Morgan City officials and St. Mary Chamber representatives were on hand Friday to cut a ribbon celebrating a new mural on the north side of the Cefalu building. The brightly colored riverfront scene by Andrea Matte, top photo, was chosen from among five submissions. The artwork was digitized, enlarged and transferred to a vinyl applique by Elita Graphics. The mural was funded by the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development and the Morgan City government. Building owner Dr. William Cefalu joined Matte in cutting the ribbon, bottom photo. Also present were Mayor Lee Dragna, City Council members Lou Tamporello, Bonnie Leonard and Steve Domangue, Chief Administrative Officer Charlie Solar, Cajun Coast Executive Director Carrie Stansbury and St. Mary Chamber CEO Beth Chiasson.
The Review/Bill Decker
UPDATED WITH STORY: Ribbon-cutting introduces new mural in downtown Morgan City
Murals are getting big in St. Mary Parish.
The latest was introduced Friday at a ribbon-cutting in downtown Morgan City. Affixed as a vinyl applique to the north wall of the Cefalu building on Front Saturday at Greenwood, the mural is a brightly colored Atchafalaya scene as seen from the Morgan City side of the bay.
“To me, that’s life on the Atchafalaya,” said the artist, Andrea Matte.
The mural was funded by the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development and the Morgan City government.
Matte said she got involved when Morgan City’s grant writer, Hannah Roy, called in October to ask for an artwork submission as part of a competition for the grant award.
“If you don’t have a grant writer or people who are looking for that,” Mayor Lee Dragna said, “you don’t know it’s there.”
Matte returned to a scene similar to the artwork she created for the 2022 Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival poster. Shrimp boats abound under a skyline dominated by the two bay bridges.
The colors pop off the wall of the historic downtown building – orange, yellow, pink and green.
“I looked at murals in other cities,” Matte said, “and they were all very bright.”
There’s an interactive feature, too. The lower right corner has a painted railing. Stand there, and it’s the view from the Morgan City seawall over the bay.
“I love coming down here,” Matte said. “And that’s what I see and what I think of.”
Elite Graphics enlarged Matte’s artwork and put it on vinyl for application to the Cefalu building’s wall.
Dragna recalls that when people from the state judged the five mural artwork submissions, they made a quick decision when they saw Matte’s work.
On hand for the ribbon-cutting Friday were Matte; building owner Dr. William Cefalu; Dragna; City Council members Lou Tamporello, Steve Domangue, and Bonnie Leonard; Cajun Coast Director Carrie Stansbury; and St. Mary Chamber President Beth Chiasson.
Also in St. Mary, a mural with swamp and bay scenes welcomes visitors to the area near Berwick’s seawall.
On June 1, Franklin unveiled a work by noted mural artist Robert Dafford at the city’s new pocket park.