Feature
Sept.
8
Artists Exhibit Work After Hours
by Terry Trahan Jr.
Over 55 artists will show off their latest creations at businesses and on sidewalks along the streets of downtown Houma Saturday night.
Art After Dark, sponsored by the Terrebonne Fine Arts Guild, has helped local artists to showcase their work in nontraditional exhibits for the past 11 years. The upcoming event on Sept. 10 will feature work in 29 downtown locations, ranging from church fences to bars and restaurants.
It’s an opportunity for locals to stroll down the streets while taking in multiple art media. Photographers, wood carvers, painters and other artists gather to display their work and talk about the pieces with those who attend the event.
“We get such a diversified collection,” said Karen Kelly, chairperson for the event and treasurer for the TFAG. “Most people who do have exhibits don’t have a regular venue.”
That’s one reason why the event has remained popular among those who appreciate art in the community. They can enjoy viewing pieces in a casual, relaxed atmosphere while sipping wine at one location and enjoying a chocolate sundae at another.
But the event is not all about art. The Terrebonne Folklife Culture Center and the Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum will have music, and the Houma-Terrebonne Community Stage Band will play in the Courthouse Square.
As artists and organizations set up tents along the bayou walk, bridges and sidewalks, people mingle to learn more about Houma’s growing art scene and the culture it depicts. While Kelly said turnout varies from year to year and often depends on the football schedule, she is hopeful LSU’s quiet game against Northwestern State University this weekend means more people will get out to walk through the exhibits Saturday night.
“You’re walking around and run into people you haven’t seen in years,” Kelly said.
While Art After Dark is both a social and cultural event, it started as a way to expose the community to local artists who happened to be exhibiting work at the same time. The Downtown Art Gallery had been showing paintings, and Kelly learned about a sculpture exhibit that Carolyn Pellegrin had set up at Whitney Bank. The Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum had an ongoing exhibit that was about to wrap up, and Downtown Live After Five was also a popular event at the time.
Kelly worked to bring all the events together to celebrate an evening of art and culture in downtown Houma. As plans for the first event developed, the Nicholls State University Art Studio joined the lineup, and Southdown Plantation and Museum opened its doors to exhibit work as well.
“I wanted to be different with a nighttime exhibit,” Kelly said.
She has done just that and worked to expand the event over the past 11 years with a grant from the Terrebonne Art Funding Program. As a result, people can now view pieces at locations that extend from Barrow Street, along Main Street, to just before Lafayette Street. Because businesses come and go, Kelly said there’s always something new to experience each year. And that’s what helps to keep the art scene alive.
“People need something to do other than going to work,” Kelly said. “When businesses are looking to relocate, they’re looking at the cultural side of the city. And that’s what this is. It’s a cultural affair.”
