Who's paying for the NOLA Walk of Fame
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Master P speaks during a plaque unveiling for the NOLA Walk of Fame alongside Mayor LaToya Cantrell, left, and Operation Restoration founder Syrita Steib. Photo: Chelsea Brasted/Axios
Planners for the new NOLA Walk of Fame project are looking to raise $6.5 million to install Hollywood Walk of Fame-style plaques in the Canal Street sidewalk.
Why it matters: It's a lot of cash, and time is ticking as planners hope to host a ribbon-cutting on the first 50 plaque installations on Feb. 6.
The latest: At least one of the original 50 names tapped for the Walk of Fame has declined the honor.
- In a letter last week, Harry Connick Jr. said he hoped planners would "consider replacing" his name on the original list in lieu of "many other New Orleanian luminaries [who] are, in my opinion, far more deserving than I."
- See the letter.
How it works: The Walk of Fame project is being led by rapper and New Orleans native Master P, who Mayor LaToya Cantrell tapped this year to be an entertainment ambassador for the city. The position, officials told Axios at the time, is an unpaid volunteer role.
- And while the Walk of Fame has support from city leaders, who held a flashy press conference just before Thanksgiving underscoring that fact, it's being managed outside city operations.
- To that end, Master P tapped his cousin Syrita Steib and her nonprofit, Operation Restoration, to serve as a consultant and fiscal sponsor. That means Steib's organization, which has a mission to assist women as they transition out of incarceration, is tasked with raising and managing the $6.5 million.
Between the lines: Operation Restoration fiscally sponsors more than 20 other organizations and projects, targeting those led by Black women-identifying and gender-nonconforming leaders who work in social, economic, racial and environmental justice, according to its website.
- The NOLA Walk of Fame's educational components are in line with Operation Restoration's mission, a spokesperson says.
Zoom in: There should be a connection between a nonprofit and the projects it fiscally sponsors, says Heather Carpenter, the executive director of the Institute for Nonprofit Administration & Research at LSU Shreveport, who isn't familiar with the specifics of the Walk of Fame project.
- A fiscal sponsor typically earns a 5% fee, so the model can be a useful way for nonprofits to raise their own funds, Carpenter tells Axios New Orleans.
- But it can create a" muddy area," she says, noting that a conflict of interest should also be clearly stated. "If there's unrelated business income you cannot directly tie back to your mission, then you would be taxed on that."
State of play: In the Hollywood Walk of Fame model, honorees are asked to donate money to support plaque installation and maintenance.
- That's eventually the goal in New Orleans, too, Steib tells Axios New Orleans, but for now, honorees are not being asked to write checks in exchange for the nod.
Follow the money: Steib declined to share a budget with Axios New Orleans, but she says the plaques themselves will cost between $500,000 and $750,000.
- The balance of the $6.5 million goal, she says, would go toward sidewalk prep and installation and developing a school curriculum.
- One of Master P's goals is to create a related, permanent museum exhibit, perhaps installed at the to-be-funded Louisiana Music and Heritage Experience museum. Steib estimates the high-tech museum exhibit, which could have interactive holograms of honorees, would cost between $2 million and $2.5 million.
What's next: Steib and Master P aim to secure a $500,000 grant from the city-managed Wisner Trust, which would require an OK from City Council.
- For now, Steib says, Master P is fronting the project's costs with the hope of being reimbursed as fundraising continues.