native New Orleanian, CJ Blanda has called the French Quarter home for more than seventy years, saying the neighborhood is “the heart of my life.”
– by CJ Blanda
Caroline Rowe: My Bourbon Street Village
If it takes a village to raise a child, it might as well be one of the most interesting ones in the country.
~ by Caroline Rowe
Antonio Marino: The Making of a French Quarter Tradition
A Mardi Gras disaster forced a radical change of plans, creating a legendary annual neighborhood street party in honor of St. Joseph’s Day.
~ by Antonio Marino
Jane Lowrance-Neal: Quarter Love
The revelations of Vieux Carré residents in the Quarter Kaleidoscope storytelling project have the power to unlock new understanding - and appreciation of the neighborhood.
~ by Jane Lowrance-Neal
Quarter Kaleidoscope: A Neighborhood History Project
An overview of this new interactive story-telling project that mines the French Quarter’s past in an effort to sustain its future.
– by Doug Brantley