The architectural and structural backdrop of New Orleans are essential to the spirit and attraction of the Crescent City. A cityscape blooming in art and culture, even the homes and buildings in New Orleans are themselves works of art.

John Marc Anderson, a Washington, DC transplant and resident of New Orleans for the past two decades, honors the iconic New Orleans landmarks and architecture with his hand-sculpted and 3D-printed replicas, a home decor-sized artwork of a life-sized work of art.

Locals of New Orleans can grow so accustomed to the city's architecture that these structures can fade into the background — structures that to visitors are unique and awe-inspiring. With those adoring eyes of a visitor, and with the heart-centered care of an artist and longtime resident of the city, Marc brings the spirit of local architecture into the homes of the New Orleans metro area and beyond with his sculpted works. 

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Some of the most prominent local architecture that Marc features include local churches and cathedrals. In admiring these architectural feats, Marc began to formulate a process for his artworks.

He begins with photographs and now also drone footage, and then sculpts foam to create a mold of the artwork's focal point. He then uses that hand-sculpted version to create the 3D-printed plaques of plaster and other materials he provides to customers and vendors of his art.

"In 2010 I went down to the French Quarter, and I took some photographs at St. Louis Cathedral, which of course I admire because of its architectural purity and just how grand it is," said Marc. "Just how a simplistic building can occupy such a space and, you know, it's just a wonderful setting. And that's sort of what started the whole thing. That was the very first piece of art that I really did in a 'production' capacity."

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That spirited and iconic New Orleans architecture extends from churches and cathedrals, carefully preserved homes and retail buildings, and into its local cemeteries, the cities of the dead. New Orleans cemeteries represent architectural feats themselves, as well as honor the role that death has played in the city's history, from fires and hurricanes to slavery, yellow fever, and crime.

As a result, ancestor veneration and honoring the dead remain a longstanding tradition in New Orleans, and Marc demonstrates the architectural aspect of that tradition in his cemetery artworks.

"The cultural awareness, and the preservation going on with all the New Orleans cemeteries right now is really, really big, and it's on the radar of many tourists that come here, and also the locals," said Marc.

"So, all of my cemetery art, which I've been doing that for a number of years now, but when I first did it, I took it on, and I thought, you know, 'This might be a really weird piece of subject matter but...'" said Marc. "And yeah, the cemetery art, I love to do it. I do all sorts of different pieces, like panoramas, forced perspective pieces, and all that. It's fun too, I've really enjoyed it."

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Down to the finer details of his process and materials, Marc continues to both honor and preserve traditions and structures of New Orleans. He builds his own backboards, often using pieces of scrap wood, and also reuses leftover paint to retain the spirit and materials of New Orleans in his designs.

At the same time, Marc looks to newer technologies and develops new materials to support to evolution of his work alongside the modernization of the city that inspires his art. From using drone footage in the planning process to exploring the use of quartz powder finishes, metallics and distressed metals, and adding pops of color and gold leaf, Marc strives to make his creations even more eye-catching and conversational.

"I'm going to be adding some new color and some new treatments to the product line," said Marc. "It strays away a little bit from sort of the neutral tones by adding some colors and metallics and distressed metals, some oxidized stuff — to really make it a little funkier and a little bit more fun and a little bit more New Orleans, with some color and some pop."

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Marc also honors his relationships with local vendors of his art, balancing the creation and business aspects of sharing his work with the world. In collaboration with Little Miss Muffin and in service of the store's devoted fan base of New Orleans and Louisiana residents, he adjusts his process to produce more sizes and options that are perfect for gift-giving season, from Mother's Day and birthdays to the busy holiday season.

"So I'm kind of trying to focus on providing more work for Little Miss Muffin that isn't excessively large but that lends itself to easily be managed and displayed, gift-wrapped and moved, especially in the fall season," said Marc.

"I'm always attentive to that with her store because I know how it gets super busy in there, and particularly for Mother's Day, fall season — the lines can get deep, so just making things easier to pack into a smaller size and gauging the product more to her market there too."

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