Bethany LeJeune is an artist whose work consists of mixed media sculptures, installations, and video. She received her BFA at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and is currently an MFA candidate at the Vermont College of Fine Arts low residency program. Her work revolves around self-reflection and often takes on themes of femininity, familial relationships, and bodily disfigurement. Who makes up your art circle? My art circle is very much made up of movers and makers in the Acadiana area that I have met through Basin Arts and other arts organizations. My art circle is also made up of...

John Alex McBride is originally from Lafayette, Louisiana. He received his BFA from The University of Arizona in Tucson and is currently an MFA candidate at Hollins University. Alex has danced and trained with San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, River North Dance Chicago, 10 Hairy Legs (NYC), The Limón Dance Company (NYC), and Basin Dance Collective (Lafayette). He has performed, taught, and toured across North and Central America, and Europe, performing works by Jose Limón, Ted Shawn, Kate Weare, Adam Weinert, Adam Barruch, Colin Conner, and Clare Cook. Alongside performing, Alex has begun choreographing original work and researching archival American...

Drawn to the arts at a young age I cannot remember a time when art wasn’t a tool that I used to try and make sense of the world.  Being self taught I bounced around several art forms: pen and paper, photography (eventually with my own dark room), storytelling, historical reenactment, documentary making, digital photo manipulation, and most recently painting. My favorite art expressions lately are teaching art to inmates and busking (street performance) in a series I call Unflattering Abstract Portraits. It involves two chairs, an easel, and a sign that says ‘Unflattering Abstract Portraits, Free, Tips Accepted”. Any...

Amanda is a multi-disciplinary artist residing in Lafayette, LA. She has been studying within the Visual Arts department and the Dance department at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette since 2017 and is now a senior studying Graphic Design. Amanda has been a member of Basin Arts since 2018 and a teaching artist as of this past year. She has participated in the university productions State of La Danse and Evening of Dance in addition to various multimedia performances within the community. Who makes up your art circle? My art circle consists of movers, multi-media artists, musicians and storytellers. How...

Cory St. Ewart is a Lafayette-based visual artist, filmmaker, and activist who uses his art to promote Black representation in Acadiana and explore concepts racial representation and personal identity in both physical and digital forms. St. Ewart is the founder of AcadianaBlack and the designer of the Acadiana Black Pride Flag. He has made multiple festival accepted short films. He is currently in post production on his next short film “The Negro & The Cheese Knife” and has a exhibition at Bottle Art Lofts. Who makes up your art circle? My art is circle is every inch of land and...

Drake Leblanc is this week’s featured Art Circle artist. He is a filmmaker and media artist, and Founder and Creative Director of Above the Beyond,  a media powerhouse responsible for creating disruptive, thought provoking film and digital content. Drake is also a resident creative artist at Basin Arts.  I got into film because I saw both of my parents using cameras to document things that were important to them. As I got older, I realized that the black community was often underrepresented in media and fine art and even when they were present, it was never at the same high...

Peggy Walters is this week’s featured Art Circle artist. She is a Louisiana-based visual artist with a large collection of paintings inspired by nature and the Louisiana landscape. Peggy is also one of our most highly selected artists in the BARE Walls program (find out more about the program here). Each week Basin Arts is featuring a different artist in the hopes that readers will get to know more about the diverse range of artists in our community. Peggy shares her thoughts about her art circle and how the last year of COVID has changed the way she is able...

James Wilson is this week’s featured Art Circle artist. He is a local photographer and clothing designer. He works as a tutor in the evenings, and is also currently interning with Basin Arts. Each week Basin Arts is featuring a different artist in the hopes that readers will get to know more about the diverse range of artists in our community. We asked James to share his journey as a young artist and how he thinks about art and community.             My name is James Wilson and I am a photographer. I have always been interested...