To thrive far into the future, New Orleans must embrace water. However, water is diminished in daily life, hidden from view behind concrete walls or buried beneath our feet in massive underground culverts and pipes. “Periscope to the Future” uses a large mirror, tilted to a 45-degree angle, to offer a view of the water hidden behind the London Avenue Canal. This sculptural periscope inspires a collective vision for how the Gentilly neighborhood might someday renew its relationship with this cultural and ecological resource. There will be markings along the periscope’s legs that show sea level and other significant water levels that have defined our city’s history. A two-part mural will be painted on the floodwall – on the exterior wall facing Warrington Dr. and on the currently invisible interior wall of the opposite floodwall – only when viewers look up through the periscope will they be able to see the complete mural. The two sides of the mural will combine with the canal water and vegetation flowing through the middle, creating a vision of what the neighborhood could look like as a reconnected holistic ecosystem.
