Now in its second week, the 2026 Jazz and Heritage Festival features numerous artist friends and clients of The Ella Project in the Contemporary Crafts, Congo Square African Marketplace, and the Louisiana Marketplace sections that will open to the public on Thursday April 30^th. Here is a preview of the work of Karen Ocker, Chester Allen, and Erica Swanson:

Erica Swanson established her Etsy store EricaLeeArtNOLA in 2015, offering a mix of paintings, pottery, and mixed glass and has sold her artwork and pottery at various local night art markets, Freret Fest, Po Boy Fest, and New Orleans Clayfest. In conversation, Swanson shares how her foundational experiences as an art vendor at the annual Christkindlmarkt at the Deutsches Haus and the Crescent City Blues BBQ Arts Market, both managed by Ella Project’s Gene Meneray, set a standard for well-organized and supportive infrastructure for artist-vendors.

In the more than 30 years New Orleans artist Jamar Pierre has been creating murals, none has compared to the scope of the project he is working on now. His current undertaking, known formally as the “Tchoupitoulas Art Corridor,” reflects a lifetime of his work in visual arts, arts education and community service. Pierre is turning a mile-plus section of the Mississippi River floodwall into a sequential mural showcasing New Orleans history….