NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Have you seen those utility boxes all around the city, the ones painted by local artists and depicting messages from icons like Restauranteur Leah Chase?

Well if you ask the city’s public works department, they’ll apparently tell you that the nonprofit behind the public art project didn’t have permission from the city to “artify” the 104 boxes that have already been painted.

Jeanniee Tidy is a founder of Community Visions Unlimited, the group that raised $60,000 to hire the artists who have painted the gray boxes around New Orleans.

Last week, Jeannie received an email from a neighborhood association president noting that according to city officials, Jeannie doesn’t have permission for the large-scale public art project that’s been going on for the past several years.

When she responded and copied a few other city officials on the email, she got this email from Public Works Director Mark Jernigan:

Ms. Tidy,

While I appreciate your efforts to promote the arts, let me be clear.  What you have done in the past and are currently planning to do with regard to the painting City property in the public right of way has not been permitted or authorized by the Dept of Public Works. 

I will be consulting with the City Attorney on this issue and will advise you once I have a path forward to ensure compliance with the applicable City regulatory requirements and protection of the interests of all parties while continuing to support the arts.

Tidy said she was shocked by the email and wondered why after five years and 104 boxes that some people at City Hall would suddenly “pull the plug.”

She says she has since been assured by someone in the mayor’s office that she can continue the project.

Here’s a look back at Stephanie Oswald’s report on the public art: