Pelican Ball 2025

Black Tie Optional, Dancing Shoes Mandatory!

Hosted in the James Devin Moncus Theater, this annual gala celebrates the leading supporters of arts and culture in Acadiana on Saturday, December 6, 2025.
The event also features a live and silent auction, which is the only opportunity to receive a Pelicans on Parade for your business or home.

Your All-Inclusive Ticket Purchase Supports:

AcA’s programs that bring national acts of music & dance, thrilling theater productions, and cutting-edge visual arts exhibitions to Lafayette. Your support also helps expand AcA’s community programs, which include professional development for practicing artists and Arts in Education experiences for more than 90 schools across the region, impacting 43,000 students per year.

The Pelican Ball Meaning:

The Pelican Ball recognizes the people who have shaped the arts in Acadiana through their commitment and service. We honor both individuals who have contributed directly to the arts council’s work and individuals who have shaped the broader cultural life in Acadiana through their work. We honor these individuals, and we celebrate our thriving culture in the best way we know how: with a night full of food, music, and artful surprises amidst the core ‘flock’ of Acadiana’s cultural community.

Why a Pelican?

n 2000, Acadiana Center for the Arts worked with artist David Fox and students at public elementary schools served by AcA’s arts education programs to design the first “Pelicans on Parade.” In 2021, AcA re-introduced the Pelicans on Parade as part of an annual fundraiser, the Pelican Ball, where new, unique pelicans are auctioned o as part of the benefit for arts education in Acadiana.

Sponsorship Opportunities:

$1,500 – Patron | Reserved seating & tickets for 2 attendees
$2,500 – Benefactor | Reserved seating & tickets for 4 attendees
$5,000 – Presenting | Reserved seating & tickets for 6 attendees

Pelican Ball sponsors are invited to attend the VIP reception for honorees which begins at 6:00pm on the evening of the gala. This is an intimate gathering where the honorees are presented with plaques recognizing their service and where all honorees have a chance to speak.

Please contact Corinne Sprague, AcA’s Development Director, to secure your sponsorship, Email or Direct Line 337-940-0364

2025 Pelican Ball Honorees

John Chappuis - Member Emeritus Honoree

Born and raised in Lafayette, a 1969 graduate of Cathedral-Carmel High School, Chappuis was an early community leader as student body president his senior year and as an Eagle Scout. He went on to LSU, then LSU Law, then practiced an impressive 45 years of law.

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Renée Roberts - Honorary Member Honoree

Anyone who’s known a good mother knows that she will look after all children, not just the ones borne of her own flesh. Renée Roberts’ long and generative history with the Acadiana Center for the Arts is based on her own maternal instinct, paired with her deep conviction that art is for all children.

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