Announcing Recipients for 2 Grant Programs Distributing $150k for Art Projects & Operational Support

Applicant: Cajun Prairie Habitat Preservation Society (contact: Phyllis Griffard)

Project: Cajun Prairie Experience: An Art Installation

The Cajun Prairie Experience will be a traveling art installation that immerses viewers in the flora, fauna, people, and change over time of the vanishing coastal grassland that has shaped the culture of Southwest Louisiana. Via time-lapse, still photographs and animation, audiences across Southwest Louisiana can experience the beauty and fragility of a vanishing ecosystem that once covered 2.5 million acres from the Atchafalaya Basin into Texas. 

Applicant: Children’s Museum of Acadiana (contact: Lore Linton)

Project: Arts in Action at the CMA: Engaging Kids with Interactive Music, Dance, Folklife, Theater, Literature, and Visual Arts Programs

The purpose of the proposed “Arts in Action at the CMA” Program is to provide children and their caregivers access to age-appropriate and interactive arts programs of a variety of artistic disciplines. 

Applicant: Heritage Parc (contact: Jazmyn Jones)

Project: Black Theater Experience

Heritage Parc’s Black Theatre Experience (BTE) is a dynamic community outreach program that seeks to preserve and showcase the rich cultural heritage of black theater art. The program provides aspiring vocalists, actors, and dancers a unique opportunity to hone their skills and showcase their talents in a supportive and nurturing environment.  BTE aims to create inclusive platforms that amplify the voices of African-American artists in theater, dance, and other creative expressions. We aim to enhance our audiences’ social and cultural awareness through these platforms, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of the African-American perspective.

Applicant: AcadianaCares (contact: Rebecca Oyer)

Project: Art for Life

The ART FOR LIFE project seeks to provide opportunities for marginalized people to experience the arts, and for professional artists to experience the impact their creative work can have on people with little to no prior access to the arts. Participants will be involved in workshops led by local artists in various art media. The power of storytelling will be a unifying thread that will be focused on in each of the workshops; theatre, music, dance and visual art. 

Applicant: Southern Screen Film Festival, Inc (contact: Julie Borderlon)

Project: Southern Screen Challenges

Southern Screen’s Challenges Project will consist of three major components: a writing challenge, a film pitch, and a song pitch to take place over the coming months and culminate at the festival held November 16-19, 2023. Our purpose is to develop the arts in Acadiana by providing an opportunity for engagement between established artists and emerging ones. We aim to accomplish this by encouraging established artists to present their expertise in the arts to the public in general, but in this case, to groups of emerging artists in particular.

Applicant: Atelier de la Nature (contact: Aurore Ballengee)

Project: 2023 Halloween Art & Nature Festival

The Halloween Art & Nature Festival will be a one-day free event to be held on October 28th, 2023 at Atelier de la Nature in Arnaudville, LA.  This year, we will be hosting more than 20 artists, culture bearer and art organizations around the theme “The Deep” (deep sea life, deep roots both cultural and botanical, deep time, deep traditions, and more).

Applicant: Performing Arts Serving Acadiana  (contact: Jacqueline Lyle)

Project: Daytime Performances for Students

This grant requests support for staging PASA’s three daytime performances for students in the 23-24 academic year. The purpose of this project is to bring students to high quality performances in a formal venue: The goals for our organization are to increase cultural literacy, introduce students to performing arts productions and to give them an audience experience in a formal venue, as a means of educating, as well as cultivating future audiences. 

Applicant: Louisiana Folk Roots (contact: Jeanne Solis)

Project: Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week

The proposed Louisiana Balfa Music Camp Encore (BMCE) project is scheduled for March 20-24, 2024, in the region of Eunice, Louisiana. The Balfa Music Camp continues to be the only immersive traditional Cajun & Creole music education and performance camp conducted in south Louisiana. 

Applicant: Basin Arts (Fiscal Sponsor)

Sub Applicant: Grant Dermody

Project: Blown Away On The Bayou Summit

Blown Away on the Bayou (BAOTB) is a 5-day Harmonica/Blues Summit with World Class teachers for music learners of all levels, beginners to advanced, from October 18-22, 2023. The Summit will take place at The Whirlybird Compound – a venue in St. Landry Parish that offers informative experiences through performances, workshops, retreats, and a variety of artistic and cultural events. 

Applicant: University of Louisiana at Lafayette (contact: Michael Eble)

Project: Fletcher Hall Gallery High School Exhibitions

The UL Lafayette College of the Arts-Fletcher Hall Gallery mounts two High School Art Exhibitions per academic year. In the fall semester we host the Louisiana Next-Gen Juried High School Art Exhibition. In the Spring the gallery hosts the UL Lafayette High School Rally Art Exhibition. Funding will support promotion and mounting these two exhibitions over the next academic year. 

Applicant: Louisiana Crafts Guild (contact: Gene Meneray)

Project: Open Studio Acadiana

Open Studios Acadiana is a free tour of artists’ studios, galleries, and museums throughout the Acadiana region. Held in November the weekend before Thanksgiving, Open Studios showcases both artists in their studios, a joint show of participating artists at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, and also highlights the regions galleries including the Lafayette Art Association’s gallery, Sans Souci gallery, and a group show at Maison Stephanie B&B in Arnaudville. 

Applicant: The Current Media Inc. (Fiscal Sponsor)

Sub-Applicant: Ga De Don/ Rachel Nederveld

Project: Untitled Nature Audio Series

Untitled Nature Audio Series is an audio storytelling project where each episode tells one person’s story to bring perspective, nuance, and connection to a bigger environmental issue. The first season will focus on climate solution stories in South Louisiana, exploring one person’s unique story to understand how they are adapting and engaging with nature. 

Applicant: Southern Screen Film Festival, Inc (contact: Julie Borderlon)

Project: Southern Screen Education

Southern Screen’s Education Project will consist of five major components: a writer’s panel, a documentary ethics seminar, an international film distribution seminar, storyboarding seminar, and cinematography seminar. During the festival weekend November 16-19, 2023. 

Applicant: Performing Arts Serving Acadiana (contact: Jacqueline Lyle)

Project: PASAble

PASAble will serve people with disabilities in our area by normalizing participation in PASA activities and attendance at PASA performances. While our primary venue, the Heymann Performing Arts Center, is somewhat accessible (wheelchair ramps, handicap stalls in restrooms, infrared listening devices), neither PASA nor our partners for this project are satisfied with the level of normalized participation for people with disabilities, including people with congenital disabilities, persons who are visually and/or hearing impaired and people with mobility challenges, in our area’s cultural activities. 

Applicant: Festival of Words Cultural Arts Collective (contact: Martha Garner)

Project: Festival of Words 2023

The Festival of Words takes place on the first Friday and Saturday in November annually, November 3rd and 4th this year. Three literary artists will be funded to conduct both a public school creative writing workshop in schools that have low literacy scores on statewide tests, and a community writing workshop which is free to all attendees. 

Applicant: Evangeline Parish Library (contact: Suzy Lemoine)

Project: Bringing the ‘WOW’ of Ventriloquism, Magic, Theatre and Art to the land of Evangeline!

Bringing the “WOW” of Ventriloquism, Magic, Theatre and Art to the land of Evangeline, for June and July 2024 will include five outstanding artist in four different genres: Donna Lavergne is a Ventriloquist and storyteller, Mitch Richard is a seasoned magician, comedian and balloon artist, Brii Simmons is an accomplished actress and singer, and Jan Veillon and Neva Ardoin are two media artists with the Evangeline Arts Council who will provide instruction and inspiration in creating art. 

Applicant: Iberia Performing Arts League (contact: Mitchell Prudhomme)

Project: Next to Normal

IPAL is producing the Broadway musical Next to Normal this fall. The plot centers around a mother who struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effects of her mental state on her family. The musical addresses grief, depression, suicide, drug abuse, and ethics in modern psychiatry. 

Applicant: Basin Arts (contact: Clare Cook)

Project: ProjectSpace Residency @ Basin Arts

ProjectSpace Residency is an existing and always-evolving artist residency program that includes a quarterly rotation of exhibitions showcasing new works that are rooted in collaboration and community engagement. The residency program provides a structure and foundation for selected artists to thrive during the development, implementation, and final assessment of their residency commitment, while also educating audiences about the many phases of the creative process that it takes to develop a new artistic concept. 

Applicant: True Friends Society of Lafayette (contact: Erica Fox)

Project: Freetown! A Creative Journey

“Freetown!: A Creative Journey” is a collaborative and immersive, artistic experience. This vision aims to explore the rich tapestry of cultural diversity through various art forms. This series is a festival of performances produced by various artists and that provide BIPOC professionals the creative freedom to express their talents using a myriad of mediums and to perform in unlikely spaces. 

Applicant: The Grand Opera House of the South, Inc. (contact: Kimberly Gattle)

Project: The Grand Opera House’s 17th Season presents “Shadows of the 60s: A Celebration of the Stars of Motown”

Grand Opera House (GOHS) is excited to present in its 17th season, “Shadows of the 60s: A Celebration of the Stars of Mowtown.” Scheduled for Thursday, January 11, 2024, this performance kicks off the first performance of the 17th season with a tribute to the tremendous legacy of Motown’s Super Groups, in a salute to the legendary stars of Motown such as The Supremes, The Four Tops and Temptations.

Applicant: NUNU Arts and Culture Collective (contact: George Marks)

Project: Les Soeurs de la Chasse

Les Soeurs de la Chasse is a solo exhibition project, exploring the pursuit of female hunters in France and Louisiana, and their intimate relationship to the land, to their harvest, and to each other.  This project was started in 2019 by artist CamillenFarrah Lenain in rural Louisiana, and includes photographs and interviews from dozens of women hunting in Southern France and Louisiana, following their chases from sunrise to sunset. Currently, the project is in both English and French and will evolve by documenting huntresses who speak local Cajun and Creole.  

Applicant: Iberia Cultural Resources Association (contact: Donald Voorhies)

Project: Symphony Sunday in the Park

The “Symphony Sunday in the Park” is a free open-to-the-public Symphonic concert by the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra. The theme will be “From Hollywood to Broadway.” The Concert is to be held outside under-the-oaks at the New Iberia City Park on Sunday, April 7,2024. There will be other associated activities designed to attract a wide range of patrons, including an instrument “Petting Zoo” for youngsters and a picnic competition for older audience members.

Applicant: The Grand Opera House of the South, Inc. (contact: Kimberly Gattle)

Project: The Grand Opera House’s 17th Season presents LIVE FROM LAUREL CANYON

LIVE FROM LAUREL CANYON will perform on stage at The Grand Opera House (GOHS) on April 13, 2024. “Live from Laurel Canyon – Songs and Stories of American Folk Rock” is an evening of live music and narrated stories of some of the most influential songwriters who lived in Laurel Canyon in the mid 1960’s and 70’s. 

Applicant: Chorale Acadienne, Inc. (contact: Chris Hayes)

Project: Christmas by Candlelight: Yuletide Life

This grant will assist our non-profit foundation with “Christmas by Candlelight: Yuletide Life”, a concert to be performed by Chorale Acadienne, a community choral group under the direction of Russell Roden, with the participation of Kevin Martin, Chorale’s collaborative accompanist, the approximately 50 volunteer members of Chorale Acadienne, and local musicians. The 2 performances will take place on Tuesday, December 5th, 2023, and Friday, December 8th, 2023. 

Applicant: City of Breaux Bridge (contact: Jeanne McBride)

Project: Christmas Caroling on the Teche

The City of Breaux Bridge and Teche Center for the Arts are collaborating to host an Arts Night on December 2, 2023, with the aim of fostering unity within our community through various art forms.  

Applicant: Chorale Acadienne, Inc. (contact: Chris Hayes)

Project: Harmonious Life Concert

This grant will assist our non-profit foundation with “Harmonious Life”, a concert to be performed by Chorale Acadienne, a community choral group under the direction of Russell Roden, with the participation of Kevin Martin, Chorale’s collaborative accompanist, the approximately 50 volunteer members of Chorale Acadienne, and local musicians. The concert will take place on Tuesday, October 10th, 2023. The music will include works illustrating the theme of unity in diversity, a theme intended to unify our local community in the face of modern society’s frequent economic, philosophical, religious, and political divisiveness.