Charles Claudel Garrett I, is an artist based out of Lafayette, La. He is widely published and has performed in Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama. He is finishing his 3 debut works. A collection of poetry, a novel, and a screenplay. He is the recipient of the New Orleans Take Notice Fund and is playing Christian “Copper” Laurent in the CItes des Arts adaptation of Ernest Gaines short story, “Bloodlines.” When he is not writing or performing, he is spending his time writing copy for marketing teams, across a variety of industries and companies. Who makes up your art circle? My...

Roz Lecompte has had a ravenous thirst to create since she was a little girl in South Louisiana. As a self taught artist , she favors a figurative abstract style, mostly using the moment as her muse. She has explored many mediums including up-cycling broken drum cymbals, creating Secondline Jewels since 2012 and has publicly displayed her artworks at various galleries since the 1990’s. She is currently a Lafayette Parish Pace Artist for the Acadiana Center for the Arts. Who makes up your art circle? I’ve taken a 20 year hiatus from painting to build my jewelry business, so the circles have...

Triston Antoine is an emerging artist and designer based in Lafayette. Often working across multiple disciplines, his work is rooted in the synthesis and communication of new and innovative ideas involving the nature of humanity and the many ways that the ever-changing world is taking our species to exciting new directions. Triston holds a BFA with a focus on Interdisciplinary Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  Who makes up your art circle? I like to keep my circle stacked and interesting, always with an element of something new and exciting: Photographers, DJs, Club Kids, Socialites, the...

Whitney Willis Hebert has studied, performed, and created dance for the better part of 30 years.  She is involved in the Lafayette dance community as Assistant Director for Morgan Street Dance Company and as a company member of Basin Arts.  Recent credits include: directing and choreographing THIRST as a part of Acadiana Center for the Arts- Residency @ The Center program; performing in Basin Dance Collective’s Sports Suites and Surface; choreographing for the 2017 & 2020 performances of UL’s State of La Danse; choreographing and performing for Mother Of – Piano Reworks, Live at the Marigny Opera House.  Who makes up your art circle? Dance students, colleagues, co-workers, friends, family, anyone...

As a creative, Gina Hanchey has experience in the world of dance, acting, film, and theater. She has been choreographing and teaching classical and contemporary ballet for thirty years and has created over a dozen dance performances from show concept, choreography and rehearsal to production. An actor experienced in stage, film and television, Gina is a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). Her writing and directing has received top nominations from The Slamdance Screenplay Competition and The Los Angeles Filmmaking Competition. Her latest show, Beauty Will Always Be Edible,...

Jazmyn Jones is a creative, choreographer and dance educator from Lafayette. Growing up, she trained all over the country and performed with Debbie Allen and Houston’s Urban Souls Dance Company. She went on to attend Howard University on full academic scholarship. She returned home to serve her community and is now a dance instructor at FEPAC and the director of Difé II, a junior pre-professional dance company. Jazmyn has her ABT Teacher Certification Pre-Primary – Level 3. With her mentor and friend, Leigha Porter, she created The Creole Nutcracker – an original theatrical production that casts and educates youth of...

Hannah Gumbo is a Acadiana based muralist & illustrator making work that embraces color, positivity, & JOY. Who makes up your art circle? My husband who also works remotely in our home, our cats & puppy who are terrible studio assistants that mainly sleep on the job, my clients that partner with me on cool projects, & all my internet pals doing the freelance art / small biz life too. How do you expand your art circle? It’s changed over the years. For a long time it was saying YES to every opportunity in order to meet more makers &...

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...