Long-lost Banksy mural rediscovered and restored in New Orleans. Here’s how to see it.

It’s an artistic resurrection. A graffiti mural by international art superstar Banksy, which was defaced and demolished, has been rediscovered and restored.

The rescued painting will go on display Friday in a Central Business District hotel.

The artwork, which depicts a child playing on a rope swing made from a life preserver, was one of the 17 Hurricane Katrina-inspired murals that the secretive British street artist produced during a visit to New Orleans in 2008.

The poetic piece that captured the poignancy of the recovery era appeared on the exterior wall of a flooded neighborhood saloon that stood near North Claiborne Avenue in the Lower Ninth Ward.

Ruining the work of a master

Despite Banksy’s renown, not everyone appreciated his designs, which were sometimes painted without permission of property owners. For reasons unknown, a man arrived not long after the mural was finished and obliterated it with scarlet spray paint.

Sometime after that, the concrete-block  former saloon was demolished. That would have seemed to be the end of the painting, which might have been worth hundreds of thousands, even millions, if it was intact.

Happily, someone apparently recognized the potential value of even a ruined Banksy. Hotelier and art lover Sean Cummings received a text from someone using the pseudonym Sam, who said he had the 30 cement blocks upon which the Banksy lay hidden, coated in paint.

Picking up the pieces

Sam, a dump truck driver, doubtless sought out Cummings because the well-known businessman had already salvaged one seemingly lost Banksy painting – the image of National Guardsmen looting a house – and had it laboriously restored. That mural went on display at Cumming’s International House Hotel in 2013.

After Cummings and Elise Grenier – the painting conservator who’d restored Banksy’s National Guardsmen painting – were satisfied that the ruined “Boy on a Life Preserver Swing” was authentic, they purchased the fragments for an undisclosed amount.

“It was completely painted over,” Cunnings said. “There was no part of the mural that was evident.”

A conservation breakthrough

The restoration would have been daunting, maybe even impossible, if it weren’t for a coincidence. Two years after Cummings and Grenier bought the pile of bricks, an Italian chemist invented a gel paint remover that was precise enough to strip off a layer of spray paint without damaging the artwork below.

Prior to 2023, it would have been impossible, Cummings said.

Even with the new paint stripper, the process was lengthy and painstaking. Speaking of Grenier’s work, Cummings said, “She probably did the most remarkable job ever done by a conservationist.”

Now, finally, the concrete blocks have been re-stacked into a portion of the original wall and mounted on a rolling platform for exhibition. The painting will be viewable in the Hotel lobby at 221 Camp St., beginning with an unveiling at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Other New Orleans Banksys

Of Banksy’s 2008 New Orleans murals, most seem to have been destroyed. A handful survive, though none are still visible in their original locations.

The so-called “Umbrella Girl” which stood at the corner of Kerlerec and North Rampart streets for 16 years, has recently been removed for restoration.

Likewise, Banksy’s depiction of the notorious Gray Ghost graffiti eradicator was removed this year from the corner of Clio and Carondelet streets, reportedly for restoration.

Another Gray Ghost mural on Jackson Avenue has faded to near invisibility.

Banksy’s remarkably well-preserved painting of a boy imitating Bart Simpson, which was originally painted near St. Bernard Avenue in the 7th Ward, can be seen – albeit behind protective fencing – at the Habana Outpost restaurant, 1040 Esplanade Ave.