FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2020
Fifth Art Traffic Signal Box to be Unveiled September 30th in Downtown Opelousas
(Opelousas, LA) –Opelousas Tourism and the Celebrate 300 Commission are pleased to announce another traffic signal box is scheduled to be unveiled to the public as part of a city enhancement project titled Boxed Art. The fifth Boxed Art unveiling is scheduled for Wednesday, September 30, at 5:30 pm, on the corner of Bellevue and Main Streets in Opelousas in front of Opelousas City Hall. The traffic box features artwork by Opelousas artist and creole preservationist Rebecca Henry.
Rebecca Henry grew up around the Opelousas countryside speaking both English and French fluently. A sharecropper’s daughter, she spent her youth picking cotton in the fields with her three sisters and two brothers. Today, she spends much of her time trying to preserve the Creole traditions she grew up with, especially folk medical traditions and educating others about Creole culture. She is the founder of the Creole Heritage Folklife Center in Opelousas and various cultural programs and events such as the annual Sharecropper’s Day and Juneteenth Celebration.
Her inspiration has led to folk art creations such as homegrown gourds transformed into beautifully crafted ornaments and musical instruments, okra pods transformed into delightful little angels and Santa’s and paintings displaying folk art scenes reminiscent of renowned artist Clementine Hunter.
The Boxed Art project transforms metal traffic boxes into creative canvases. The project is one of the activities for the City’s 300-year celebration. Led by Opelousas Tourism, and organizational support from the Celebrate Opelousas 300 Commission and Opelousas Main Street, Inc., the goal of the Boxed Art project is to enliven community space while showcasing the talent of artists in our community.
A total of ten boxes are targeted for the project over the next two years. Earlier this year, the first traffic signal box wrap, was unveiled at the intersection of Wallior and Vine and Landry Streets followed by Boxed Art on Court and Landry Street, Dunbar and Hwy 182 – Union Streets and Railroad and Church Streets. Artists for those traffic boxes includes Jerome Ford, Sue Boagni, B.J. Smith and Ke’Shawn Collins.
Funding for the project was made possible through a grant from Union Pacific Foundation. For more information about Boxed Art, email tourism@cityofopelousas.com.
Last modified: June 21, 2022
