Inside the Old Bank: Joshua Wingerter’s Westwego Gallery
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Drive along the levee in Westwego, Louisiana, and you will notice something unexpected. Colorful murals splash across walls near the old canal locks.
The vibrant Westwego levee mural, a bold welcome to the city’s growing arts district.
Painted oyster sculptures guard restaurant entrances. A full house has been transformed into an immersive exhibit. These are the marks of Joshua Wingerter, a folk artist who locals describe as the spark behind Westwego’s creative renaissance.
360 outside view of Westwego Company Canal Locks.
On most days, you will find him working in his gallery on Sala Avenue. But this is no ordinary storefront studio. The building that houses his creative universe once served a very different purpose.
Welcome to Historic Salaville the heart of Westwego’s growing art scene.
Table of Contents
From Vacant Bank to Creative Sanctuary
When I pulled up to the gallery on Sala Avenue, the first thing I noticed was the door. It stood wide open, inviting, unattended.
The gateway to Westwego’s historic heart: Sala Avenue.A video entering The gateway to Westwego’s historic heart: Sala Avenue.
Inside, the space hummed with creative energy, yet no one was behind the desk. Paintings leaned against walls. Canvases in progress covered worktables.
Gritty, urban, and unmissable where street art finds a permanent home.
I wandered through at leisure, taking in the riot of color before Joshua emerged from the upstairs studio.
Immersive, gritty, and soulful a true Westbank gem.
“This building that houses my gallery was the bank and the post office. Before I got in the space, it was vacant for 13 years. Just a big, empty, beautiful building. The city couldn’t get anybody to come out here.” – Joshua Wingerter
When he was 24, Joshua learned of an artist grant program that would pay between $18,000 and $26,000 a month based on square footage for artists willing to establish residencies. He prepared a big presentation for the city, advocating for Westwego’s potential as an arts destination. Today, that vision walks the halls.
Upstairs, he shares the space with emerging artists he mentors. Downstairs, visitors encounter a rotating collection of work that defies easy categorization.
The Pop Art Scientist
I admitted to Joshua that his gallery was not what I expected to find just blocks from the shrimp lot. Here, surrounded by edgy, mixed-media pieces, I asked about the curious title he has given himself.
“I think that term comes from, first of all, not knowing how to take things seriously. And secondly, I view myself as experimenting with all my work. I was never really formally taught. A lot of times with my work, you’ll see me buy certain bodies of materials that I’ve never used before, and then I’ll go create new pieces. It kind of just feels like a science to me, where I’m adding this and subtracting that until I get to the result we’re looking for.” – Joshua Wingerter
He views his studio as a laboratory. Each new body of work begins with research. He studies the Masters, explores art periods, and then filters those influences through his own lens. What would a classic oil painting look like reimagined in spray paint? How would a particular artist’s perspective appear through a Westwego native’s eyes?
The Signature Paper Airplane
During my visit, Joshua worked upstairs on a new piece. He spray painted hand-cut stencils in layers of vivid pink and purple. The image taking shape was a paper airplane, a recurring motif in his work.
A glimpse of how Josh makes art as one of his masterpieces
He explained that the paper airplanes carry personal history. They represent notes he wrote to his junior high girlfriend, folded and passed across classroom desks. Now they float through his compositions, symbols of youthful connection and the idea of travel itself.
Step into a surreal, yellow-hued world of immersive street art.A video of Josh Wingerter sharing his experience
When I watched him work, he demonstrated how he creates his stencils by hand.
Behind the scenes with artist Joshua Wingerter.
“This is a pretty simplistic process at this point. Understand that it took me years to figure that out. I draw that shape out on cardstock, and I cut it out with an exacto knife. That’s how I have the shape. What’s one of the most unique things about my work is that I make all my own stencils. They’re not ordered, they’re not printed.” – Joshua Wingerter
A Palette of Purpose
Walking through the gallery, I found myself struggling to categorize Joshua’s aesthetic. Bold colors exploded from every canvas. Layers of imagery created controlled chaos. I asked him to describe his own work.
A look inside Joshua Wingerter’s gallery, where pop culture icons come to life in bold color.
“I would definitely say it’s mixed media and experimental. One of the things that keeps me inspired is studying different artists and then applying either their method or their madness to my works. That’s represented with bold and exciting colors because I am excited. It is bold, like this whole experience of life.” – Joshua Wingerter
He credits much of his color sensibility to joy and purpose.
“Most of the time I work with a color palette that’s going to lift you up and brighten your day. A lot of times there’s so much chaos going on in the piece too, because I credit that to what a normal day is. There’s always a lot happening, there’s always a lot going on. But then there’s the subject matter, which is what the focus is at the time.” – Joshua Wingerter
Experience the electric energy of the neon glow room.
The Oyster Trail Connection
I shared with Joshua how I discovered him. I had been speaking with Mr. Joe at Segnette Landing, admiring the oyster sculpture outside his restaurant as part of the Jefferson Parish Oyster Trail. Mr. Joe mentioned the artist who created it with pride in his voice.
“Yes, ma’am, I certainly did. Mister Joe reached out to me and mentioned that he was going to be part of the Oyster Trail and asked me if I would be interested in painting for him. I came out and did that for him. We kind of built a friendship. He’s already commissioned me to do multiple murals in the neighborhood and different things around the shrimp lot.” – Joshua Wingerter
That friendship represents something larger happening in Westwego. Neighbors lift neighbors. Small business owners support local artists. A community recognizes and nurtures its creative assets.
“We want people to see what Westwego is. And we want to share it with everybody. It’s cool to have neighbors that appreciate each other.” – Joshua Wingerter
Another Flavor in the Neighborhood
Joshua grew up right here in Westwego. He remembers what it felt like to be a young person with artistic interests, unsure whether a creative path was achievable. That memory shapes his mission now.
“I use art to be a support system in the neighborhood that I grew up in. We use different art sales or different art events to sponsor local elementary schools. We have field trips here to inspire youth and young people to see that there’s other avenues.” – Joshua Wingerter
His goal is straightforward. He wants to show young people from his hometown that a different lifestyle is possible. That an artist can grow up in Westwego and build something meaningful here, not somewhere else.
Wingerter’s creativity spills out into the surrounding neighborhood.
“I think people paint a picture of what the neighborhood is here and what the community is like here. They are missing out on the fact that there’s a bunch of emerging young people that have different small businesses, whether it be art or coffee shops. I think all those things are great assets in the community. And I get to just be like another flavor in the neighborhood.” – Joshua Wingerter
The Open Door Policy
I mentioned to Joshua that I felt comfortable roaming his gallery unattended. The door stood open. Valuable art filled every corner. No one watched the front. That kind of trust says something about a place.
Exploring the softer, monochromatic side of Wingerter’s work.
“Westwego is safe, and it’s a tight-knit community. I don’t have a security system, but I got Ms. Myrtle across the street, and I got Mr. Russell on the backside right here. So if anybody comes through, they can’t pass by without my neighbors letting me know about it.” – Joshua Wingerter
The neighborhood watches out for its own. And Joshua, in turn, watches out for the neighborhood’s creative future.
Catalyst and Mentor
Upstairs in the gallery, emerging artists share studio space. Joshua hosts show for young creators. He organizes events and releases. When someone shows curiosity about what happens in the old bank building, he is always excited to share.
“I remember being a younger artist and having a lot of issues with getting where I wanted to be or this being something that I could even see as achievable. So one of the things we do here on the second floor is host other young and up-and-coming artists.” – Joshua Wingerter
He wants visitors to experience the same surprise he sees on their faces daily.
“You pull up and you’re just like, what is this place? And then you walk in, you’re like, what is this place? My goal is to be a positive force of what the arts are, what an art community looks like, and try to figure out a way that I can nurture the community that I grew up in. At this stage in my life, I’m more of a mentor.” – Joshua Wingerter
Summer Art Camp and Stencils
Every summer, Joshua opens his studio to a new generation. The summer art camp introduces kids to the techniques he has spent years perfecting.
“We do the stencils. I show all the kids how to stencil and they get to spray paint.” – Joshua Wingerter
A video of Joshua Wingerter making his own stencils
For children in Westwego, this is more than an afternoon activity. It is exposure to possibility. It is permission to experiment. It is proof that someone from their neighborhood built a life around creativity and gives back to the community that raised him.
The Takeaway
Westwego surprises visitors who take the time to look. A few blocks from the shrimp lot, inside a building that sat vacant for 13 years, an artist works in his laboratory. He sprays paint through hand-cut stencils. He mentors young creators. He paints oyster sculptures for restaurateurs and murals for neighbors. He answers to the title Pop Art Scientist because he experiments constantly, adding this and subtracting that until the result feels right.
Karen and Joshua Wingerter holding matching square canvases that feature “LA 64” through industrial pop art.The precision behind the pop: sketching the “LA 64”.
Joshua Wingerter calls himself another flavor in the neighborhood. But flavors that are vibrant tend to define the places they inhabit. The old bank on Sala Avenue no longer houses money or mail. It holds something more valuable. It holds the proof that art can revitalize not just buildings, but entire communities. To see more of Joshua’s evolving experiments and studio sessions, follow him on Instagram.
