NEW ORLEANS — John Bukaty can draw a Jayhawk probably better than anybody.
“I’ve been doing this for over 40 years,” Bukaty said.
He can also do it faster than anybody.
“It’s not that easy,” he joked.
So that’s what he does: live paintings in front of crowds. Sometimes his work takes hours, sometimes minutes, sometimes seconds. Whatever he has time for.
“I think people love watching things being made,” Bukaty said. “Art, cooking, live music, and I bring that aspect to painting.”
Bukaty is a Bishop Miege graduate who played football at the University of Kansas.
Now living in New Orleans, he paints all sorts of subjects for all sorts of people but says nothing compares to painting KU or Kansas City sports.
“Being that I’m so passionate about KU and the Chiefs, it lures me back in every time,” Bukaty said. “I’ve been watching this run hoping they get down here just like anybody else."
Just as Bukaty was longing for this Final Four, so was the city of New Orleans, which relies heavily on tourism and is still recovering from two years of a pandemic.
“With everything that went on with Hurricane Ida, even this tornado that just came through, this is what we’re good at — taking people and showing them a good time,” Bukaty said.
Bukaty will do a live painting at the House of Blues in New Orleans for a KU pep rally Saturday before attending the game.
