Ricardo Pustanio is an enduring icon in the world of New Orleans Mardi Gras float design and local artistry. Today his phenomenal creative talents are witnessed by thousands upon thousands of locals and tourists who throng the streets of New Orleans each year to catch a glimpse of one of the oldest and most prestigious parades of the season, the Krewe of Mid-City. According to Ricardo, “The best is still to come!”

Born in New Orleans, Ricardo is the third son of local golfing legend Eddie “Blackie” Pustanio. When Ricardo was baptized, the famous “Diamond Jim” Moran was hailed as his godfather and all the major golfing pros who visited the elder Pustanio at his City Park Golf Course digs bounced little Ricardo on a famous knee at one time or another.

Like nearly every child brought up in the city of New Orleans, Ricardo was brought out by his parents to enjoy the pageantry and revelry of the great old-line Mardi Gras parades. These halcyon Mardi Gras days of his youth were Ricardo’s first taste of the passion that would become the artistic pinnacle of his later career. During the 1960s Ricardo’s entries won first place, and he rode with the King of Mid-City three years in a row: a true precursor of things to come.

The winner of many art competitions throughout his life, his earliest prize-winning work was created while Ricardo was still in Kindergarten. From an early age, Ricardo’s work was distinguished with prizes and praise. Many are now in private art collections in New Orleans and across the United States.

Ricardo’s special style has been very visible in his work on numerous backdrops and displays for the 1984 New Orleans World’s Fair; several of his original pieces from that fair have garnered high prices at auctions throughout the United States and Europe.

Ricardo served Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre as technical director for its 1992 to 1993 season, during which he contributed his considerable artistic talents to the creation of scenery and backdrops for the season’s major productions, including West Side Story and The Baby Dance, for which he created a giant 60 foot by 30 foot papier maché pyramid, one of the highlights of the season. Ricardo’s set designs for the production of King Midas and the Golden Touch and The Snow Queen won him numerous awards.

Ricardo Pustanio building one of his popular New Orleans floats.

In 1992 Ricardo also began his long association with William Crumb and the Children’s Educational Theatre. His work on scenery and backdrops has toured with the company in 13 major productions across the United States, and he continues to contribute his talents to the organization to this day. Ricardo has also donated his time and talent to a number of nonprofit organizations, including the Save Our Lake Foundation and the March of Dimes.

Ricardo also displayed his talent with scenic design in some of the best-known, locally produced films in New Orleans, including Angel Heart, starring Mickey Rourke; The Big Easy, starring Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin; Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt; and most recently in the much anticipated A Love Song for Billy Long, which stars John Travolta and was filmed on location in historic New Orleans.

Ricardo has conceptualized and designed numerous book covers and illustrations for major works of science fiction and fantasy: he was voted Best New Artist of the Year at world conventions held in New Orleans and in Amsterdam, Holland. Ricardo has also illustrated children’s books, created portraits and artwork for private clients across the United States and Europe, and has to his credit three original action comic books, the illustration and design of the long-running International Middle Eastern Dancer magazine, and several decks of personalized Tarot cards.

Ricardo has said, in reflecting on his artist achievements, “I have paid my dues many times over the years and I am always in a constant state of expectation: I can’t wait for the next challenge, the next thing to approach me. I am probably most proud of my work with the Krewe of Mid-City in recent years, because they have allowed me an unlimited palette to create with: the only limit is my imagination, and as you see, that has never had any limits!”

Ricardo Pustanio’s hands have been busy creating artworks that have brought joy and pleasure to literally thousands of people over the years. It is no wonder that Ricardo has been named one of The Hardest Working Mardi Gras Artists in the City of New Orleans and in the history of Mardi Gras design.

Bill Oliver

Artist Bill Oliver is also a musician, composer, and award-winning song writer. His music is sometimes reflective and moody, and his compositions, like his art, often act as “sound photographs” that capture a moment of life and freeze it in time for further contemplation—even if that moment of contemplation involves a vampire, zombie, UFO visitor, or a werewolf.

Bill Oliver

Oliver resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he has nourished a life-long fascination for the paranormal, UFOs, the metaphysical, and all things esoteric, interests stemming from many personal experiences. His enthusiasm for pursuing the unknown brought him into personal contact and interview opportunities with experiencers in all aspects of the paranormal. These encounters have had significant influences on much of Bill’s work.

Brad Steiger first became familiar with Oliver’s exciting artwork when the Canadian won the Christmas Art contest on the Jeff Rense Program in 2005. In the art contest for Halloween 2006, Bill won honorable mention.

As the two men became better acquainted, Steiger was honored to learn that he had been one of Oliver’s boyhood heroes with his work on the paranormal, the esoteric, and things that go bump in the night.

“To

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