Drivers tapped their horns as they passed under the railroad bridge that crosses Gentilly Boulevard on a steamy September afternoon, signaling their support for artist Ivan Barry Watkins’ new mural, “The Guardians of Gentilly.”

Watkins stood on a scaffold, brushing sinewy lines of purple on one of the elegant figures he’d applied to the bridge pillars. From time to time, a rumbling, rattling diesel locomotive towed freight cars over the 77-year-old structure.

Like the trains, Watkins’ figures had traveled a great distance to get there – 1,053 miles to be exact.

The artist, who grew up just a few blocks away from the bridge, said his goal was to provide a facelift to the old overpass that marks the divide between Gentilly Boulevard and Chef Menteur Highway. Watkins said he admired the su

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