Arts in Education

The Acadiana Arts Council's Arts in Education program strives to make quality arts-in-education opportunities available to administrators, educators and students through performance, hands-on arts experiences, professional development training in the arts and funding. These co-curricular arts-in-education offerings are available to students in grades K-12 and to teachers of all disciplines.

Click here to read more about Arts in Education

Project HEAL

Project HEAL (Helping Employ Artists Locally) assists artists impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita by providing displaced artists employment opportunities in local communities.

Artists working in a wide range of disciplines, including dance, design arts, folklife, literature, media, music, theatre and visual arts are now being recruited for programs designed in partnership with local arts organizations, festivals, music venues as well as nontraditional performing spaces such as shelters, schools, libraries, museums and galleries. Since early September, Project HEAL has hired musicians and other displaced artists to perform at festivals and multiple music venues as well as nontraditional performing spaces such as shelters, schools, libraries, museums and galleries.

Jazz Funeral w/Soul Rebels Downtown - Lafayette, LA 11/12/05

Bucket Brigade Yambilee - Opelousas, LA 10/29/05

Fans of Cajun music ambassadors BeauSoleil provided the cornerstone gift that launched Project HEAL. Working through Lafayette Consolidated Government, the Acadiana Arts Council was able to quickly use federal dollars to hire displaced artists for community activities and displaced arts administrators for program development. Donations from artists, patrons, nonprofit organizations, corporations and foundations, ranging from $50 to $10,000, have provided continued support of this frontline program.

Our supporters include Americans for the Arts in Washington, D.C., Rochester Cajun Zydeco Network in Rochester, New York, the Center for Cultural Exchange in Portland, Maine, Wheatland Music Organization in Remus, Michigan, the Opelousas Museum of Art in Opelousas, Louisiana, the Association for Cultural Equity in New York, New York, the Maui Arts and Cultural Center in Kahului, Hawaii and the Cheltenham Elementary School in Denver, Colorado.

Recently the Cheim & Read Gallery, New York, Christian Patterson of the Eggleston Artistic Trust and Livet Reichard Company, Inc. came together to organize a special on-line art auction of donated art work through "eBay Giving Works." The Katrina Art Auction ran from Friday, December 2nd through Friday, December 9th, 2005 and all proceeds of the auction were given to Project HEAL to further help artists and nonprofit arts organizations in immediate need of financial assistance as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Project HEAL has been featured on National Public Radio (NPR) and on British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and covered by such prestigious media organizations as the LA Times, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Orlando Sentinel and Rolling Stone.

Donations are still being sought. To assist, please make a tax-deductible donation to:

Acadiana Arts Council
P.O. Box 53762
Lafayette, LA 70505
(337) 233-7060, (337) 233-7062 fax
info@acadianaartscouncil.org
a 501(c)3 non-profit organization

Visa, MasterCard and Discover accepted

For more information on Project HEAL, please contact:
info@acadianaartscouncil.org
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