Baton Rouge, La. — Louisiana House Representative Garret Graves recently unveiled the official theme and poster for the 2022 Washington Mardi Gras. As event chairman, Graves selected New Orleans artist Joe Mustachia to create a painting for the theme “Louisiana: America’s Foreign Country.”
“The theme is ‘America’s Foreign Country’, but the implied tone is unity — especially after our collective experiences these past two years,” said Graves. “ The Mardi Gras float exemplifies that archetype of Louisiana’s multicultural heritage. But the many hands, of many colors, reaching for that iconic necklace of beads, are not just lifted up in joy, but almost outstretched in praise. It’s kinda like they’re all saying, ‘Yeah, we need this.’ And the Louisiana in Joe’s painting is the only place on earth where they’ll get this salvation.”