Author: Emily Gautreaux

Step into an Illustration at the Acadiana Center for the Arts

Regular patrons of the Acadiana Center for the Arts’ already minimalist cafe will be literally stepping into a monochrome drawing come October, thanks to the mind of Lafayette illustrator, Aileen Bennett. As learned from a detailed profile piece by the Advocate, Bennett’s strikingly immersive public art project will be unveiled entirely come October, and it will turn the ACA’s already nominal coffee shop into a black-and-white scene straight out of a comic strip.

While the preview piece was unveiled in August to a warm reception, it’s only the beginning as soon the entire ACA cafe will be illustrated with furniture that looks to be made of paper, a fake wedding cake, a working piano, and a very real fireplace with hand-drawn fire. The scene to be set will be very surreal to visitors of the art gallery and performance space, who are already prepared to witness imaginative experiences by walking through the glass doors of the space.

When speaking of her piece, Bennett said, “”this is literally a different world you enter. It’s like stepping inside my brain or into someone’s very posh living room with some hidden humor thrown in.”

The installation at the Acadiana Center for the Arts will be a mixture of both 3D and 2D objects, so some patrons are expected to have a slightly difficult time determining what is real and not, such as the white tables and chairs outlined in black ink set against two-dimensional backdrops alongside similarly-colored props. It’s expected that the cafe will be a different type of tourist spot attracting those searching for some quirk in the Downtown Lafayette scene.

While the rest of the Acadiana Center for the Arts is regularly utilized to great extents during film festivals, Art Walks, and other notable events of the booming social and art scene to be found in downtown Lafayette, Jaik Faulk, visual arts director of the Acadiana Center for the Arts, sees the existing cafe as being a great, though un-utilized space. He told the Advocate, “We have beautiful, tall ceilings. We have a lot of space. It’s all sunlit. It’s basically a soft box that lights itself, so it’s perfect for photography.”

While just a fragment of the installation was unveiled in August to surprise and praise by the Acadiana Center for the Arts patronage, the full extent of the project’s undertaking is quite extensive as it requires sanding and painting of all existing furniture white, then outlining it strategically in black, and sealing it all with a protective coat that’s sanitizer-friendly.

Despite Bennett wanting to do the project for years, it became apparent that it would require many more hands than hers to complete properly, so she enlisted the help of dozens of community volunteers. Laughing in her reply, Bennett tells The Advocate that her team corrects her if she refers to the venture as her project, saying, “It’s now their project. It blew me away, that there’s like 100 people who are desperate to come and sand things and paint and donate.”

The installation was funded, in part, through an ArtSpark grant, an individual Artist Funding Project offered in partnership by the Acadiana Center for the Arts and Lafayette Economic Development Authority.  The grant is designed to directly support any Acadiana artists who are expanding their bodies of work as a professional as well as offering outreach to the community.

The mesmerizing, public exhibit will be in place at the Acadiana Center for the Arts from October through January, and afterward the illustrated cafe will find another home, as the project won’t belong to Bennett or the community at that point; it will belong to the community who helped envision, build, and appreciate it.

For more Louisiana related articles, click here.

Nicholls Foundation Receives History Making Donation

Nicholls State University received a generous donation last month that will benefit over a dozen students and faculty pursuing educational enrichment.  As announced in August by the Nicholls Foundation in a university press release, an impressive bequest from the estate of James and Mary Alice Van Sickle (BA ‘66) will produce 10 endowed professorships and 10 or more scholarships for undergraduates, graduates, and professors alike at the prestigious university.

The Van Sickle’s generous gifts will go to the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, with the professorships, specifically honoring Mary Alice’s mother, Mabel Bollinger Toups, a lifelong Lockport teacher. The James R. and Mary Alice Van Sickle Endowed Scholarships will range from $2,500 to $5,000 per student.

Mary Alice Van Sickle is a Lockport native who majored in English education while at Nicholls, and the gift offered by the Van Sickles is sure to honor the educational legacy of Mabel Toups. Today, James and Mary Alice live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as she retired in 2014 after a three-decade career in marketing for a landscape architectural firm in Boston.

Mary Alice was quoted as believing “ that there is no better preparation for living a full and rewarding life than through education. I hope these scholarship students will enrich their own lives through learning and will graduate with the tools that will lead to success in their chosen professions. The bequest will also allow teachers to expand their own learning opportunities through research and study, and to continue to inspire the love of learning in students by serving as positive role models.”

While the Van Sickles humbly did not wish to announce the donation amount, their gift is recognized to be the largest legacy agreement within the Nicholls Foundation’s Oaks Society, an organization, which is comprised of alumni, parents, faculty and friends making a planned gift to Nicholls State University or the closely related Nicholls Foundation.

Named after the numerous and ever-present oak trees of the Nicholls campus, membership to the Oaks Society can be granted to any individual donating in an effort to further the mission of Nicholls State University, regardless of amount. Like the nearly 50 oak trees present at the university’s founding, and still providing shade and scenery today, these planned gifts have the potential to have a lasting generational impact.

Mary Alice is extremely fond of her time spent at the university, saying, ““I have always felt that I received an outstanding education at Nicholls, which provided me with the life skills that would equip me to succeed in my chosen career. Nicholls instilled in me a true love for learning, and a curiosity about the world beyond the bayou. The bequest is my way of saying thank you. This beloved institution placed its trust in me so many years ago and provided me with a foundation of knowledge, which has nurtured me throughout my adult life.”

The Nicholls Foundation’s executive director, Jeremy Becker expressed his excitement of the VanSickle’s gift and the “tremendous impact” that it will have for “so many faculty and students at Nicholls.” The Foundation, itself, is an independent university group that supports the mission of Nicholls State University by seeking gifts and grants and managing those funds and other assets to support the school through endowed chairs, professorships, scholarships, and other enhancement offers.

If any reader is interested in learning more about The Nicholls Foundation or making a bequest to become a member of The Oaks Society, it’s suggested that they visit visit www.nichollsfoundation.org or contact Becker at 448-4006.

For more education related information, click here.

Forget the Fries and Serve These Tasty Sides

There’s always an uptick in outdoor grilling during these hot summer months, so there’s a high chance of burgers being a mainstay on the menu, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the hamburgers at your picnic table need to be paired with the classic, though heavy side dish of french fries. As suggested by Martha Stewart’s recipe blog, there are a plethora of delicious, fresh, crunchy, and tasty sides recipes that are considerably healthier than the French fry, so take note of eight of these delectable dishes.

Tasty Side-Corn-and-Avocado Salad with Goddess Dressing

Pair your juicy, savory burger (no matter the content) proudly with this fresh take-and- shake salad recipe. This side is topped with a dressing of stirred-in, finely diced avocado that gives the salad a delectable creaminess without browning while you’re tending to the burgers on your grill. The dressing is placed atop a bed of fresh romaine, radishes, and corn to compliment the sheer heft of a burger-centric meal.

Tasty Side-Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Buttermilk

You might not have to grab any ketchup or other condiment with this health-conscious roasting of these candied-like roasted sweet potatoes that are benefitted all the more by the tangy richness of buttermilk that leaves noted of sweet and savory in your mouth. 

Tomato and Avocado Salad

Burger lovers should have absolutely zero qualms with this easy-to-make salad that’s designed to not overextend your calorie intake. This dish adds a splash of fresh color and flavor to your meal with its array of summer tomatoes and creamy avocado. You’ll be tempted to take off the top bun of your “perfectly dressed burger” to incorporate some of this flavor as well!

Tasty Side-Seasoned Roasted-Corn Salad Cups

A summer hamburger’s partner in culinary crime has to be corn, be it on or off the cob. This particular recipe is a fresh take on esuites, or Mexican street corn cups, and it calls for the charring of the corn and tossing it with jicama, chiles, cilantro, oil, lime juice, and queso fresco, adding sweet juiciness and a bit of spice to your summer picnic table.

Tasty Side-Melon and Cucumber Salad

Sometimes, though, the savory juices of a well-prepared and dressed hamburger require your side dish be on the sweeter side of the flavor spectrum; in that event you have this sweet and refreshing summer salad. This side is brought together with whole pieces of chopped melon as well as the puree of any leftover melon added to yogurt and honey, creating a gorgeous to look at and tasty side to enjoy in the dead of summer heat.

Tasty Side- Grilled Potato Slices with Salt and Vinegar

Think of this recipe as the healthier take on salt-and-vinegar chips and having much more texture than your average french fry, as these potato slices are grilled (healthier than frying), giving the simmering potatoes a nice charred flavor. The vinegar simmering will impart a pleasant tang that will remind you of salt-and-vinegar chips without the fat that comes with them.

Tasty Side-Garlic-Ginger Cucumbers

These sliced cucumbers will provide a powerful pairing of garlic and ginger that is qual parts refreshing and crisp. Not to mention, cucumbers themselves contain an antioxidant that supports brain health, and the ginger that this recipe pairing them with is famous for fighting inflammation and helping with digestion. These beneficial spears are dressed with rice vinegar and soy sauce and topped with sesame seeds and spicy chili oil, so they’ll be set up properly to absolutely steal the show.

Tasty Side-Crisp Zucchini Panko Fries

Forgo frying the traditional potatoes, and instead mix things up with these vegetable fries that are wondrously crusted with panko bread crumbs. Though, you’re welcome to substitute the irresistible zucchini with yellow squash, haricot verts, or portobello mushroom caps, depending on the palette of your dinner guests.

For more delicious recipes and tasty side ideas, click here.

Acadiana’s Silicon Bayou Gains New Tech Firm

Over the past decade, Acadiana’s tech industry, Silicon Bayou, has caught the eye of many interested parties nationwide as “Acadiana’s Silicon Valley” has became only more prevalent and successful with time. As detailed by an Advocate article, the educational technology company, SchoolMint Inc, will move its headquarters and other U.S. operations from California to Acadiana.

SchoolMint Inc, which has previously acquired a Lafayette-based company in 2019, will asl o consolidate their offices in New York and Miami, as CEO Bryan MacDonald and Governor John Bel Edwards announced in Lafayette. The firm develops enrollment, application and behavioral management software for schools. The firm develops enrollment, application and behavioral management software for schools.

This monumental deal already has roots in Acadiana, as the history of this Lafayette success story traces back to a sophomore at Carencro High School in 2004, Casey Bienvenu. Bienvenu’s company was eventually purchased and ended up being known as Smart Choice Technologies when it was bought by School Mint in 2019.

Total, the moving of offices and the company will involve a $515,000 investment in new office spaces, and it will create 178 new direct jobs in Lafayette, with an average salary of more than $74,000 plus benefits, according to the governor’s office.

The success of the move to Silicon Bayou was rightly applauded by the governor in the announcement. “From Lafayette to Baton Rouge and New Orleans and across north Louisiana’s I-20 Cyber Corridor, Louisiana is leading the way with cutting-edge tech firms creating quality jobs for our digital future,” he declared.

Taxpayers will help out with $1 million for the company’s relocation assistance, and a healthy tax credit for development of software products, among other benefits. These are seen as valuable, especially for smaller companies, but MacDonald put an emphasis on other avenues the state and community can take to contribute to growth in the technology-based economy.

Once such avenue is to keep the “pipeline of talent” full of students from universities who can provide the educated workforce that such a tech company requires. What is seen by some to be underrated in the previous announcements is the state’s award-winning program, Fast Start, which is used to recruit qualified people to work in relocated businesses, be they blue-collar jobs in a factory or white-collar positions in a software firm.

While leaders across Louisiana applaud SchoolMint as a new, well quasi-new, star in the local Acadiana technology scene, Louisiana as a whole cannot guarantee success in any national, much less international market for digital products or services. Though, SchoolMint is seen as a massive contributor of new talents as well as old to Louisiana’s tech scene, and talent is what our state will need to be more competitive in the 21st century.

“Acadiana’s Silicon Valley” has only grown in prosperity and size over the past decades, and with the addition of SchoolMint, it’s hoped that these successes will inspire lawmakers to invest more in community colleges and universities that make Louisiana more talent-competitive.

For more Louisiana related articles, click here.

Record Number of High School Graduates for Class of 2019

While 2020 has seen its fair share of roadblocks and hurdles, a recent report shows some good news for 2019 grads. The state had a record number of high school graduates and also saw a record in TOPS eligibility, as reported by a Louisiana Department of Education press release.

The class of 2019 recorded a record-high 42,650 “on-time” high school graduates, according to the report released by the Louisiana Department of Education. Despite this milestone, it should be noted that the overall cohort graduation rate decreased from 81.4 percent in 2018 to 80.1 percent in 2019. This released graduation data reflects the four year adjusted cohort graduation rate, which tracks “on-time” graduation.

“We are pleased to celebrate the coordinated efforts resulting in more Louisiana students earning a high school diploma than in previous years,” said Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley. “”With the good news also comes concern, however, as the graduation rate for the cohort fell from the previous year.”

The class of 2019 also saw Louisiana’s highest recorded number of TOPS scholarships and students earning college and career credentials.

Louisiana saw a record number of high school students graduate on time in 2019 at 42,650, up from 40,131 in 2018. The number of graduates earning early college credit and industry career credentials rose 9.7 percent from 24,841 students in 2018 to 27,260 in 2019. The Class of 2019 also saw growth in the number of students who were eligible for the TOPS scholarships. This class had 22,098 students eligible for TOPS, a 3.8 percent increase from the 21,280 students who were eligible in 2018.

“Moving forward, we see real opportunities to solidify career and technical education pathways that lead to higher wage jobs directly from high school,” said Dr. Brumley. “Also, we must capitalize on possibilities to further connect our high schools and universities through our Dual Enrollment programming.”

Last year’s announcement that the the number of high school graduates rate exceeded 80% sparked a gathering of state leaders on the steps of the Louisiana Capitol to celebrate the state finally meeting a target that, while low by national standards, was the goal of a 2009 state law.

The Louisiana graduation rate was 67.2% in 2010 and 77.5% in 2015. The national average for the graduating class of 2018 was 85%, the latest data available, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

The Louisiana Department of Education has made a library of data available to the public in their High School Performance library on the Department’s website.

As Dr. Brumley stated, “”The graduation and credential data released today will most certainly factor into the development of our short and long term goals. It’s our mission to ensure every student is career or college ready when they leave our schools.”

For more education related information, click here.

Classic Road Trip Mistakes to Avoid

There’s nothing quite like setting out on the open road for a classic American Road Trip. As outlined by Travel + Leisure in the full list, as liberating as a road trip can be, there are classic road trip mistakes to avoid so that your trip can be as effective and memorable as possible. Below are a few essential avoidants to take care of before setting off

Road Trip Mistake-Leaving Home Without a Cooler of Snacks and Drinks

There’s little else more frustrating than being 5% into your cross-country trip and needing to stop immediately to appease one traveler’s hunger pains due to the family’s inability to plan. Chances are, there are plenty of gas stations and fast food joints along the way, but a trip sustained by burgers, fries, candy, and chips will get old fast. Pack a cooler with pre-cut veggies and fruit, nuts, sandwiches, and of course, some healthy snacks. To keep you hydrated and lightly caffeinated on a long day, try caffeinated sparkling water.

Road Trip Mistake-Planning Every Moment with No Room for Spontaneity

Roadtrips are liberating and free, made possible by a schedule that leaves essential wiggle room for the frivolous. One of the best parts of road tripping is having the freedom to stop, explore, and reroute at any moment. “Once you plan out your trip, you can always deviate from your plan, but it’s a good idea to do some research ahead of time to get the most out of your trip,” said Sanna Boman, editor-in-chief at Roadtrippers. “Road trips are all about the journey — of course, time or budget constraints can dictate the route, but detours and unexpected stops are often the most memorable moments from a trip.”

Road Trip Mistake-Not Stopping Often to Stretch Your Legs

Keeping your mind’s eye on your final destination tends to tempt the driver to drive straight through, contributing to burnout and missing out on the attractions and opportunities you’re passing up.  Side trips and highway attractions are a big part of road tripping — you never know when you’ll come across an Airbnb that’s shaped like a giant beagle or pass a beautiful hike that’s right off the road. To keep your mind fresh to focus on driving safely, I recommend stopping once an hour to move around and stretch, whether that means getting gas or grabbing a cup of coffee, then enjoying a 30-minute break every four to five hours for a short walk or hike,” said Dr. Suzanne Bartlett-Hackenmiller, an integrative medicine physician and the medical advisor for AllTrails.“

 Road Trip Mistake–Forgetting to Download Maps, Entertainment, and Apps

If you want to avoid data charges at the end of your trip, you’ll need to download everything over Wi-Fi before you leave. Andrew Moore-Crispin, director of content at Ting Mobile, recommends downloading your maps on Google Maps in advance, so you don’t have to use data (or need it) to navigate. The same goes for Spotify playlists and any shows or movies you’ll need to keep young road trippers entertained.

For more travel related news and information, click here.