Flying Violins, ladybugs and Cajun culture in hubcaps: the Robert Dafford murals of Lafayette, Louisiana

Flying Violins

Robert Dafford is a legend in Lafayette, Louisiana, a muralist who has traveled the world creating hundreds of pieces of public art in magnificent ways. Walk around downtown Lafayette and you’ll see his paintings everywhere.

Take the “Flying Violins.” I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Dafford for a DeSoto magazine feature (on Southern murals, coming up in October) and learned how he came to paint this mural I have walked past for years. In 1988, before the spring’s annual Festival International de Louisiane, in which musicians from all over the Francophone world — including Louisiana — visit Lafayette for several days of fun, Dafford was asked to paint a side of a downtown building. He chose to paint violins emerging from a swamp scene.

Till All That's Left is a Postcard

“I conceived it as a symbol of Cajun music leaving the swamps and flying out into the world,” Dafford said.

The mural represents the universality of music, an art form that pushes past the barriers of politics, language, and business, Dafford explained.

Other “Flying Violins” murals have been painted in sisters cities in France, Canada, Belgium and England, and several more are planned.

Other Dafford murals in Lafayette include:

 

Till All That's Left is a Postcard

“Til All That’s Left is a Postcard” -  Corner of Jefferson Street and Garfield in downtown Lafayette.

Dafford’s vibrant mural includes birds, dragonflies and other creatures escaping the Atchafalaya Basin from the encroachment of development. He painted this mural in the 1980s when people talked of developing Louisiana’s massive river drainage swamp that’s home to numerous wildlife.

Ex-Garage

“Ex-Garage” – Corner of Jefferson Street and E. Vermilion in downtown Lafayette.

This mural on the side of Jefferson Towers reflects what used to be in this spot, a parking garage. Dafford pays homage to those old cars but paints local chefs, musicians and other “Cajun characters” into the bumpers and hubcaps.

“Stereo Prairie” – 201 E. Congress St. 
This mural decorates the side of the Children’s Museum of Acadiana and includes other artists Herb Roe, Sherrie Bennet and Chris Confor.

The most recent Dafford mural to Lafayette graces City Hall (705 W. University), which used to be a Sears Department building. Like most of Dafford’s murals, the series of paintings tells the story of Lafayette’s origins and the people who called Acadiana home, including French, Spanish, African and Native Americans.

“We have international roots,” Dafford explained, adding that today’s city attracts and honors international partners. “Lafayette has always been and will always be international in its intentions, aims and goals.”

Want to know more? Check out “The Public Art of Robert Dafford,” written by and illustrated by Philip Gould, published by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press.

Cheré Coen is a food and travel writer who loves public art that tells a story.

New Orleans residents love their red beans and rice, celebrate the long-standing dish with new exhibit

If you’re from New Orleans, you know that Camellia Beans are essential to making rich and creamy red beans and rice. It’s a city tradition on Mondays, passed down from the days when housewives put a pot of beans on the stove while they washed clothes, utilizing the ham hock leftover from Sunday's supper. My momma was serious about using Camellia Beans, and she passed this knowledge on to me. She even mailed me packages when I lived in Los Angeles to make sure my beans were the real thing.

Don’t take my word for Camellia Beans being a vital part of culinary living in South Louisiana. The Southern Food & Beverage Museum of New Orleans honors this traditional foodway with a permanent exhibit opening Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. “Red Bean City” looks at the popular red beans and rice dish, along with the fourth generation business. Special events will mark its opening.

Events include:

Thursday, Aug. 3: Exhibit opens and visitors can take a photo with the Red Bean Car from 4-5:30 p.m. Camellia will also host a panel of New Orleans food culture and bean experts — David Beriss, Leah Chase, Poppy Tooker and Vince Hayward — to discuss the beloved dish of red beans and rice, led by historian Rien Fertel.

Saturday, Aug. 5: Free entry to the museum and complimentary tastes of red beans, plus the first 100 visitors will receive a free bag of red beans and kids will enjoy Bean Art from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The exhibit, created by Fertel, includes beans and rice traditions around the world, red bean secrets, history of the Hayward family of Camellia Beans and more. The Krewe of Red Beans marches at Mardi Gras and participants can also don a Krewe of Red Beans costume and snap a "parade" selfie.

Cheré Coen is a food and travel writer who loves her momma's red beans and rice!

Solar Eclipse Part V: Arkansas and Columbia, Missouri

Buffalo River, Arkansas

For the first time in 38 years, the moon will be impertinent enough to block out the sun on Aug. 21, causing a total solar eclipse to occur across the United States. Parts of the South will be in the “path of totality,” or the place where folks will observe a complete eclipse, as opposed to those on the periphery who will only view a partial eclipse. Everyone in Arkansas will be able to view this historic event, but only those close to the path of totality, in the north and northeast sections of Arkansas, will see 95-97 percent of the complete eclipse.

“According to a chart from the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society, the eclipse will begin at approximately 11:43 a.m. in the northwest corner of the state and be over by approximately 2:50 p.m. in the southeast, with peak totality occurring between 1:13 and 1:22 p.m.,” wrote travel writer Katherine Stewart with the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. “The cities of Piggott and Corning, which lie closest to the path of totality, will see the fullest eclipse, at 97 percent totality; El Dorado and Lake Village will see 83 percent and 85 percent, respectively.”

 

Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs

In Missouri, the eclipse follows a diagonal line across the northwest to the southeast part of the state, so naturally that state is expecting thousands of visitors. One hot spot to consider is Columbia in Central Missouri, which is directly in the path of totality, so those in Columbia on the day of the eclipse will witness more than two minutes and thirty seconds of totality beginning at 1:12 p.m. This viewing is one of the longest spans of totality in the country. 

Places to visit in Arkansas

• Watch parties are planned at Arkansas state parks including Petit Jean, Lake Catherine, Mississippi River and Mount Magazine.
• The Arkansas-Oklahoma Astronomical Society will host a watch party at the Lake Fort Smith State Park marina.
• The Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs will present eclipse-themed educational programming and hands-on activities in the hours before and after the eclipse.
• The Museum of Discovery in Little Rock will host an “eclipnic”— bring a sack lunch, learn about eclipse science, then watch with provided eclipse glasses.

St. Louis Sprockets Stunt Bike Club will
perform at Cosmo Park. Photo by Kevin Dingman

Columbia, Missouri, events

The city of Columbia will host a free music festival, viewing parties, a 5k/10k race, a guided bicycle trail ride and other activities. There will be two separate viewing parties, one at the city's Cosmopolitan (Cosmo) Park, 1615 Business Loop 70, and the second at Gans Creek Recreation Area, 3360 E. Gans Creek Road.  

For continually updated details on the Show Me Totality events, location of events, pricing of rides, runs and other activities, check back often at www.CoMoEclipse.com.

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is expecting heavy traffic on the day of the eclipse and suggests travelers plan to leave early for their viewing destination, stay put once they get there and leave late to avoid heavy congestion on the roadways after the eclipse. For more recommendations from MoDOT, visit www.modot.org/eclipse/.

This story was written with the assistance of tourism officials in Arkansas and Columbia, Missouri.

Cheré Coen is a food and travel writer who loves weird and unusual things, and simply cannot wait until the total solar eclipse.