Artist Talk: Prairie Stories

Join AcA Visual Arts Director, Jaik Faulk, in conversation with exhibiting artists Jeffery U Darensbourg and Maaliyah Papillion.

Jeffery U. Darensbourg, Ph.D. is a writer, public speaker, researcher, zinemaker, and provacateur. He is a member of the Atakapa-Ishak Nation of Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas. He is the founder and Editor-Who’s-not-a-Chief of Bulbancha Is Still a Place: Indigenous Culture from New Orleans. Recently a writer and residence at Tulane University’s A Studio in the Woods and a Monroe Fellow of New Orleans Center for the Gulf South at Tulane, Jeffery is working on a book length study of the Atakapa-Ishak of Southwest Louisiana.

Maaliyah Papillion is a Creole and Indigenous actress, singer, model, third-generation healer from a long line of Indigenous leaders, and an enthusiastic enrolled member of the Atakapa-Ishak Nation of Southwest Louisiana.

She infuses her unique experience into her art expression with a goal of unifying others who can relate to her life. She has a book of poetry coming out in 2024 written in her native language, Ishakkoy, in which she focuses on retelling her ancestors’ stories in modern ways. She looks forward to being on the land her ancestors once occupied, as she formulates in her book, songs, and art in peace.

AcA is committed to making our programming as accessible as possible. This Creative Acadiana session will be in-person, streamed and recorded. If you require your accessibility needs addressed, please contact community@acadianacenterforthearts.org ahead of the session to discuss.