Hurrah! Our Own Lee Tucker -
Artist, Preservationist, Community Activist -
Receives A 2003 Mayor's Arts Award

If anyone in New Orleans deserves this prestigious honor, it is he.

By Peggy Whitty Tucker

Licensed as a Jackson Square Artist for the past 32 years, Lee has also shown in galleries around the world for the past 20 years. He has been on the governing board of the Jackson Square Artists' Association for 30 years and was appointed to the UNO Task force on Culture and Tourism in the late 70's. In 1986, with the late Ruth Fontenot and the late Mary Morrison, he helped found Friends of Jackson Square to protect this important historic area from inappropriate development. He has served as President for eight of those years, including at present.

In 1995, Lee received the Preservation Resource Center's "preservation hero" award together with me for our work in Esplanade Ridge. In 1996, he received French Quarter Business Association's award for outstanding contribution to the French Quarter community. For the past 5 years, Lee has served on the French Quarter Citizens for Preservation Board.

Lee Tucker is no stranger to those in need: from time to time he works on the Square with inner city children, showing them care, giving them guidance and encouragement in their artistic development and hope for future income if they pursue their artistic talents.

He contributes his work extensively: logos for civic organizations in which he is involved, art prints and photography to non-profits such as the NOPD Salute to the Eighth District Festival, the New Orleans Council on Aging, St. Louis Cathedral, WYES . . .

Lee's artistic accomplishments are spread far and wide. Freeport MacMoRan purchased six of his paintings for their collection. Elmwood Medical Center commissioned Lee to provide 25 canvasses for their facility (which have since been transferred to Lakewood Medical Center's art collection). He was tapped to design four album/cassette/CD covers, all of which have international distribution, one of which was for Dr. John. Twice he was commissioned to paint courtroom portraits of Louisiana Criminal Court Justices. Lee has also provided signature works for the Omni Royal Orleans, the Westin at Canal Place, the Wyndham on Poydras, the Holiday Inn executive offices and the Windsor Court (when the Windsor Court changed ownership, Lee's painting was moved to a Ritz-Carlton in New York). He has provided thousands of prints of his photography and his paintings for upscale hotel renovations, his most recently for the Sheraton on Canal Street. Several of Lee's works also hang in the Maison Dupuy. *In 1987, Lee was commissioned to paint the Davis Mansion on location in Swansee, Wales. In 2000, a Lee Tucker original of Pirate's Alley was used on the cover of the American West in-flight magazine which promoted vacations in New Orleans.

Prominent galleries which have represented Lee include Saint John's Gallery, Salisbury, England; Bayview Gallery, Long Island, New York; Gallery 3, Roanoke, Virginia and Carol Robinson Gallery in New Orleans.

And if you get a postcard at Croissant D'Or Patisserie featuring a watercolor of the pastry shop -- yes, that's Lee's work, too!

Note: The 2003 Mayor's Arts Awards Luncheon honoring Lee Tucker, Kermit Ruffins, Rev. Lois Dejan, Hibernia National Bank, Zeitgeist Arts Center and French Quarter Festivals will take place on Wednesday, May 7, 2003, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm, at the Hilton Riverside Hotel. It will feature presentation videos showcasing each of the 6 recipients.

If you would like to attend, please contact Lee to have an invitation mailed to you, or call Robbie Denny, Director of Development, Arts Council of New Orleans, at 523-1465.