ARTISTS TO PAINT FLOOD WALL TODAY

Muralist and chalk artist Craig Thomas and his artist/teacher wife, Elizabeth Thomas, will paint two giant drawings on concrete inside of the Broadway flood wall today.

Noted for their large-scale chalk drawings of "Old Masters," the Thomases will work on 6-x-9-foot interpretations for the benefit of the riverboat passengers from the Delta and Mississippi Queens.

The two Queens are en route to St. Louis on the final leg of the New Orleans-to-St. Louis Steamboat Race.

The Thomases will visit Montova, Italy, in August to participate in activities in the 600-year-old history of the chalk mining area of Italy.