New Arts Council Executive Director Named!

For the past several weeks, the board of directors for the Arts & Humanities Council of Southwest Louisiana conducted a search for a new executive director for the organization by forming a selection committee and a hiring committee. After reviewing 30 resumes and performing a thorough interviewing process, the board chose Erica McCreedy as the executive director.

McCreedy has served as the special projects coordinator for the Arts & Humanities Council for the past two years, beginning her career on a volunteer basis. She brings her experience in program development, public relations, and promotions to her new position.

“I am both thrilled and honored to be charged with this task,” said McCreedy, the new executive director of the Arts & Humanities Council. “I am eager to explore how we can better serve Southwest Louisiana’s culture, economy, and tourism.”

McCreedy is involved with the Louisiana Citizens for the Arts, Friends of Central School, the Arts Associates of Lake Charles, Fusion Five, Yellow Flag Press, McNeese Banners Cultural Series, and the annual Vision/Verse poetry and art exhibition.

She has received many awards and honors, being the recipient of the Lynn & Richard Reid Award, the William J. Dore Writing & Research Award, the Joy Scantlebury Poetry Prize as well as being nominated for the Intro Journal Award of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs and the Best New Poets Anthology. 

McCreedy earned a Bachelors of Arts in English from Louisiana State University with a concentration in creative writing and minors in theatre and classical studies, a Masters of Arts in English from McNeese State University and a Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing from McNeese State University.  Prior to working with the Arts Council, she served as a docent with the Imperial Calcasieu Museum, and she worked for six years as a visiting lecturer at McNeese State University.

The board of directors for the Arts & Humanities Council of Southwest Louisiana includes Paula Gillard, president; Jason Martinez, first vice president; Mindy Schwarzauer, second vice president; Amanda White, treasurer; and Sally Cappel, secretary. Board members include James Babin, Jason Barnes, Kaysie Bolton, John Boykin, Kristin Broussard, Mary Donaldson, Anjo Elsbury, Beverly Gott, Peggy Griffith, Katie Harrington, Terry Hebert, Daniel Ieyoub, Jordan LeLeux, Angie Manning, Shonda Manuel, Laura Moreau, Chantelle Richardson, Nancy Sanner, Patricia Schmidt, Tom Shea, Sharon Steinman, Dr. Michelle Swift, Mia Vick and Amanda Winterbottom.

For more information on the Council, visit www.artsandhumanitiesswla.org.  

Downtown at Sundown Closes this Friday with City Heat!

The 2012 season of Downtown at Sundown concludes this Friday, June 8th, with a performance by local favorite City Heat. Be sure to head out to the 600 block of Ryan Street across from Sha Sha's of Creole to get your dose of downtown! From live music and downtown food to vendors and art, you're sure to experience the best of Lake Charles! All beverage sales benefit Harbour House which offers a haven for at risk youth in the Lake Area. The City of Lake Charles coordinates this concert series, and it features local and regional bands for four Fridays in the summer. Call (337) 491-9159 for details.

Art Associates Announces Juried Show

Art Associates of Lake Charles is proud to announce a call for artists for its 6^th annual Lydia & Joe Cash Juried Competition. The exhibit will hang in Art Associates Gallery at Central School October 5^th through October 25^th, 2012. The deadline for receipt of all entries, plus a $15 entry fee, is August 1^st. The theme of the exhibit is “Sweet Tooth,” and artists are encouraged to submit work that shows their interpretation of the theme. Artists may submit up to five pieces to be juried.

The exhibit’s juror will be Luz Maria Lopez who is a Honduran-born artist and a graduate of Southeastern University in Hammond. Lopez, whose work is collected and published internationally, was the recipient of the Louisiana Division of the Arts Artist Fellowship and is the author and illustrator of the 2011 book How the Gods Created the Finger People.

The first place winner will be awarded $200, and second place will receive $100. All works in traditional art media such as painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media, etc. are accepted, and the artwork must have been produced in the last five years and must not have been in a previous Art Associates juried exhibit.

The entry fee includes a year-long Art Associates membership. Art Associates of Lake Charles is dedicated to nurturing the public’s involvement in local art while providing opportunities for artists to exhibit work in the area. Guidelines and entry forms can be downloaded at www.artassociates.org. 

Catch A Concert Series Begins!

The Lake Charles Community Band is nearing the close of its 2011-2012 season with the Catch-A-Concert series every Monday in June at 7 p.m. Traditionally the concerts are held at the Civic Center Arcade Pavilion, however, due to construction in the pavilion area, this year’s series will be held on the shady front lawn of the Lake Charles Civic Center. The audience is encouraged to bring blankets or lawn chairs and a picnic dinner for a relaxing afternoon.

 This concert series leads up to the Red White Blue & You Patriotic Program during the Fourth of July Festival. In case of rain, the concerts will be held in the 2^nd floor Civic Center Mezzanine. 

The Lake Charles Community Band is supported by a partnership grant from the Arts and Humanities Council of Southwest Louisiana, the City of Lake Charles, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury and the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors’ Bureau. For more information call 337-491-9159 or visit Facebook.com/LakeCharlesCommunityBand.

Vision/Verse to Open Saturday

Hecate by Heather Ryan Kelley

It's back! Vision/Verse returns for a fourth year to unite the literary and visual arts in a one-of-a-kind exhibition. Ten artists and ten poets are selected each fall, and what follows is a six month journey in examining the role and impact of inspiration on art.


Join us on Saturday, June 2nd, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for the exhibit's opening reception at Art Associates Gallery at Central School. A reading of the poetry will be held in the Benjamin W. Mount Auditorium at Central School at 7 p.m. An after party will be held at the Porch Coffee House & Cafe at 8:30 p.m., and it will feature music by Paul Gonsoulin and Angie Manning who were inspired by pieces from the exhibit.

Tin Man by Karen Wink

Each artist chose one of the submitted poems as inspiration for a new piece of art; simultaneously, each poet chose one of the submitted pieces of art as the focus for a new poem. Each of the participants creates a new poem or piece of visual art for the exhibit, and at the end of the process, Yellow Flag Press creates broadsides of each poem, and the poetry and artwork are hung side by side at Art Associates Gallery.


Poets include Maya Beerbower, William Lusk Coppage, David Havird, Hillary Joubert, Clare L. Martin, Patrice Melnick, Stella Nesanovich, Philana Omorotionmwan, M. Rather, Jr., Kevin Thomason

Pollination by John Martel

Artists include Martin Castillo, Jessica Gayle, Heather Ryan Kelley, John Martel, Skyler Pham, Lee Richard, Valerie Smith, Blake Soto, Karen Wink, Sue Zimmermann

Art Associates Gallery is located at Central School Arts & Humanities Center at 809 Kirby Street in Lake Charles. For more information on Vision/Verse, call 337-304-1798.

Workshops at Gallery By the Lake

Gallery by the Lake and Associated Louisiana Artists are sponsoring Life, Figure, and Landscape Drawing with Gerry Wubben at the Creative Arts Center on Thursday evenings June 7 through July 12. Please contact the gallery at 337 436-1008 to sign up or for more information. Space is limited.

Lois Derise offers an oil painting class on Tuesday afternoons or evenings. Contact Lois at 337 477-0659 for more information.

Sue Zimmerman is offering a watercolor painting class on Tuesday mornings from 9:30-11:30. Please contact Sue at 337 478-3850 for more information.

You can also check out our website at Fine Arts America/Gallery by the Lake to keep up with all of our current activities.

Sunday Concert with Chester Daigle and Laura Dunn David