Anyone who has ever been to the French Quarter knows the silent seduction possessed by those who work on the outskirts of Jackson Square. It’s a common trait shared amongst an elite group of locals. Their eccentricities have the power to entertain you, stop you in your tracks and make you appreciate a wide range of timeless art.
From fortunetellers to singer-songwriters, the streets of New Orleans are littered with people who give this city the spirit many have come to expect.
“I was born yearning for magic,” said Barbara Yochum, a local artist. “I found it here.” Yochum said she still remembers putting on her first set of crepe-paper wings that her mother had made for her.
“I think that’s what may have inspired me,” she said.
Yochum is a Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts graduate who went to school on a Ford Foundation Grant. After graduation, her professors expected her to move to New York City and begin her career. Instead, she moved to New Orleans.
“Some of them wouldn’t talk to me for years after that,” she said. “They kept saying that they couldn’t believe that they wasted that grant on me.”
Despite the disapproval of her professors, Yochum stayed in New Orleans.
“I have been selling my art in Jackson Square for 36 years now. I raised my daughter doing this. I don’t regret a thing.”
Yochum’s art can periodically be found in galleries throughout the country. Most often, however, her whimsical creations of spirits, fairies and mermaids can be found dangling from the wrought-iron fence lining Jackson Square.
“My mother used to tell me that money doesn’t grow on trees,” Yochum said. “And believe it or not, she was right. It grows on fences.”
‘MY OBLIGATION’
Much like Yochum, Margaret Vaga, knew what she wanted to do from an early age. Vaga, a Romanian Gypsy, works as a fortuneteller most days on the corner of Chartres and Toulouse streets.
“The practice runs in my family,” Vaga said. “It’s our culture. It’s what we do.”
Vaga said she believes that everyone has her gift but rarely learns to use it.
“It comes naturally. I’ve been around it my whole life.”
Vaga performed her first reading when she was 8 years old. By the age of 12, she was reading professionally in her mother’s teashop on Royal Street.
“My mom never pushed me into it,” Vaga said. “In fact, she didn’t want me to do it all. This was my choice – my obligation. I was called to push people in the right direction.”
Vaga only works on donations as state law permits. On a good day, she can earn anywhere from $500 to $800.
“The money is good, but the job is not always easy,” Vaga said. “It pulls a lot out of you when you hear things you don’t want to hear, or see things you don’t want to see.”
WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK
On any given day, one would be hard pressed to come across a metallic cowboy perched on a milk crate in the middle of the sidewalk. But in Jackson Square, you can see it everyday.
A man by the name of Kenny makes his living as a modern-day mime. He comes to work each day dressed in gleaming silver garb and reflective paint covering every section of exposed skin. While working, Kenny never speaks. He does, however, whistle to get the attention of passers-by.
“Doing this has pretty much made me really famous,” Kenny said. “I can’t think of a single country that somebody there doesn’t have a picture with me.”
Kenny is a former dishwasher who use to make $38 per shift. One Super Bowl weekend he was walking to work and saw a man miming on the sidewalk.
“He was making too much money doing that. A lot more than I was, anyway,” Kenny said. “So the next weekend I gave it a shot. Thirteen years later, I am still doing it.”
He admitted that he began performing for the money at first, but as time progressed, his reasoning shifted.
“I can make anywhere from $100 to $250 in just a few hours,” Kenny said. “That’s more than enough to feed me and my dog. Now it’s not so much about the money. It’s about entertaining people. They love me.”
BUBBLE BOY
Stuart South wants to make his name known by fusing together inspirations from people like Kenny and Yochum. South is selling acrylics on canvas in Jackson Square as well as playing a small part in the film “Déjà vu” currently being filmed in New Orleans and starring Denzel Washington. But in his free time, South is working out the details for what he likes to call his “first major performance piece.”
“Basically, what I am going to do is make myself into a giant bubble,” South said.
His plan is to create a bubble big enough to surround his torso and thighs but leave his legs, arms and head exposed.
“I am going to wear it for three full days,” South said. “I’m not going to eat or drink anything, and I am just going to jog around the city. Sometimes even carry weights over my head.”
South is aware of the physical risks that may hinder his performance.
“I know it’s going to be really hard on me,” South said. “But that’s why I am training now.”
He hopes to fully focus on his latest project after he is done with filming his role.
“I want to turn my whole life into art. Just be a living work of art.”
TIMELESS TRADITION
Anna Jergensen is relatively new to New Orleans and the street-performing scene as a whole. Jergensen, a classically trained violinist, has had more than just a change in venues in recent months.
During her evacuation from Hurricane Katrina, she was inspired by the Zyde Punks, a local group, to put down the violin and try her hand at the accordion.
“I just find this instrument incredible,” Jergensen said. “It’s like a band in a box. I love it.”
Jergensen has been back in the city for five months. Every weekend she can be found wandering the quarter playing her newfound love.
Said Jergensen: “I don’t do it for the money – you don’t make much playing the accordion.”
She said she does it for the love of performing. Jergensen sees it as her way of helping to preserve a timeless tradition.
Jared Bailey can be reached at [email protected].
