Earl Barthé

[1] A self-described "Creole of Color", Barthé is particularly admired for preserving many of the old plaster walls and ornamental cornices for historic structures within New Orleans.

Most of the fine hotels and old stores along Canal Street as well as the mansions and the cemeteries' tombs on St. Charles Avenue include work by Barthé and his family.

Barthé's father worked on such historic buildings as the Saint Louis Cathedral, the French Market, and the Saenger Theater.

The exhibit toured throughout the United States including presentations at the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution's Folklife Festival.

[5] In his final years, Barthé spent much of his time helping to restore historic buildings in New Orleans that were damaged or destroyed in Hurricane Katrina.