Places & Faces
RECOVERY SPOTLIGHT
ARTS & Humanities COUNCIL OF
SWLA
Spring Art Walk 2021 photos courtesy of Lake City Entertainment
But with event restrictions continuing, Corbello says that he and his board made the tough decision to furlough all staff members, excluding himself, in by Stefanie Powers August. “This happened the week before Hurricane Laura hit,” he says. “We were able to bring one of our staff members back in January 2021.” The Council’s offices are located The Arts & Humanities Council of SWLA at Central School in downtown Lake has been supporting arts and culture Charles. The old building was heavily damaged by the double-whammy initiatives, events, and organizations in hurricanes that slammed Southwest Louisiana our five-parish region since 1979. But in the middle of the pandemic. “We came back between the pandemic and catastrophic to the office at the beginning of March 2021,” forces of nature, the arts community in says Corbello. “We will be moving offices soon Southwest Louisiana took a serious hit while repairs to Central School begin. We are this past year. expected to be back in our Central School office in March of 2022.” “Due to the pandemic, we cancelled our first Corbello says his home was unlivable after event, Live @ the Lakefront, on March 13, Laura, so he rented a house in Lafayette, and 2020, which was set to take place later that worked from the Lafayette Arts Council’s office, night, and again for the following two Fridays,” as well as partly from home, until March of this says Devan Corbello, Arts Council executive year. “There was still plenty of work to be done,” director. That was just the beginning. From he explains. “Our mission is to cultivate the arts there, every upcoming event had to be and culture of SWLA, and despite the challenges cancelled. we faced, the arts and culture needed to Corbello says that he and his staff worked continue as part of the rebuilding process.” from home during the “stay-at-home” orders, and then In spite of the many obstacles, the Council staggered hours once the orders were lifted. Decisions were hosted a virtual ArtsFest activity for kids, a made through continuous discussions with board members, virtual Mayor’s Arts Awards presentation, and staff, and other Arts Councils across the state. “We did what a Holiday Art Market during those first few we could virtually, with some success,” he says. months following Hurricanes Laura and Delta. 58
Thrive Magazine for Better Living • June 2021
“Southwest Louisiana’s creative community is resilient, so that helped motivate us to provide outlets for artists to sell their works, and musicians and other performers to showcase their talent,” says Corbello. “The increased vaccine production starting in late January allowed for gatherings to become safer again, so we took advantage of that and pulled together the resources to host Spring Art Walk on May 8, which was a big success, and Live @ the Lakefront, which will be held on June 11, 18, and 25. The generous support of local businesses has also helped through their sponsorship dollars.”
