NEW ORLEANS (AP) – High above New Orleans, a small plane rolled in tight barrels, trailing smoke to create inspirational messages: smiley faces, peace signs, hearts and words like “jazz,” ”amen” and – in a true testament of flying ability – “transform.”
Over seven days of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, a skywriter inscribed smoky messages that captivated the hundreds of thousands gathered below.
New Orleans entrepreneur Frank Scurlock conceived the idea and hired skywriter Nathan Hammond to pen the fanciful, fleeting art.
Scurlock, whose family runs a bounce castle manufacturing and rental company, said the messages were simply his way of reminding people that goodness can still flourish in a world that seems increasingly marred by violence.
“This is just a simple way for people to just look up in the sky, and say ‘Wow, what a great world that we live in,’ and a chance to believe and have faith in not only today but in the future,” he said.