Current Exhibition
Louisiana Wetlands
Harold Letz
Closing TBA. We have decided to extend until April
Artist’s Statement:
The art of painting, among many other things, is being presented with a myriad of choices. To represent
our passions, visions, and desires in visual form, to create the illusion of these ideas is our vocation.
The subject of and inspiration for my work is that delicate interface between land, sea, and sky that is
our coast. Made of an endless variety of forms – teeming with life – ever changing – ever evolving – this
is the focus of my fascination.
Artist’s Bio:
Harold Letz is a native of Crowley Louisiana. He studied art at Northwestern State University, graduating
with a BA in 1974. He also studied jewelry design and manufacture at Kentzler’s Fine Jewelers in
Burlingame California from 1977 to 1980. He worked from then until 2020 as a jeweler at Brandt’s in
Crowley while also pursuing painting. Over the years, he has continued his education in visual arts, has
gotten involved in local art associations, and been showing his work in local galleries.
The art of painting, among many other things, is being presented with a myriad of choices. To represent
our passions, visions, and desires in visual form, to create the illusion of these ideas is our vocation.
The subject of and inspiration for my work is that delicate interface between land, sea, and sky that is
our coast. Made of an endless variety of forms – teeming with life – ever changing – ever evolving – this
is the focus of my fascination.
Artist’s Bio:
Harold Letz is a native of Crowley Louisiana. He studied art at Northwestern State University, graduating
with a BA in 1974. He also studied jewelry design and manufacture at Kentzler’s Fine Jewelers in
Burlingame California from 1977 to 1980. He worked from then until 2020 as a jeweler at Brandt’s in
Crowley while also pursuing painting. Over the years, he has continued his education in visual arts, has
gotten involved in local art associations, and been showing his work in local galleries.
Upcoming Exhibitions
Liminal Landscapes
Melissa Bonin
Opening TBA
Melissa Bonin's solo exhibit includes visual works in mixed media on canvas, paper and other substrates and her poetry will include poems from a recent collection of works.
"Liminality is a space of transitioning in art and in life. It is the threshold at the doorway of something new but not yet completely realized. This threshold is a malleable, sacred, creative place where something new is waiting to be born." - Melissa Bonin
Biography:
Melissa Bonin is a Louisiana francophone/ Francophile visual artist and poet. Born in New Iberia, she lives and works in Lafayette. She received her BFA in Painting at UL and her BA in French from UL and from L’Université Catholique de l’Ouèst as a C.O.D.O.F.I.L. and state scholarship recipient. Bonin is concerned with the human condition: life, death, transformation, and rebirth. Much of her work is informed by a rich multicultural blend of philosophical sources. She presents a perspective into which are inscribed her 2 lineages of French and Acadian ancestry, the journey of the Great Deportation, the teachings of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell. Bonin’s work invites contemplation of the relationship between Light and Darkness, Man and higher power, and redemption achieved through preservation of the natural world. Her works honor the feminine via a deep feeling of connection and responsibility as guardians of the Earth and the human spirit, as well as, the recognition of one’s uniqueness through the process of individuation. Her work explores the intersection of Heaven and Earth which are both ancient and universal themes.
"I paint and write journeys, rather than landscapes and poems. I create a doorway. This entryway includes obstacles which define the path from darkness into light. I work with symbols like land, trees, water and sky which are accessible to all and which link us to the past. These symbols create a kind of simultaneous continuity and we recollect our origins. I use perspective to draw the viewer in like a bee to a flower. But then I want the viewer to go beyond that, down deep, into the water, turning inward toward deeper meaning".
Bonin was selected by the office of the lieutenant governor to represent the state of Louisiana in San Diego, California and recently in Moncton, New Brunswick as the first woman to show and recite her poetry at The World Acadian Congress. She has presented her poetry, in French and English and her visual art in Italy, Canada, France and Mexico. Her works are in the collections of Roger Ogden, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and Christian LeBlanc (Young & Restless) to name a few.
