The single most famous painting in New Orleans can no longer be seen

For the first time in 16 years, the so-called “Umbrella Girl,” a graffiti painting by international art star Banksy, will disappear from public view for an extended period of time. It’s not yet known when the aerosol masterpiece will be seen again.

The stencil, which was applied to an outdoor wall of the former Drop-In Center building at the corner of Kerlerec and North Rampart streets in 2008, has recently been covered by plywood barriers in preparation for its removal, which is expected to take place this week.

The building, a former refuge for teenage runaways that has been unoccupied for 20 years, is being readied for major renovation. According to a statement from attorney Robert S. Abdalian, who represents the building’s owner, Mantua LLC, the portion of the wall that holds the artwork is structurally unsound and must be repaired.

In the coming days, the concrete block wall bearing the “Umbrella Girl” will be cut out intact “so that the art conservators may do the necessary work to preserve the mural in their off-site studio.” It will then be returned to the site, according to Abdalian. How the painting will be displayed in the future has not yet been revealed.

On Tuesday morning, a pair of private security guards kept watch on the plywood barrier, signaling the importance of the artwork. The Orleans Parish Assessor’s Office website says the building where the “Umbrella Girl” is located (1434 N. Rampart St.) is valued at almost a quarter million dollars. The painting is almost certainly worth more, maybe significantly more.

Banksy, a British street painter whose real identity is unknown, is the world’s most famous living artist. The mysterious graffiti master visited New Orleans in 2008, secretly producing approximately 14 murals that poetically referred to the post-Katrina recovery period.

The Kerlerec Street painting depicts a rain-soaked child whose umbrella not only leaks but is actually the source of a downpour. The poignant image is presumably a metaphor for New Orleans’ levee system, which failed during the 2005 storm. It has become an icon of the city’s ongoing vulnerability.

Since it first appeared, a stream of tourists has conducted a pilgrimage to the piece, making it arguably the most famous single painting in the city.

In 2014, brazen art thieves posing as workmen attempted to cut the valuable “Umbrella Girl” from the Kerlerec Street building in broad daylight, using a masonry saw. Happily, the robbers were scared off before completing the job. However, according to Abdalian, “this act damaged the building’s structure,” endangering the Banksy artwork for the past decade.

In the aftermath of the attempted crime, the imperiled painting was temporarily boarded over. It was also briefly covered after being tagged in 2020.

In January, when legitimate workmen appeared at the Drop-In Center to shore up part of the building’s overhang, and to begin the process of removing the “Umbrella Girl,” neighbors and Banksy lovers converged on the site, fearing that another theft attempt was in progress.

When the “Umbrella Girl” is removed from the old Drop-In Center wall there will be no more Banksys visible in their original locations. Over the years, most of the 14 aerosol paintings were ruined by taggers, painted over or otherwise destroyed.

Two others have been removed from the buildings that once held them and are now on display elsewhere. One is in the lobby of the International House Hotel at 221 Camp St. Another is just a block from the “Umbrella Girl” at the Habana Outpost restaurant at 1040 Esplanade Ave. Two more New Orleans Banksys are undergoing restoration in remote locations. And one has faded into near nonexistance.