NoLA Rising began after hurricane Katrina as a public art initiative to improve the day to day lives of the people living in New Orleans.  Believing that "Art Can Heal the Wounded Soul", NoLA Rising became a cultural movement for social justice proving the power of a positive message.

This year, NoLA Rising looks to our city walls to continue the message that New Orleans is the cultural center of the South. In our very own back yard is the most important wall in modern American history ... the Lower Ninth Ward Levee Wall. To remember our collective struggle as a city, to re-assert our position as a city of the arts, and to honor those who we lost in the storm, NoLA Rising has begun the United Artist Front, New Orleans Mural Arts Program (N.O.M.A.P.).

In our first major mural effort, we have sought and received support from the New Orleans Levee Board to turn the rebuilt Lower Ninth Ward Levee Wall into a continuous 3900 foot long mural (totaling approximately 46,800 square feet of art space), with 65 local artists each painting 720 square feet of their tribute.  As a newly formed Louisiana Non-Profit, we are forging ahead with local leaders to insure the project's existence and success and plan to announce the mural in the second quarter of 2008.

Following the successful completion of the United Artist Front, NoLA Rising plans to expand NOMAP to other sections of New Orleans.