What a whirlwind the past few months have been – and not necessarily in a good way, unfortunately. As a group, we have really been learning about what it is to lead community work that gets people excited but it is hard to find folks offering a real commitment to joining the mission. We have been eager to get things rolling and really had assumed we would have so much to share by this time, so here’s what has been going on:
We had a group who was super excited about the plan and willing to build our art closets free of charge, which was thrilling! We could then use the allotted funding for strictly art supplies. Because it was such a promising lead, we really hung on for probably longer than we should have… passions seem to have shifted a bit for those folks, and we don’t blame them.
We then had another passionate “YES” to being involved and building some closets for us. Similar to the first group, it seems that more important work took precedent.
SO – we have regrouped. If you attended the Big Event last year, you would be familiar with the Art Closet we had on wheels. We have tapped that builder for ONE MORE closet for us, this one being the biggest of the ones we have planned to be installed outside of J. Wallace James Elementary. Speaking of JWJ, they have a new Principal, Ms. Tassin, who has voiced her excitement over the project, too. More info is coming once we get this one going.
We were gifted a closet by School Board Member, Dr. Joshua Edmond, and plan to get this one set up to be partially mobile and housed at the Fightingville Fresh Market, which we are pumped about.
We also have another very talented carpenter interested in helping out with the last few boxes…but you can imagine how we are holding on to this excitement with some hesitancy…!
We are still as excited and determined as ever to bring art to the art deserts, so don’t think this slow slow pace has us down. 2024 is STILL going to be the year of the Acadiana Art Closet!
We hope this message finds you well and enjoying the transition into fall! We are excited to share an update on Team Fais Doo Doo’s efforts to install pet waste stations in Downtown Lafayette. As many of you know, keeping our community clean and enjoyable for everyone—pets included—is a top priority for us.
While we experienced a couple of setbacks over the summer, we’re pleased to report that things are back in full swing. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our team, we’re making significant progress toward having the waste stations up and running this fall. In addition to our efforts downtown, we’ve partnered with our neighbors in the Freetown-Port Rico community to relocate one of our ten pet waste stations to Heritage Park, a popular grassy area across the street from Gary’s. This collaboration will help extend the benefits of clean, pet-friendly spaces to even more of our community.
We’re happy to report that all supplies have been delivered, the waste stations have been assembled, and locations for installation have been marked. The only thing left is for gas lines to be marked so we can safely install the stations.
We’re looking forward to getting these stations operational soon, and we appreciate your patience and support as we complete this project. Together, we’re making Lafayette a cleaner, friendlier place for all! Thank you for being a part of this important initiative.
Since you last heard from us in December, Team Sensory Grooves has been “strutting our stuff” in preparation for the grooviest night coming in Acadiana – Sensory Grooves: Silent Disco Prom! We look forward to celebrating our sensory and neurodivergent 14 to 18 year olds (8-12th grade) community on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Wonderland Performing Arts. Team Sensory Grooves guarantees a night to feel accepted, understood, and celebrated.
As this is your child’s night to shine and showcase the star they are, we are encouraging comfortable formal attire. They will groove to the beats in their individualized headphones through Dohm Collective out of New Orleans. Each attendee will be in control of the volume, ensuring they can feel their best while dancing or simply sitting back and relaxing to their choice of music!
In January, our friends at BWPR and Montz Design completed the designs, event information, and Eventbrite page where a parent or guardian can request a ticket to the prom. This link will go live soon, so stay tuned and visit educationdestination.org for additional details! We are eager to begin sharing in the excitement on social media and around Acadiana in the upcoming weeks. If you spot a post or flyer, please share it or take a picture, then blast this wonderful evening to your community. We want to make sure everyone who can attend will be there, grooving to their personalized beats.
One of our primary goals is for our children to feel celebrated by experiencing a night dedicated to those within a unique and misunderstood community. It is an evening for them to feel like royalty and shine in a friendly and safe environment. We are diligently working to find party favors and volunteers who understand the needs of those attending. Additionally, we are looking at the food we serve that evening to meet any possible dietary restrictions. And if you have ever danced so much you need to quench your thirst, then you know the importance of having light refreshments! Whether through individualized music, party favors, drinks, or snacks, we will have what is needed to cater to everyone’s needs! But that is just the start!
Upon entering, an immediate photo opportunity with a professional photographer from Lynn’s Captures Photography will make each child feel like they are on the red carpet!
And parents or guardians, we are planning for you, too! If you want to take this opportunity to have a few hours to yourself while your child is grooving, that is an option. We will also have a suite on-site dedicated to you near the prom.
Upcoming for Team Sensory Grooves is to finalize all invoices and send payments, create decorations to make the venue as magical as possible, and promote the event so we can get tickets filled and aid in growing your child’s social circle!
We are ecstatic as we continue progressing into the final stages of Sensory Grooves: Silent Disco Prom! This night will surely be an evening to celebrate the stars of our community in a safe, friendly, and accepted environment.
Who knew that doing a project like this was going to be so people and relationship-centered? (Everyone but us probably knew it, but we finally caught up – ha!). Since we last wrote, we have been doing a lot people-ing.
We had a great Build Bash with the folks from Abby’s Acre, getting to explore their land and see all of the great stuff they have going on. Meeting some more of the team was fun, and we are very excited about our plans to collaborate this year. During that visit, we were able to co-create some building plans for the Art Closets using some incredible software that then converts this abstract idea into specific steps and processes to make the vision come to life. We are working toward three “little free library” sized Art Closets and two larger “kitchen cabinet” sized Art Closets. The Abby’s Acre folks were supportive and encouraging in helping us to get a dream into a concrete plan for wood and nails.
During that visit we were also able to get our hands dirty, helping out to build one of their fabulous bat boxes and show off our power-tool-savvy. We talked events for the future, including some really exciting things for the community to come hang out and get their (metaphorical and literal) hands dirty along with us. We couldn’t be more happy to have this collaboration going and credit it all to the 24 Hour Citizen process.
The second big update is related to our first Art Closet install. We met with the folks at J. Wallace James and planned for a location and the process for teaming up. Our first larger “kitchen cabinet” size Art Closet will be housed on the school property and will give both the J.W. James community and the surrounding neighborhood community a place to donate and access art supplies. Our team member, Missy, (who is also the full-time art teacher at J.W. James) was also able to be celebrated a bit by the school and the greater Lafayette Parish School System. The LPSS communication team stopped by and got a photo of Missy and some of her students with the giant check from the big event. The kids were blown away by the giant check – it was a big hit. This also allowed for the introduction of our design contest to the kids at J.W. James. The 4th and 5th grade art students will be invited to create a design for their Art Closet, which will then be voted on, and the winning design will be co-created by the classes on the Art Closet. The kids are thrilled to be able to leave their mark and to get their hands involved in the process. There’s a temporary art supply donation box (painted by us) in the main office of J.W. James while we await the project’s completion. We’ll keep y’all updated on this process. We’ll need you, Community, to get your vote in for the winning design, too!
We have been getting our hands into some other fun things, spreading the word about the Art Closet vision and gaining supporters. We’re excited about the new studio over at Borderless Color (@borderless_color on Instagram) and the potential for more collaboration with them. We also linked up with the folks with the Free Little Art Gallery on Roosevelt St., so we have been sharing content for one another and they were kind enough to stop by and donate some great art supplies for the Art Closet currently living on Audubon (check our social media for addresses: @AcadianaArtCloset).
The timeline for our project is very much in the “hurry up and wait” phase – so don’t let the updates pass you by. When things start happening, they are going to happen FAST. We would hate for you to get left behind and miss out on the celebration along the way. Be sure to follow us on social media, stop by the Art Closet from time to time to see what kind of supplies might spark your creativity, and we would be so appreciative of shares on social media and you talking us up in real life among your friends and family. Our hearts are still so full and we are so excited about all of the potential ahead of us – and we want you on the team, too! If you are passionate about the arts, from making it to looking at it or just advocating for the power of the arts in people’s lives, you are one of us! Let’s make magic happen for Acadiana. <3
What a busy quarter it’s been! We have been busy re-designing our boxes. After 2 test kits went out, we had several big design flaws surface, and we had to change the materials with which we were building. Because the boxes were made from rough cut lumber the weight was considerably heavier than we originally expected. The result was significant difficulty in installation. To mitigate this, we reduced the dimensions of several of the items as well as a redesign of what hardware we will be using. We also changed our installation method to make it easier on our volunteers.
The shop we were set up to rent has also recently moved, and our master carpenter is exceptionally busy, so our workaround has been borrowing tools and setting up in another empty shop. This has allowed us to work on boxes for free but limits what tools are available.
As of this writing, we have 4 completed (updated) kits and another big build day tomorrow. I’m expecting to have another 4 completed, with the wood processed and cut to finish the other 7 shortly after. With the materials we’ve been able to gather, we are hoping to build another 5-6 kits past the 15 promised!
