My name is Benjamin Adam Koch. I’m 32 years old. I’m a gay male Cajun living in Lafayette, Louisiana. I’m a multi- disciplined visual artist and art educator for Lafayette Public School System. I was born and raised in Crowley, Louisiana. I grew up in a private, Catholic school environment. When I was 12, I realized I had Jewish ancestry and family. My belief in religion evolved into something more individualized rather than institutionalized. At 15, I came out of the closet. Another reason I paved my own spiritual path and journey. I became very interested in the world, especially...

A native of Eunice, Louisiana artist Vivian Broussard holds a degree in Art Education from USL (UL-Laf). Currently working in acrylics, her work is inspired by a love of nature and symbolism. The mind’s eye is the genesis of imagery. Vivian intuitively layers color and constructs forms inspired from observations of the world around her. She describes her art as an “attempt to emulate an interior experience, a feeling I get from observation of land around me or from contemplating Spirit.” Aside from self inspired pieces, Vivian has painted at the request of local charities and commissions. She has also...

Stuart Welch is a compulsive hobbyist and tinkerer from Lafayette. He spends his weekdays doing law and his nights and weekends doing anything else. For the past few years that “anything else” has included making a lot of music and visual art, usually in weeks-long bursts of activity and often at a breakneck pace. Most of his non-collaborative work takes the form of short and scrappy music videos or animations in the vein of sketches, often focusing on learning techniques or playing with ideas that can be useful for larger projects and collaborations. In his own work, at least, he’s...

Lex R. Thomas (b. 1996) is a queer, non-binary artist with a focus on figurativework, and who currently works and lives in Lafayette, Louisiana. Raised in the ruraloutskirts of small-town Kaplan, Louisiana, Lex grew up surrounded by the natural world and all its creative energy.Lex moved to Lafayette at age 19 (2015) to reinvent their identity, as both aperson and an artist, by searching for meaning while studying music and art at theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette. Ongoing issues with chronic pain and mental health spurred them to transition from the traditional structure of higher education to one of self-care...

I don’t have any formal training to “be an artist”, but I didn’t need any to spend my childhood creating collages, paintings, drawings, collecting cool rocks and making things in my room. As a child growing up I was basically a boy scout, I took a lot of inspiration from hiking and camping and the vintage fieldguides that once graced my fingertips. As a young adult, I took a lot of inspiration from working on farms, foraging, planting, harvesting, caring for the animals. And eventually I took all that inspiration and my absolute love for learning and followed them to...

Lauren “Lola” Hémard is a multi-craft artist, educator, and naturalist from New Orleans. Patterns in nature and energetic connections have been the main guiding curiosities behind her art-making. Ben Usie is a musician, songwriter, and performance artists who performs as Bruisey Peets. Usie leaned into visual arts as mental health therapy during the pandemic lockdown, thanks largely to the influence and encouragement of Lauren Hémard. Usie explores the blending of sci-fi, fantasy and existential capitalist dread with a dose of clownish whimsy.  Lauren and Ben practice turn-by-turn collaborations and encourage everyone to create art.  Who makes up your art circle?...

Macy Romero is a dancer, choreographer, and entrepreneur from New Iberia, Louisiana. Ever since her mom put her in dance lessons at 3 years old, she always knew dance would be a part of her life, and she is thankful that this has become her reality. Throughout her teenage years, she dedicated much of her time to perfecting her craft at dance conventions, learning from and assisting some of the most prominent figures in the dance industry. From 2014-2018, she was a Company Assistant at The Streetz Dance Convention. She was a Protégé at the convention formerly known as The Pulse On Tour...

Teri Alexander is a dance artist in the Lafayette community who recently received her BFA in Dance from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Her technical experience includes ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip hop, tap, and Pom. She has trained with various artist including Vagabondance, Salt Contemporary Dance, Millennium Dance Complex, Blakeley White-McGuire & Daniel Fetecua, Sarah Lass, Marie Broussard, Alex McBride, and more. Teri has also participated in organizations such as Ragin’ Jazz Dance Team, Dance Marathon at UL, and Chi Tau Epsilon dance honors society. Teri is currently dancing in this year’s UL performing arts dance concert “State of...

Miguel Angel Ochoa is a native of Lafayette, LA who’s performed on many local and regional stages. They graduated with their Bachelors of Arts in Vocal Performance from UL Lafayette under the direction of Shawn Roy, and they’ve graced the stage as a professional vocalist, dancer, music director, and most recently burlesque entertainer. With more than 15 years of stage experience, Miguel’s most memorable roles are Alidoro in Rossini’s opera Cenerentola with Bayview Music Festival (Bayview, MI), Marquis in Verdi’s opera La Traviata with Rapides Symphony Orchestra (Alexandria, LA), Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with American Singers’ Opera Project (Winston Salem, NC), and Monty in...

Tabitha “Tabby” Stone is currently a full time artist in Lafayette, Louisiana – a town that likes to inspire anyone interested in the arts. She’s usually seen documenting and sharing her process in hopes that it may inspire someone else some day. “I know that not every day is the same. There’s good days, bad days, and everything in between. Trying to convey that is quite the experience for me. I like to create a more colorful stylistic view of the every day while creating pieces that speak to my explorative nature. The process of a painting has always been...