Granting transformations

Brecky Thomas hopes to use recently earned grant to display works of art in Ville Platte
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If given the opportunity, Brecky Thomas can transform almost anything into a mosaic masterpiece.
She can take almost any object and in her small shed with barely enough room to squeeze into, she is able to bring life to a structure that may seem lifeless.
Her skill is rare to these parts. However, the Ville Platte native is now looking to change that fact by spreading her love with the communities that make up Evangeline Parish.
Some might wonder how that could be possible, but this free spirited and self taught artist is already making moves that breathe art into Evangeline.
She does this through the newly created Evangeline Arts Council where Thomas and other art lovers in the parish teach a variety of art classes at the Evangeline Parish Chamber of Commerce Office to individuals looking for a little quality time with a canvas, paint brush and/or pencil.
Even more impressive though is her latest accomplishment that will allow the masses to not just create art with Thomas, but she hopes will allow the public to take pride in pieces she plans to have displayed throughout the City of Ville Platte.
That accomplishment is a grant, which her hard work and creativity has recently earned her, called ArtSpark 2019.
Thomas said this grant is one she hopes to use to “create art that inspires the children.”
The grant, which Thomas was introduced to by Suzy Lemoine, was awarded to 12 out of 26 applicants, and has been provided by the Acadiana Center for the Arts (AcA) and Lafayette Economic Development Authority’s (LEDA) Individual Artist Stipend Funding Program.
The purpose of the ArtSpark grant is to directly support artists in Acadiana, especially those with otherwise limited opportunities, to expand their bodies of work as a professional and offer outreach to the community. This award provides assistance to emerging, mid-career, and mature artists for specific, short-term projects.
Thomas’s project will be a play on a piece of artwork she said can be seen in California, and she is calling it the Hope Sphere. “I call it Hope Sphere because I want it to bring hope to my community,” said Thomas. “That’s what I want people to think about when they see this piece of art at the park.”
She plans to even get children in the community involved when it comes to making her thought a reality, by allowing them to bring items such as marbles to place on the Hope Sphere.
By allowing kids to be a part of this project, Thomas said she believes “it will make them cherish it.”
She concluded, “When children go to the park they will be able to see the Hope Sphere and it will be something they will be able to have pride in. People will be able to see something innovative. That in turn will be encouraging because that is what art does, and it connects us all together.”