A pop-up graffiti art fundraiser at the corner of Napoleon and Magazine came to abrupt end at the hands of New Orleans Police late Thursday afternoon.
The event outside Peaches Record Store featured graffiti artist Josh Wingerter creating portraits of sports figures, celebrities and the like.
Wingerter is the artist whose creations adorn the boarded up windows of buildings along Frenchmen Street and in French Quarter.
His painting of Louis Armstrong with a mask over the front of his trumpet is a viral hit.
The gathering out front of Peaches was all for a good cause, to raise money for unemployed hotel and tourism workers, other struggling artists, Second Harvest Food Bank and #Lunchbag and the aim was to raise $37,000.
Unfortunately, the event drew too many folks not adhering to social distancing mandates.
And New Orleans Police were called in to break up the event.
This was met by many of the participating and visiting artists loudly expressing their displeasure.
Peaches owner Lee Rea told the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate Two officers arrived at different times, one said a complaint was filed, but allowed the event to continue after surveying the crowd’s separation efforts.
But the arrival of a third office brought the event to an end.
The officer ordered the crowd to disperse, invoking the order of Governor John Bel Edwards.
He also said Rea’s business license could be revoked if the crowd did not break up and go home immediately.