A culture of the psychedelic encompassed the iconic New Orleans music venue, The Howlin’ Wolf on Saturday. Bodies painted in vibrant hues matched the colors on canvases that were strewn about the scene. Dangling paper lanterns danced along with the painted people, swaying to a hum created by gifted and emergent artists, DJs and musicians. Meet the Pancakes and Booze Art Show.

Created in Los Angeles in 2009, Pancakes and Booze connotes a cultivation and disclosure of talent that may have otherwise remained unrecognized. While the idea of an art show may denote a refined or even rigid quality, Pancakes and Booze aims to bend the limits and perceptions previously imposed onto art exhibits. Indeed, the movement executes this adeptly, and Pancakes and Booze is in fact an art show that is uniquely unguarded.

This original and informal art reveal has expanded to 20-plus cities throughout North America. In the unrestricted atmosphere that Pancakes and Booze spawns, communities come together to view all locally-created art. The work involves both the bizarre and the beautiful, pieces transcending words. It is a new spin on art shows, one that disregards and challenges limits.

Along with beer, the crowd devoured all-you-can-eat pancakes with chocolate chips, berries and bananas, doused with syrup, as well as an overwhelming admiration for an unknown culture of local artists and performers. The line for breakfast was so long, however, it was unlikely patrons got a chance to get more than their initial two-pancake serving. 

The Pancakes and Booze art show exhibited an unrestrained expression of the creative mind with many pieces from monstrous interpretations of sexual encounters to beautiful landscape photographs around the world, to sculptures made of hair. There was a lot to see and some to eat. It did a great job at attracting an audience who would have normally avoided such an event. It just goes to show that combining food, drinks, local art and good music can bring most college students to anything.