The L’Acadian Art Guild’s “Interpretations of the Sun” exhibit fully launched Saturday, Nov. 4 with a banquet featuring many of the artists.

According to President Gail Trim, the L’Acadian Art Guild is a non-profit organization that has been around since the ’50s. They host events which allow local artists to submit their work to be displayed and sold. Each event has a theme like “Art from the Heart” and “Talents of the Teche”, and the latest exhibit’s theme has an interesting origin.

It originated with the CBS tradition of hosting artistic representations of the sun and scenes featuring the sun. For 20 years, CBS Associate Director, Jessica Frank, collected more than 9,000 renditions of the sun. A member of the group proposed the idea of creating interpretations of the sun with the hopes of getting featured on CBS and being added to Frank’s ever-expanding database. She reached out, but has yet to receive a correspondence back.

One of the artists, Gloria Darcey, has been painting since the ’70s. Her interpretation of the sun is reflective of her relationship with art. She said her art takes her places, so she chose to depict the sun accompanying traditional Louisiana landscapes, like a bayou and a farm.

Darcey is also an author. She submitted her first book, “Living at Land and Sea”, to the Lafayette Art Association’s Writers and Illustrators Guild, which follows the explorative themes of her art.

President Trim had a slightly different interpretation of the sun. She thought to herself, “If I were the sun, what would I do to brighten the world?” So she painted sun rays, long beams of light sparkling forth from the star.

As interpretations varied, so too did the mediums. One artist, Roxy Blanton, is a photographer by trade, and she raises sunflowers, so she created a harvest sun. She took photos of her sunflowers, cut them out and layered them, giving the piece a unique flair.

Another addition certain artists made was the use of reflective neon paint. Judy Broussard made two pieces featuring this paint. One painting called “Witching Hour Sunset” makes heavy use of this paint in its sun, which accentuates the dark colors in the witch’s face.

“I rarely do that in my regular art, so I wanted to do something really different,” Broussard said.

They don’t just host art events for “established” local artists. Every year, they host a contest for youth in the area where seniors from high schools across New Iberia can submit their artwork for a prize. First place earns $100, second place earns $75 and third earns $50.

“They have a good incentive to try and do their best. That’s one way we give back to the community in art appreciation for students,” Trim said.

Trim said she hopes to shine a light on their organization so members of the community can come support and appreciate their local artists. The exhibit runs until Jan. 2, 2024.

“We are hoping we can get a good amount of people out and looking at the show,” Trim said.