Nola, or “Rain Girl”, first appeared as a piece of graffiti in 2008 on a wall in New Orleans, referencing hurricane Katrina that left the city in devastation not long before. Rendered in Banksy’s classic graffiti-spray-stencil style, it shows a young girl in a dress in black and white, beneath a black umbrella, holding her other hand out to feel the rain that is pouring down.
The background is a block grey as pink and yellow rain falls from the umbrella. The image evokes a kind of heart-warming innocence that strikes as especially powerful when reflecting on such a catastrophe. Banksy uses the same motif of the little girl in other impactful artworks such as Girl with Balloon.