Impact Report Highlights

Our last fiscal year began with Painting Rent, a retrospective exhibition of the artwork Olin John “Leroy” Evans who passed away in 2021. The exhibition introduced many to Evans’ work, and served as a reunion for the people who collected and supported Evans through his life and career. The opening reception included a reading of Evans writing and poetry, led by former Louisiana Poet Laureate Darrell Borque.

Photo by Paul Kieu, July 12, 2022

Internationally acclaimed bass-baritone opera singer André Courville returned home to Louisiana to perform an all-French concert celebrating Bastille Day, la Fête Nationale Française. A full house led a thunderous ovation for the hometown opera hero.

Photo by Paul Kieu, July 14, 2022

Quarterly gallery night, the Insiders’ Salon was an interactive evening of music, art, and creative company. In summer style, we enjoyed snoballs and were guided in a tie-dyeing workshop by AcA teaching artists.

Photo by Jo Vidrine, August 11, 2022

The first concert of a new chamber music series, The Listening Room premiered in August 2022, a collaboration with ASO to offer world-class symphonic performances in an intimate salon-style setting. Virtuoso Italian pianist Francesco Mazzonetto (only 25 years old) and vocalist Brandon Motz joined the ASO chamber ensemble to perform works by Frédéric Chopin and Franz Schubert.

Francesco Mazzonetto, August 21, 2022

The exhibition Poetics of Selfhood / Poétique de l’Ipséité explored Créole Francophone identity, as interpreted by artists from Africa, the Caribbean, and Louisiana. AcA’s curator Jaik Faulk partnered with La Station Culturelle, Fort de France, Martinique to launch this project as a multi-year, multi-destination exhibition, which will grow and adapt to new contexts of the Creole world as it is re-mounted at new destinations across the French-speaking world.

Photo by Jo Vidrine, September 7, 2022

The storied Louisiana Crossroads series featured a memorable night of rock and roll with Brother Dege. The night opened dramatically with Dege driving a Dixie cab through a wall of smoke to park on stage and begin his concert. The show included a reading by Dege from his memoir CABLOG, made up of journal entries from his years as a cab driver in Lafayette in the 1990’s.

Photo by Jo Vidrine, October 6, 2022

Gulf Brew returned for a spectacular 14th year. Will Labar and Marie Centanni were crowned King and Queen of the Brew II for their work fundraising for AcA’s arts in education work, which had recently expanded to include a total of 83 schools in Vermilion, Lafayette, and St. Landry Parish schools.

Photo by Paul Kieu, October 22, 2022

After eight years investing in artists and creatives as entrepreneurs with funding, skill-building, and mentoring, AcA and Lafayette Economic Development Authority were awarded a distinction for innovation and collaboration by the International Economic Development Council. The ArtSpark program has helped boost the careers of 72 artists since its inception.

Photo by Lucius Fontenot, November 3, 2022

Celebrating the visit of Senegalese artist Modou Dieng Yacine—featured in the exhibition Poetics of Selfhood—the Insiders’ Salon included hand-juiced sugar cane cocktails, catfish courtbouillon cooked by Cedric Watson, and a DJ set by Nouveau JUKE. Other activations that boosted engagement with this exhibition included ninety-seven (!) field trips hosted from area schools, totalling more than 2,200 students.

Photo by Sara Crochet, November 9, 2022

AcA and Lafayette Parish School System celebrated 45 years of partnership by launching a new expansion of services called Arts Experiences for All—a comprehensive strategy to ensure every young person in Lafayette Parish has first-hand experiences in art, dance, theater, and music—both as a participant and as an audience member, at no cost to the students or their families. Many of these experiences came in the form of performances produced by AcA at venues across town like Legally Blonde Jr. at Angelle Hall (pictured).

Photo by Kayla Martin, November 10, 2022

The second year of the Pelican Ball honored James Devin Moncus and Dr. Mary B. Neiheisel with a night of spectacular energy, music, and pyrotechnic surprises along the red carpet.

Photo by Sara Crochet, December 3, 2022

The 2022 season concluded with a sold-out solo performance by pianist Jon Cleary. Over the course of the evening, Cleary performed and told the story of the 100 years of development of the distinctive New Orleans piano styles as played by luminaries like Fats Domino and Taj Mahal.

Photo by Paul Kieu, December 4, 2022

The new year began with an all-team planning retreat in Franklin, LA to update goals in the AcA’s Vision 2030 strategic plan. This work focused on building and refining plans for AcA’s expansion of our work in arts in education, community development, and the presentation of world class art in Acadiana.

January 9, 2023

AcA opened a new solo exhibition of John Isiah Walton, a New Orleans painter whose work has gained international recognition. Walton’s new body of work titled Black Paintings, tracks life in New Orleans through the loss, transformation, and commodification of traditional culture in the era of the internet. The exhibition included

2023-02-08 John Isiah Walton President’s Circle Reception
2023-05-13 Ogden Museum Member’s Visit
2023-04-20 John Isaiah Walton Photos
2023-04-25 Insiders’ Salon – John Isiah Walton – Festival Themed

Tying in with February as African American History Month, AcA hosted two performances of Roots, The Journey by Grace Hamilton Performance Company. Commissioned originally by The National Association for University Women in 1988, the performance depicts the pain and frustration of poverty and discrimination and the struggle for liberation and belonging.

Photo by Kayla Martin, February 25, 2023

A busy spring for performances included a special evening with legendary Appalachian singer/songwriter Iris DeMent. A full house sang along for her encore performance of “Our Town.”

Photo by Paul Kieu, March 9, 2023

A new fundraiser for performing arts, the Sunny Side Jazz Brunch welcomed 275 guests to the beautiful lawn of the home of Kip and Carolyn Schumacher. The brunch featured performances and a live auction hosted by Senator Fred Mills for a truly epic event benefiting the AcA.

Photo by Paul Kieu, March 19, 2023

In public art, AcA unveiled 15 new traffic box artworks in the ArtBox program. These pieces were solicited from community members and the final designs were selected and placed by volunteers from neighborhood coeteries in the Evangeline Corridor.

Oasis neighborhood (MLK and St Antoine) – “Inside Looking Out” by Justin Robinson

AcA’s largest event Student Arts Expo sprouted an off-shoot in Downtown Opelousas—St. Landry Expo. Now two events instead of just one, these mini-festivals showcase the art, music, and performance of students in the schools across the two parishes and build pride and engagement with the next generation of creative minds.

Photo by Paul Kieu, March 4, 2023

Building on the success and recognition of the ArtSpark program, AcA launched the Creative Acadiana project, aiming to provide more accessible skill building, entrepreneurship training, and practical tools for individuals building careers in the arts. Pictured is one workshop “Documenting Your Work for Your Portfolio” led by Allison & Peter DeHart of Makemade.

Photo by Paul Kieu, July 14, 2022

In a proper conclusion to the year, AcA held its most attended performance in the history of the organization—10,000 students attended a theatrical performance by LightWire Theater at the Heymann Center over the course of five performances and three days. Tailored for a younger audience, this was the first live performance experience for thousands of young people in Lafayette, but certainly not the last.