An East Bridgewater resident has lent her artistic skills to brighten up a devastated area of Louisana.

Chris Smith volunteered her decorative painting skills and joined the City Park Program in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Karl Smith, husband of East Bridgewater artist Chris Smith, stands in front of the mural Smith painted in City Park, New Orleans, with a copy of his hometown paper.

  “I’m a decorative painter,” said Smith. “I’ve done that for 25 years.”

Smith is a member of the Decorative Painting Apprenticeship Program and their mission is to provide real-world experiences for decorative painting artisans, and create lasting art in public spaces. She got involved with the City Park Program through the DPAP.

City Park in New Orleans experienced serious damage from Hurricane Katrina. The grounds, trees, infrastructure, records, computers, plantings, and facilities all needed extensive cleanup and repair. Because of the damage to the park and the area, City Park was unable to generate revenue for a significant period of time following the storm. Many areas still require work to return them to operation.

The damage to City Park caused by Hurricane Katrina is $42,875,000, according to www.neworleanscitypark.com.

The City Park buildings that were enhanced by the DPAP include: the Casino Building, Ice Cream Parlor and Bumper Car Pavilion.

Smith and Michelle Provitola, a Pembroke resident, worked with an instructor on painting a mural at the Casino Building in City Park.

 “I think I’ll be a student forever,” said Smith. “I love to learn.”

“We did the mural in a weeks time,” said Smith. “We started off right away Sunday night, when we arrived, and worked on sketches.” She said the team spent about 80-90 hours on the project.

“What we did was we took half of the end of the building, and went with the ice cream aspect,” said Smith. The idea stemmed from the first floor of the Casino Building being an ice cream/snack shop.

The mural depicts a gentleman playing a guitar, people eating ice cream and Smith and Porvitola themselves.

“We projected the figures and then traced them in,” said Smith.

The mural is located across from Botanical Garden on the Casino Building, said Smith.

The two stayed in a duplex home in Lakeview during their stay. The gentleman, who owned the home, let volunteers stay there, said Smith.

Next to the duplex there was an empty lot. The lot once housed a home that had been completely been destroyed by Katrina and then demolished, said Smith. Behind the duplex there was another house that had been stripped down to the studs and was being rebuilt.

“It was devastating,” said Smith. “I didn’t think it was going to impact me that way.”

Roads were like roller coasters and people still live in FEMA trailers, she said.

While in New Orleans, Smith came across a house that was covered with plywood and a note was written on the house that said, “Gone to Tennessee. Hope to be back soon.”

Other homes had high water marks on them and others still had markings that said “two dead in the attic.”

She said it was unbelievable to see the array of destruction that was still there.

“I just couldn’t get over it,” said Smith.

Smith’s husband, Karl, was able to see her mural when he went to New Orleans for a business trip a week after the project was completed.

Smith has also painted a church in Connecticut through the DPAP. Her next project is painting a church in Pennsylvania, she said.

Smith said she simple enjoys doing these projects. She had a wonderful time in New Orleans despite the destruction and said the people were so kind.