Stephan Wagner's Art

Not a lot of people have ever heard of Stephan Wagner

He's not an artist in the traditional sense, but he has such unbelievable talent. He is responsible for the recycling of Mardi Gras beads

His art show is travelling across Louisiana this year and we were pleased to have to opportunity to view his work firsthand a few weeks ago when it was in Slidell.

We were told that the scene for his beadwork is first drawn by artists. Stephan - along with volunteers - glue beads onto the artwork one-at-a-time.

Here are some of my favorites:


The Hubig one made me want a fried apple pie.


Zapps chips, yum!

World-wide favorite Tabasco sauce.

This is called "NOLA's Resiliance" (click on the link for a backstory of this piece)
Remember, all of this art was created by glue-ing one bead at a time.


Crawfish Season!

Louisiana's State Capital Building in Baton Rouge

Water Meter

What I couldn't share is the photo of the wonderful New Orleans riverfront art, it is 8 feet tall by 30 feet wide. Fortunately, it is shared at Stephan's website, at the link below.


There is so much more to this show. Presently the works are travelling across the state as a "Main Street" Project. To see more and discover the other aspects of Bead World, please check out this link. It's fascinating.

Bead Town!!

Bead Town is the brainchild of Stephan Wagner from Germany.

Wagner came to Louisiana after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the area. He found a job in the much-needed construction activity. It was during this time that he fell in love with the area and her strong people.

"I remember thinking that it was right after Katrina-with 50% of the region destroyed and the other 50% helping those whose homes were destroyed, that was quite a challenge" he said. "So I moved on from construction and started putting beads together to capture the iconic images that make Louisiana so special: the food, the culture, the architecture....I was on a mission".

His mission has created so many beautiful things made with used Mardi Gras beads. Pictures are created by artists and Stephan - along with anyone willing to help - use the beads to create his magic.



The beads are applied to the pictures one at a time. Bead Town will be open to the public in Slidell through April 5th. From there the collection will travel to Denham Springs and many other Louisiana Main Street communities, each of which has a story to tell as part of the bigger city. In each city additional works have been or will be created which tells the community's tale.