LCG partners with Basin Arts to beautify University Corridor, hopes to 'reflect the community'
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- Lafayette Consolidated Government is partnering with a local non-profit arts organization to spice up and beautify the university corridor. The public art initiative kicked off Wednesday evening at Lafayette City Hall, where residents shared their ideas.
"We're really trying to get public input to define the characteristics of University (Avenue)," Lafayette Mayor-President Monique Boulet said. "So that when you come in, you know you're in Lafayette, you feel proud of being in Lafayette, and you understand this community a little bit better."
Boulet said in many ways, University Avenue is a gateway to Lafayette. From I-10, you pass UL, the police department and city hall until you reach the airport. LCG partnered with Basin Arts to create something special along the University Corridor, and Clare Cook, Founder and Creative Director of Basin Arts, said they want the community to help.
"It's about community engagement and letting people engage in oral history, stories, problems and solutions for what they want the corridor, how they want it to function and how they want it to feel," Cook said.
"This one, you're going to share a memory, share a concern, share a solution, big or small idea, share your vision for this part of Lafayette," a woman at one of the booths told a resident.
At the meeting, people zoned in on each neighborhood along the University Corridor, sharing their ideas.
"What makes us unique, what's our identity, what are the sounds, the sights, the things that we see when we drive down the road? What does it represent to us as a people? That's something that public art really can do so successfully," Cook said.
The mayor-president says she hopes the art projects are finished at the same time that construction is done on University Avenue, which will be in about two years.
"We cannot just pick something out of thin air," Boulet said. "We really do want it to reflect the community, who we are, and we want it to create a sense of pride and place as you enter Lafayette."
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