LCG Promoting Water Quality Through Public Art

LCG Promoting Water Quality Through Public Art 

Call for artists to submit eco-themed designs by January 9, 2019

Lafayette Consolidated Government’s (LCG) Environmental Quality (EQ) Division has partnered to create a Storm Drain Art contest as a way to educate the public on the issue of storm drain pollutants while also creating unique public art. EQ is asking artists to submit applications and designs representative of one of Lafayette’s greatest natural resources, the Vermilion River.

As part of EQ’s water quality improvement efforts, the project is a fun and colorful way to remind the community of the storm drain’s final destination, raise awareness about the importance of keeping streets clean and brighten up a few of Lafayette’s high-pedestrian trafficked drains. Four storm drains will be painted for the second annual contest and the call for artists is open now through January 9, 2019. Artists are asked to submit their eco-themed design for one of the following locations: Freetown-Port Rico Neighborhood, Cajun Field, LaPlace Neighborhood and the Vermilion Street Garage. The final artists’ designs are intended to raise awareness that pollutants on land can affect the water quality of the Vermilion since storm drains are “where the river meets the road.” Applications, project guidelines, and locations of the preselected storm drains can be found at LafayetteLA.gov or picked up at the Acadiana Center for the Arts. Project installation will be spring 2019. 

According to EQ Manager Bess Foret, “This project is an excellent way to promote two LCG initiatives: it educates the community about water quality, highlighting the connection between the roadway and the river, all while promoting and supporting local artists.” Earlier this spring, Lafayette Mayor-President Joel Robideaux adopted an Artist Compensation Policy through the CREATE initiative. “The storm drain art project is a great way for us to lead by example on the issue of fair artists’ compensation. By offering a small stipend to the artists selected for the project I think we all win; the artists are able to gainfully build their portfolio, the public gets to enjoy the results and we are all reminded of the physical connection of the storm drains to the river,” Robideaux stated.

The Storm Drain Art project is funded in part by the EQ education fund, Sherwin Williams and the Bayou Vermilion District, and made possible through the support and cooperation of Acadiana Center for the Arts, Bayou Vermilion Preservation Association, Habitat for Humanity, and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

During the 2018 pilot project, five designs were selected and painted at high-pedestrian locations in the Oil Center, at Pontiac Point, on campus at the University of Louisiana, in Downtown Lafayette and at the Public Works building. See the original five projects from design to completion at http://www.lafayettela.gov/EQ/SiteAssets/files/2017-2018-Locations-and-Installations.pdf.

For more information contact Jackie at 337-291-8547, visit LafayetteLA.gov or email [email protected].