Festivals Acadiens et Créoles is usually the highlight of the region’s fall festival season. As both temperatures and the likelihood of hurricanes drop, lovers of Cajun and creole music flock from around the world to Girard Park in Lafayette. Things…
The Bible tells us the prayer “of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” Now witness “soulful impressions” and prayerful paintings by St. Martinville artist Dennis Paul Williams, a righteous man. The Louisiana music world knows Williams as the guitarist…
John Muir, the famed Scottish-American naturalist and “Father of the National Parks,” once wrote that only in the wilderness could he find his soul. Like Muir, artist Bill Iles turns to the swamps and forests of Southwest Louisiana as a…
According to novelist Thomas Wolfe, “You can’t go home again.” Don’t tell that to Lake Charles artist Kevin Lawrence Leveque. After 32 years away, he not only returned home again to Lake Charles, but he also found his art there…
Look to the Sky Opelousas St. Landry Airport is hosting a Summer “Fly In” and Vintage War Bird Expo (June 26-28) featuring a famous WWII B-17 bomber along with other vintage warbirds to honor veterans and introduce the community to…
In the spirit of complete transparency, Arnaudville artist and social sculptor George Marks feels it’s prudent to point out that this — a shining example of creative placemaking done right — wasn’t exactly what he had in mind back in…
By Herbert J. Wilt I was reared by my grandparents in Breaux Bridge in St. Martin Parish. It was there I heard, on a daily basis, the Kréyòl language spoken by all who came to visit. Throughout my childhood, the…
Worth a Thousand Words Lake Charles photographer Tim Fontenot focuses his lens on South Louisiana’s landscape of visual poetry by john r. kemp portrait by Romero & Romero As a 19th-century English poet once said, “Art is man’s nature; nature…
Downsizing is daunting, especially after living in the same home for 30 years. Combine that with a homeowner whose lifelong passion includes art and collectibles, and the last thing you might expect is for her to describe the entire process…
After retiring from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2013 as Dean of the then-College of General Studies and Professor of Communicative Disorders, I assumed that my retirement years would be a period of extended leisure and relaxation. Instead,…
Familiar scenes of the industrial heartbeat of South Louisiana play out in unexpected colors and tones, as artist Hannah Smith Mason — whose life has always been tied to the energy sector — reimagines the instantly recognizable with each impressionist…
Definitely an acquired taste. That’s the inescapable conclusion of one who didn’t grow up here but has dwelt here for 30 years, gradually transitioning from outsider to insider. Ironically, I was born in Baton Rouge, in the very hospital where…
Now that the tables have turned, and the spotlight beams down on the man who made his mark pointing it at others so that they may shine, Lafayette transplant Brian Schneider punts on the notion of calling himself an artist…even…
It is difficult to imagine a Southern Gothic novel without a single reference to a solitary oak tree covered with Spanish moss. This image has become almost a banality, but one that represents an essential truth. As much as the…
I’m a folklorist by training, and explaining what that means can be tricky. One way to say it that folklorists often deal with lost things. The hard truth is that, as society evolves, things fall by the wayside, often beautiful…
