NATCHITOCHES – A graphic drawing, mixed media collage by artist Phyllis Lear is included in a traveling exhibition that will be on display in Alexandria through August 25. “Une Place a la Table: Louisiana Artists Pay Tribute to the Council for the Development of the French in Louisiana (CODOFIL)” opened at the Alexandria Museum of Art Friday, July 6.
To commemorate CODOFIL’s 50th birthday, 50 Louisiana artists and craftsmen have produced work for the exhibit. The exhibit is sponsored by the Louisiana Crafts Guild and will be on exhibit in Alexandria through August. The exhibit is to honor CODOFIL for preserving Louisiana’s French language and heritage of the early French speakers. Lafayette and Baton Rouge are slated to host the exhibit later in the year.
Lear is a Northwestern State University professor or art history and NSU alumna. Her mixed media piece, “Grandmother’s Glasses,” pays tribute to her grandmother, Ada Hebert-Lear, whose first language was French.
Lear recalls visiting with her grandmother, and while conversing, “Grandma would begin in English but would shortly and seamlessly change to French. After a while, Grandma would stop and say, ‘I’m talking in French.’” Lear would reassure her that it was okay, she understood everything Grandma was saying.
“That is how our conversations flowed – between English and French. It is the reason I probably understand spoken and written French fairly well,” Lear said.
Information on the exhibition is available at themuseum.org. 