Read and shop local at TPL’s Books for the Bayou author event
October 3, 2023
Louisiana Department of Education Awarded $10 million to improve career opportunities for students with disabilities
October 4, 2023
The Bayou Regional Arts Council has announced the winner of the 2023 Bayou Arts Fest Poster Contest, Gregory Hayes!
“Gregory Hayes was born and raised in South East Louisiana. He discovered a talent for drafting in high school, this was the spark of passion for art that quickly erupted into an inferno,” reads Hayes’ official artist statement. “After high school he went straight to work for a few years while creating art on the side. Then in 2009 he was given the opportunity to pursue art further and began his college experience at Nicholls State University. Shortly after enrolling at Nicholls he started an apprenticeship at a local tattoo parlor becoming fully emerged in the wild world of art. He studied many different forms of fine art at Nicholls, focused mostly in oil painting, printmaking, and art history. In 2014 he graduated from Nicholls with a Bachelor of Fine Arts specializing in lithography. The unique artistic experiences he’s encountered led him to an interest in surrealism which developed into invented symbolism to express personal struggles. His work explores the tension between chaos and order, creating an ambiguous space with visual surprises for the viewer by combining deep serious tones and pockets of humor.”
Hayes’ winning Bayou Arts Fest Poster highlights beloved parts of southern Louisiana culture, featuring a whimsical white-boot cottage set on a swampland backdrop, and a raccoon painting “Bayou Arts Fest” on a shrimping boat.
Come out to the Bayou Arts Fest on October 28, 2023 to meet Hayes and have him sign a limited edition numbered poster. For more information about the upcoming festival, please visit Explore Houma’s Facebook page.
