LAFAYETTE, La — There's a mural on the side of the Lafayette Consolidated Government building that shows all of our sister cities, including Namur, Belgium - where you can now find a little piece of Lafayette.
"Namur wanted a visual representation of their sister city, Lafayette, and it was up to us to come up with what that meant," said Burton Durand, a local graphic designer and illustrator, who illustrated the mural.
Each detail of the mural shows a part of Lafayette's culture.
"We have a crawfish boil...We have a cayenne pepper," Durand said. "And we included some bits of the Acadian flag, as well—the capitol building."
It features some of Namur's culture, too.
"In Namur...there is a golden statue of a turtle with the artist—the sculptor—riding it, and they love that turtle there, and so, we thought it'd be cool to put a little turtle in here, as well," Durand said.
The mural's purpose was to strengthen the bond between cities.
"I think in order to continue to improve the relationship with the sister city, they wanted to have a Lafayette presence in that city, and so, I think a mural just became the obvious thing to have," said Peter DeHart, a co-founder of Makemade, which was the local design agency tasked with creating the mural.
The mural was a part of a larger Francophone dedication in Namur.
"People can walk into and see on this square, history of Lafayette and Namur with plaques and photos dedicated throughout the years, lining this green space, and just a few feet away, on the side of a building, this mural went up," Durand said.
He, along with a few other Lafayette delegates, including Mayor-President Monique Boulet, were able to attend the dedication in Namur, taking part in festivities up to part with our celebrations here in Lafayette.
The square was filled with stilt-walkers, folk dancers, singers and drummers parading the street.
"They pulled me and the mayor-president into their dance circle, and I had to learn polka dancing in about 10 seconds," Durand said.
Click on the video at the top of this story to see photos and videos from the dedication, shared by the Lafayette residents that attended.
To see a digital version of the mural in Namur, click here. This digital copy is interactive and allows you to click on certain details to learn more about why they were included.
