Bruce Raymond Brice first noticed painting as a young boy in the French Quarter where, while shining shoes, he observed the neighborhood’s artists at work. Years later, while framing a painting for gallery owner Larry Borenstein, Brice became drawn to the painting’s creator, Noel Rockmore, whose early encouragement Brice credits as vital to his own subsequent career as an artist. Outspoken in his view of New Orleans’ need for increased public monies allocated to arts patronage, Brice’s street murals in the city’s Treme neighborhood garnered attention that helped him become one of the first artists to be featured in an official poster of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He was introduced to a national audience  in 1974 on NBC’s Today show in a segment about his debut at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City.  Brice passed away on September 14, 2014.