Author Night at Hubbell Library: Danielle Del Sol

Painting the Town

The Preservation Resource Center's "Painting the Town: The Importance of Color in Historic New Orleans Architecture," captures the city’s spirit with vivid photography, essays, and color advice.

New Orleans is a place drenched in color, from its subtropical landscapes to its historic buildings. But why has the city always embraced such a vibrant style? Painting the Town: The Importance of Color in Historic New Orleans Architecture, the newest book by The Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans, captures the city’s exuberant spirit with vivid architectural photography by award-winning photographer Chris Granger and color advice and selection by acclaimed color expert Louis Aubert.

With essays by historic preservation experts and noted journalists, the book also examines how New Orleans’ earliest residents incorporated bright hues into their building designs, how historic materials influenced the city’s colorful streetscapes, and the modern ways that residents express their personalities through their vibrant homes.

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Chris Granger is an award-winning photojournalist based in New Orleans, where he has been a staff photographer for The Times-Picayune for more than 25 years. His work also has appeared in Travel & Leisure, Saveur, Food & Wine, Garden & Gun, Sunset, Southern Living, and many other publications. He has been the photographer for 10 books, including Chef Donald Link’s Real Cajun, which won the James Beard Foundation’s award for Best American Cookbook.

COLOR SELECTIONS BY

Louis Aubert, ASID, is an interior designer and color expert with emphasis on the selection and placement of both interior and exterior color and finish materials for both residential and commercial properties with an emphasis on historic properties.

ESSAYS BY

Danielle Del Sol, executive director of the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans. In 2023, Del Sol was elected to the Board of Trustees for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Susan Langenhennig, director of communications for the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans and editor of its award-winning magazine, Preservation in Print.

John Pope, acclaimed author and journalist covering New Orleans since 1973.

Michelle Stanard Duhon, historic preservation expert and co-owner of Southkick | Rolf Preservation Works and Bayou Preservation.

Sally K. Reeves, architectural historian and former archivist for the Notarial Archives of the New Orleans Clerk of Civil District Court.

Dee Allen, former staff writer for Preservation in Print magazine.

Michelle Shoriak, director of conservation and education for the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans.

Sponsored by Friends of Hubbell Library.

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