In November of 2024, Acadiana Center for the Arts (AcA), in partnership with LCG, formed the Lafayette Public Art Network (PAN): a volunteer committee made up of representatives from government, tourism boards, arts organizations, the university and neighborhood coteries, as well as other passionate citizens of Lafayette. Their job? To foster, catalogue, and encourage public art in our city. But what drew all of these people together under this common purpose? What makes this cause important? Essentially, why public art?

Public art is a visual representation of the unique qualities of a town; it colors the experiences and memories made within it. Visitors come to Lafayette and they remember taking pictures in front of this or that mural and, looking back on those pictures, they remember all the great food and music and people that they experienced here as well.

But public art isn’t just for tourists. In an increasingly expensive world it remains one of the last truly accessible ways to experience art. The building walls you drive by on your way to work become galleries. The open lot becomes an exhibition space. You, an ordinary citizen, are suddenly reminded that beauty can exist in even the most mundane places, and that perhaps the very idea of a mundane place is one that should be questioned.

Put simply, public art makes a place better to be in, and what better goal for a city could there be than that?

A perfect example of the value of public art, and the efficacy of this new Network, is one of our first major projects: a 5,000 square foot mural on the park side of the Children’s Museum of Acadiana (CMA), located on Congress Street in Downtown Lafayette.

The Children’s Museum’s Executive Director Lore Linton, a member of the PAN, has long been an advocate for the space not only as a place where parents can bring their children on the weekends but as a community hub in its own right. With its youth audience and its proximity to several iconic downtown locations, the Museum is a prime opportunity to introduce kids to the city’s culture and art, and to grow a real sense of community in Lafayette starting with its youngest residents. This mural, a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the museum’s founding, would be a reflection of that philosophy, incorporating the beauty of childlike wonder and curiosity as well as the power of community connection.

However, this canvas is not only the wall of a beloved downtown organization but also a backdrop to one of its most trafficked cultural event spaces: Parc San Souci. Memories of watching a concert at Downtown Rising, buying a snack at one of Festival International’s many food tents, or enjoying a pub crawl through Gulf Brew, would all include this new mural in the background, its design and colors backdropping the culture of Lafayette as it happens in real time. Community pride and placemaking would clearly be another important part of this mural’s design.

So how does one tackle an iconic, 5,000 square foot piece of artwork that captures not only the values of the Children’s Museum, but the soul of the Lafayette community at large? The answer is: not alone. While AcA has taken on the responsibility of managing the project, it could not be considered a true downtown endeavor without the inclusion, hard work, and perspective of Downtown Lafayette Unlimited, the City of Lafayette, and, of course, the Children’s Museum itself.

In June of 2025, we sent out a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to the artists of Louisiana, asking them to provide examples of their previous work as well as a description of what the Children’s Museum meant to them, whether through personal experience or through their connection to its theme of childlike wonder and community. At this stage, we were looking for four things: has the artist demonstrated the ability to tackle a project of this size; does the artist have an evocative and distinct style; do they understand and connect to the themes we were looking to represent, and finally, can this artist accurately grasp and capture the spirit of this community, whether as a member themselves or as an outside collaborator.

Our panel, made up of representatives from the four entities involved (CMA, DLU, AcA, and the city of Lafayette), scored each RFQ based on these criteria and met on August 8 to discuss the results. The stakeholder group had initially planned on picking the top five submissions to discuss, but scores were so close that the top nine were up for discussion.

After much deliberation, the stakeholder group eventually agreed on the three finalists: KaDavien Baylor, Dirk Guidry, and Milagros Collective. These three applicants were chosen not only because of their artistic expression, unique perspective, and technical expertise, but also because of the wide variety of approaches they represent as a group. There is a confident expectation that when the proposals are received, each of the three designs will be completely unique.

KaDavien Baylor comes to us from Shreveport where he has made a name for himself in the world of not only large scale wall murals but murals on basketball courts and park trails. Our panel was attracted to KaDavien’s use of color and his unique style, which demonstrated an ability to create fun, family friendly designs that would appeal to children and adults alike. His work and narrative also showed a strong sense of the power of community. The panel was interested in the fresh perspective KaDavien might bring as an out of town artist. 

Dirk Guidry is a Lafayette artist whose work you might recognize from several iconic murals in the area. Dirk is a staple of the local art scene and a strong presence downtown, having worked and collaborated with numerous organizations. His murals often feature tableaus of recognizable Cajun icons and symbols, but he has also demonstrated an expansion of his style with his recent work at Katherine Drexel Elementary in Broussard. While this would definitely be the largest scale project he has tackled yet, the panel is excited to see what he might come up with.

Milagros Collective is an artist duo, Felici Asteinza and Joey Fillastre, hailing from New Orleans that takes an abstract approach to mural design, using deceptively simple patterns to highlight unique architectural features of the canvas. The technical ability of the duo is well documented, having worked not only at a variety of scales but shapes and sizes as well. The panel was drawn to the uniqueness of the design and were intrigued to see how they would approach the themes of the mural from a non-representational perspective.

Now that our three finalists have been selected, each will provide a full proposal for how they would approach the project. This includes, of course, their proposed design for the mural, but also logistical considerations such as who they’ll be working with, how will they prep the wall, what kind of paint, what kind of scaffolding, how they’ll budget the money. At this stage of the process we need to see not only a design that excites us, but also hard evidence that the artists can follow through on the project they’re suggesting. Proposals are due from our finalists on August 31 and once received they will go in front of the entire Public Art Network for a final decision. Hopefully, we will be announcing our selected artist and their design before September ends with paint hitting the wall by October 2025. Follow us on social media to receive continued updates on the process!

By Audrey deMahy, Community Engagement Coordinator