LAFAYETTE – (PRESS RELEASE) The McComb-Veazey Neighborhood Coterie (McV), in partnership with Acadiana Center for the Arts (AcA) and Project Front Yard, announces the completion of an ArtBox. The new ArtBox located in McComb-Veazey Neighborhood features an original artwork by Bryant Benoit, owner of Benoit Gallery. Benoit’s painting converted into vinyl wrap is titled Livin on the Land. The artist’s piece was selected by a group of panelists made up of arts professionals as well as members of the McComb-Veazey Neighborhood and Coterie.
“The traffic boxes in our neighborhood are pretty plain. There is nothing spectacular about them, but this project will transform those plain boxes into beautiful works of art that celebrate aspects of our community we would like to highlight. We are very excited to partner with the AcA and Project Front Yard to transform traffic boxes in McComb-Veazey into public art pieces that represent our city, its people and culture, and give the community a sense of pride and place,” says Tina Shelvin Bingham, Exec. Vice President of McComb-Veazey Neighborhood Coterie.
The new ArtBox is located at the corner of 1105 Surrey Street, and the theme of the box corresponds with the McV Creole Food, Arts, Culture, and Entertainment (FACE) District; celebrating the many faces of Lafayette’s Creole and African American history.
The unveiling kicks off phase two of a public “Adopt an ArtBox” campaign, administered by AcA, which allows individuals, businesses and neighborhoods to fund the creation of a specific box. This newest addition to the 12+ wrapped ArtBoxes around Lafayette originally launched as part of Project Front Yard’s beautification effort. ArtBox is also in support of the community vision identified in Plan Lafayette. Traffic boxes display the work of local artists and pay homage to Lafayette’s cultural, music, and arts scene.
AcA serves to procure the art and commission of artists and has also developed the “wrapping” process for the ArtBoxes, making them fade and graffiti resistant, which allows them to last for decades. Each ArtBox is vetted and approved for the most appropriate location based on the artists’ subject.
