LAFAYETTE, LA.- September heralds in the much-anticipated Fall Opening Celebration, showcasing a calendar filled with artistic and cultural experiences at The Hilliard Art Museum.

The Fall Exhibition Opening Reception is Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. The member’s reception is from 4-6 p.m., and the event is open to the general public from 6-8 p.m.

The Fall reception will include Festivals Acadiens et Créoles unveiling of their 2023 Official Pin and Poster. This year’s artwork was designed by local artist, Lu Wixon. Guests will be able to purchase the 2023 Festivals Acadiens et Créoles pin and poster at the event as well as during Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, Oct. 13-15 held at Girard Park in Lafayette, LA.

“We are delighted to continue this long-term partnership with Festivals Acadiens et Créoles and to celebrate their featured artists and musicians alongside our new exhibitions,” says Museum Director LouAnne Greenwald.

The Fall Exhibition showcases notable local, regional and national artists, including:

SAM REVELES: SOLASTALGIA

DATE: September 09, 2023 — February 03, 2024




A series of four large canvases produced for the exhibition chart the artist’s affective experience of visiting the Gullfoss Falls in southwest Iceland. These “Golden Falls,” formed by water from the melting Langjökull glacier, create a dramatic spectacle in the Hvitá river canyon. There, waterfalls more than 100 feet in two stages, carve a deep canyon into the landscape. The site was at the epicenter of an international debate in the early 20th century: in 1907, an Englishman attempted to develop a hydroelectric plant fueled by the water’s power. A local sheep farmer, Tómas Tómasson, refused to sell his land to the businessman; his daughter, Sigríður Tómasdóttir led a 20-year legal battle to protect the land from development. The first three paintings in Reveles’s Gullfoss series take yellow, blue, and red, respectively, as their central color palette, following dynamic lines that suggest the majestic power of their namesake. The fourth painting in the series is marked by thick strokes of overlapping and slightly translucent colors: peach, yellow, salmon, azure, crimson, a verdant green. Guiding the composition from the corners and edges of the canvas, densely gridded pencil lines undulate and flow into one another, suggestively evoking the many moods of water.

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: WEIRD WILD, AND ABSTRACT 2023: GEORGE RODRIGUE FOUNDATION OF THE ARTS SCHOLARSHIP CONTEST

DATE: September 02, 2023 — September 30, 2023

The George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts grants monetary scholarships to high school juniors and seniors through an annual visual arts competition in order to encourage individual participation in the arts. Over 650 high school students from across Louisiana entered the 2023 Scholarship Art Contest by submitting original works of art on the theme of, "Off the Beaten Path."

SOUTH ARTS SOUTHERN PRIZE AND STATE FELLOWS

DATE: August 19, 2023 — December 16, 2023

South Arts 2022 Southern Prize and State Fellows is a showcase of the best of Southern visual art. This powerhouse exhibition, organized by South Arts, features a wide variety of styles, media, and perspectives. The Hilliard Art Museum is the final stop for this traveling exhibition. Past venues include the Bo Bartlett Center at Columbus State University (GA), the Steven F. Gately Gallery at Francis Marion University (SC), and the 701 Center for Contemporary Art (SC). South Arts 2022 Southern Prize and State Fellows is a showcase of the best of Southern visual art. Each state is represented by a fellow selected by a panel of experts. The Southern Prize is given to the overall winner, and a finalist award is given to the runner-up. Louisiana’s own Hannah Chalew is the 2022 Southern Prize winner and Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo is the Southern Prize Finalist.

The fellows are Jenny Fine of Alabama, GeoVanna Gonzalez of Florida, Antonio Darden of Georgia, Crystal Gregory of Kentucky, Hannah Chalew of Louisiana, Gloria Gipson Suggs of Mississippi, Marcus Dunn of North Carolina, Brittany M. Watkins of South Carolina, and Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo of Tennessee.