Project: KRVS – World Café Acadiana Spotlight


With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, KRVS will launch the Acadiana Music Spotlight on WXPN’s World Café. This project will highlight the diversity of Acadiana’s music scene through monthly broadcasts over the course of a year, reaching 285 stations across the U.S.

Project: 2024 Halloween Art & Nature Festival


With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, Atelier de la Nature will present the 2024 Halloween Art & Nature Festival, offering free arts and nature programs inspired by the vintage game “Creepy Crawlers.” The event will celebrate Halloween, Louisiana’s biodiversity, and Earth, culminating in a hands-on activity-filled day on October 26.

Project: Joe Hall’s Creole Story – Creole Accordion Documentary

With Louisiana Project Grant funding, Joe Hall will create a 15-20 minute documentary film that explores the living tradition of Creole music in Southwest Louisiana through his experiences as a Creole accordionist. The documentary will feature musicians, mentors, students, and ancestors who continue to shape the region’s musical history.

Project: Folk Roots Traditional Louisiana Music and Folk Arts Connections: Expanding Kids Camps through YEP and MIP Zoo Outreach


Louisiana Folk Roots, with support from the Louisiana Project Grant, will expand its traditional music and folk arts outreach with three initiatives: Kids Camps & Showcases, Youth Engagement Partners (YEP) band lab outreach, and the Music Instrument Petting Zoo (MIPZ) for public outreach.

Project: Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week: Louisiana French Language in Vocal Music Performance


With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, Louisiana Folk Roots will introduce a new component to Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week in March 2025. This initiative will emphasize the use of Louisiana French in traditional vocal music, broadening the cultural impact of the event.

Project: ProjectSpace Residency @ Basin Arts


With Louisiana Project Grant funding, Basin Arts will continue its ProjectSpace Residency, an interdisciplinary program that supports local professional artists. Four residencies, each lasting three months, will be offered in 2025 to foster collaboration and artistic development in the Acadiana region.

Project: Louisiana Is Here (Working Title)

With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, Louisiana Is Here will produce eight 30-minute episodes of an audio documentary series, amplifying the voices of South Louisianians working on climate adaptation projects. Grant funding will support final production and the creation of promotional materials.

Project: Gulf Streams: Celebrating Louisiana’s Musical and Sonic Landscapes


With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, the Gulf Streams radio show will explore Louisiana’s musical heritage and sonic landscapes through experimental soundscapes, live performances, and archival materials. The show will be broadcast on KRVS, offering unique perspectives on music and the environment.

Project: Symphony Sunday in the Park


With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, the Symphony Sunday in the Park concert will be held on April 6, 2025, under the oaks of New Iberia City Park. The free concert by the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra will feature music from Hollywood to Broadway, providing entertainment for the entire community.

Project: Louisiana Prairie Film and Art Installation


With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, the Cajun Prairie Habitat Preservation Society will present the Cajun Prairie Experience art installation and screen the documentary film La Grande Prairie. These works will be showcased in venues across the eight parishes served by Region 4.

Project: Scene Atelier – Workshop & Performance Stage

With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, Festivals Acadiens et Creole will present workshops and performances at Scene Atelier, one of the festival’s five stages. Taking place on October 12-13, 2024, the event will celebrate Cajun and Creole culture, focusing on educating attendees with limited access to the arts.

Project: Festival of Words 2024


With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, the Festival of Words 2024 will take place on November 8-9 in Grand Coteau, providing literary arts access to underserved communities in St. Landry Parish. The event will feature workshops, readings, and performances from diverse literary artists.

Project: Canneci Tinne Ki Yati – Canneci Tinne Apache Dictionary


With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, the CoCo Tribe of Canneci Tinne will create the first edition of a Canneci Tinne Apache dictionary. This important work will help preserve the tribe’s language and provide insight into its historical ties to the Athapaskan language family.

Project: Southern Screen Shorts and Socials


With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, Southern Screen Shorts and Socials will take place at the Southern Screen Festival from November 21-24, 2024. The project will showcase short films and offer networking opportunities for filmmakers and artists, fostering creative collaboration and community engagement.

Music Mosaic: A Year of Sound and Place

With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, Children’s Museum of Acadiana will be programming a year’s worth of monthly music performances each representing a distinct genre rooted in our diverse culture.

From Cajun and Creole to Latin, from Classical to Pop, Music Mosaic will offer access to family friendly, live music performed entirely by local musicians.

Echoes of the Ancestors

True Friends Society, with support from the Louisiana Project Grant, will be bringing internationally celebrated Senegalese musician Alune Wade to Lafayette, as part of a groundbreaking, week-long artist residency based in Maison Freetown. 

Wade will connect and collaborate with the local community, composing an original piece exploring both Creole and Wolof heritage.

Halloween Art & Nature Festival 2025

With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, Atelier de la Nature will present the 2025 Halloween Art & Nature Festival, offering free arts and nature programs inspired by the theme “Enchanted Forest.” 

The event will celebrate Halloween, Louisiana’s biodiversity, and Earth, culminating in a hands-on activity-filled day on October 25.

Where We Live – Opelousas Neighborhoods

Opelousas Museum, funded by the Louisiana Project Grant, is embarking on a dynamic, community driven documentation initiative that puts the story of Opelousas neighborhoods into the hands of its residents. 

Through a series of workshops on photography, storytelling, and oral history,  citizens young and old will tell the story of those places that are most important to them.

Expanding YEP and MIP Zoo Outreach

With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, Louisiana Folk Roots will be expanding its Youth Engagement programming bringing their Kids Camp to Eunice for the very first time. 

LA Folk Roots also hopes to intentionally link their youth outreach to community performance and training with new partnerships and leadership initiatives, building momentum for continued growth in future years.

Recovering Senses, Recovering Stories

Supported by the Louisiana Project Grant, Acadiana Cares seeks to expose adults recovering from drugs and alcohol to powerful forms of expression in sensory art. 

Visual, music, fiber, movement, and culinary arts will be explored in a series of workshops led by local artists, whom Acadiana Cares hopes will also be inspired by the beautiful minds and colorful life experiences that they encounter through this program. 

Window Wonderland – Tinsel Through Time

With Louisiana Project Grant funding, Basin Arts, in collaboration with Downtown Lafayette, will present a month-long, community based public art installation featuring original art displays in storefront windows. 

Launched originally in 2020, Window Wonderland has become a beloved tradition celebrating civic pride, cultural heritage, and the holiday season. New this year, Window Wonderland will be expanding into residential areas with a pilot program developed in partnership with La Place Coterie. 

Blown Away on the Bayou 2025

With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, The Whirlybird Project presents Blown Away on the Bayou, a four day Blues and Harmonica Summit at the Whirlybird Honky Tonk in St. Landry Parish. 

This immersive gathering brings together music learners of all levels with world-renowned musicians and teachers representing the depths and diversity of Blues traditions in Louisiana and beyond. 

CineBites: A 3-Minute Film Project for Teens

AOC Community Media, supported by the Louisiana Project Grant, presents CineBites, a program designed to empower young filmmakers and provide accessible media arts education to teens. 

Through hands-on workshops and mentorship, teens will gain experience in screenwriting, cinematography, editing, voice acting, lighting, and sound design, culminating in a full 3-minute short film of their own design.

Créativité culinaire à Balfa Week 2026

With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, the annual Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week put on by Louisiana Folk Roots will be adding dedicated culinary arts programming to its lineup. 

The Créativité Culinaire program will blend Louisiana food recipes, techniques, and history with music, exploring how the two are intrinsically linked in the culture.

Good Hope Park

With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, True Friends Society of Lafayette is spearheading the construction of a permanent micro park in a vacant lot in the historic Freetown-Port Rico neighborhood. 

This project will have heavy community involvement, prioritizing youth-designed, artist-powered placemaking to create a place where children and families can play, dream, and gather safely. 

With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, and in celebration of its 40th anniversary, Festival International de Louisiane will be partnering with walking parade troupe, Krewe de Canailles, to bring street animation, theater presentation, and visual spectacle to the Festival International experience. 

Having piloted this partnership at last year’s festival, this year will feature more scheduled, dedicated programming designed to maximize festival goer experience.  

World Cafe Acadiana Music Showcase Season 2

With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, KRVS Public Media was able to secure a second season of their highly successful Acadiana Music Showcase which introduces Acadiana’s varied musical scene to national audiences via WXPN’s World Cafe.

Using the funds from LPG, KRVS also plans to expand this programming to digital audiences, adding recorded performances to streaming services and YouTube.

Vermilion Arts Experiences

Vermilion Reach Group, with support from the Louisiana Project Grant, presents Vermilion Arts Experiences, a free, two-week, community based fine arts summer camp designed to provide creatively enriching experiences for youth in Abbeville and surrounding areas. 

This project addresses the critical need for accessible summer programming for children and teens in Vermilion Parish, where many families face significant challenges due to transportation barriers and cost.

Open Studios Acadiana 2026

With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, the Louisiana Crafts Guild presents a free tour of artist studios, galleries, and museums throughout the Acadiana region. 

Begun originally in the 1970s and resurrected in 2016, Open Studios introduces artists where they live, demystifying the life of the artist and providing a better understanding of the working artist and their home studios. This year’s tour will take place on 

March 20-21, 2026

Southern Screen Multimedia Education

Southern Screen, using funds presented by the Louisiana Project Grant, will be expanding the multimedia programming it provides in addition to its annual Film Festival. This will include educational sessions and panels for writers and musicians as well as post-Festival networking events. 

This program is designed to expose multimedia artists to new opportunities and connections in the film industry including screenwriting, film scoring, and more.

Popups at Baranco

Performing Arts Serving Acadiana (PASA) will be using their Louisiana Project Grant funds to expand their geographic outreach, exploring a new venue in the 400 seat theater at Dr. Raphael J. Baranco Elementary School in Lafayette. 

A three-part performing arts series will activate the dormant venue and bring exceptional, intimate entertainment to areas of the community lacking in cultural resources.

The Candy Lady Puppet Design

Local film writer and director Monique Morton Derouselle is in the process of expanding her award winning short film The Candy Lady into a feature length film. 

With support from the Louisiana Project Grant, Derouselle will be adding Jim Henson-style puppet design to the film, also using the project as an educational experience for students interested in learning more about the film and media business. 

4th Annual Creole Culture Day

Supported by the Louisiana Project Grant, Vues de Culture put on their 4th annual Creole Culture Day in Grand Coteau, Louisiana on October 4, 2025. 

The event centered Louisiana Creole heritage by highlighting Creole foodways, music, language, genealogy, and visual and folk arts through public demonstrations, performances, and storytelling, ensuring that Creole culture is not only remembered, but actively practiced, adapted, and passed on.