Victory Festival 2018

Hi, everyone! My name is Brittany, and I'm a board member and volunteer with TownFolk and a curator at Gallery 333. Recently, I had the pleasure of creating the poster art for TownFolk's third annual Victory Festival in addition to leading the art show and silent auction portion of the event. This year's festival theme was "flora and fauna" based on the growth and abundance currently at the garden. It means so much to me to be able to help sustain the Victory Garden, which was created in honor of Jillian Johnson, through this yearly fundraiser.

The art show and silent auction was full of dozens of donations from local artists and businesses. I'd like to highlight a few of my personal favorite pieces:

"Victory Armadillo" by Hannah Gumbo

"Victory Armadillo" by Hannah Gumbo

Little Histories gift set

For each Victory Festival so far, Mimosa Handcrafted has donated a beautiful cuff. This year's Magnolia Corsage cuff perfectly fits the "flora and fauna" theme.

"Magnolia Corsage Cuff" by Mimosa Handcrafted

"Magnolia Corsage Cuff" by Mimosa Handcrafted

"Magnolia Corsage Cuff" by Mimosa Handcrafted

"Magnolia Corsage Cuff" by Mimosa Handcrafted

We were touched to showcase these powerful prayer flags donated by Leah Graeff, who led the making of the flags during several community vigils in the summer of 2015.

Leah's words on the installation: “These flags were created by you or someone you know. You came together on three separate occasions to grieve, support, and celebrate each other. Spend some time revisiting the pieces. Maybe you’ll laugh, maybe you’ll cry. You’ll certainly feel reconnected to your community."

Other project collaborators on the flags include Fawn Viator Hernandez, Bree Sargent, Elizabeth Brooks, The Acadiana Center for the Arts, The Horse Farm (now Moncus Park), and Blackham Coliseum.

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We filled the entire back room of the gallery with rows and rows on the prayer flags. The installation room was quiet and slow-paced and offered a quiet space for guests who wanted a moment to reflect. The flags were both sad and beautiful, and stirred up a lot of emotions.

"Jillian's Rosettes" donated from Jackie and Sally Johnson

"Jillian's Rosettes" donated from Jackie and Sally Johnson

We were also humbled to showcase these sentimental pieces from Jackie and Sally Johnson, Jillian's parents.

Jackie said of the pieces: "These 'rosettes' were part of a much larger assembled sculpture that was part of Jillian’s Senior Show. After the show, the larger pieces were disassembled and salvageable portions were stored away.

I’ve made bases for the individual 'rosettes' from salvaged remains of cypress fence posts that I got in Nashville some 6 or so years ago. With some advice and editing from Sally, I think that Jillian would have proud to present these to the Lafayette community. Especially in service to such a good cause as TownFolk."

The rosette pieces are made from Jillian's fabric scraps by Sally Johnson. 

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For the third year in a row, we held the Victory Festival at Gallery 333 and our neighboring lots. This location makes for a spacious event space for the art show, music performances, food trucks, and vendors, and is just a block away from the Victory Garden.

Video by Jacob Danos

This video clip taken by Jacob Danos through the an open window in the gallery shows the New Natives Brass Band playing outside during the Victory Festival next to the children's play area. The Blue Runners and Sweet Cecilia also performed outside later in the afternoon.

Guests looking at pieces in the show and silent auction

Guests looking at pieces in the show and silent auction

It always astounds us how many people come together to keep the Victory Garden growing and thriving. We had another great Victory Festival thanks to so much community support! TownFolk has a exciting plans for the garden on the horizon, all made possible by the efforts of everyone who has been so generous. 💕

Thanks everyone!
—Brittany Boudreaux

View the original post here.

TownFolk Table is Up and At 'Em!

Bags full and ready for delivery. Credit: Brittany Boudreaux

Bags full and ready for delivery. Credit: Brittany Boudreaux

Ski and our new TownFolk Table trailer! Credit: Ski Witkovski

Ski and our new TownFolk Table trailer! Credit: Ski Witkovski

Recently we partnered with Whole Foods Market and their Whole Cities Grant to implement a new project in the LaPlace neighborhood: TownFolk Table! During TownFolk Table, we receive fresh donated produce from Whole Foods Market to distribute to residents of the LaPlace neighborhood every Saturday morning at the Victory Garden. In conjunction with distributing at the garden, we also deliver to a list of elderly and homebound neighborhood residents.

We recently completed our first two months of TownFolk Table; the start of this project has really been a learning experience for us.

During our first two months, we have been able to use the grant money to purchase our TownFolk Table trailer, develop our logo, and get the word out about the project to residents and volunteers. So far this project has really helped us to physically connect more with our LaPlace neighbors. We have met so many new people through this project, and we are now beginning to see familiar faces return for produce each Saturday. We are so thankful to be able to give back through this service project and connect with more people!

If you are interested in volunteering for TownFolk Table, you can sign up here:

 

Until next time!
—Brittany B.

From left to right: Alex Guillory, Amy Dalcour, Jacob Danos, Brittany Boudreaux, Leigh Billeaud, and Tim GonzalesCredit: Mallory Broussard

From left to right: Alex Guillory, Amy Dalcour, Jacob Danos, Brittany Boudreaux, Leigh Billeaud, and Tim Gonzales
Credit: Mallory Broussard