LAFAYETTE, La. — When you're riding through Lafayette or visiting some of your favorite spots around the city, have you ever noticed the pelican statues?
Well, those pelicans have a little bit of a story behind them.
"The pelican was actually the mascot for our PACE arts integration program in our Arts in Education Department, so it actually started with the schools and with the Lafayette Parish School System," said Bree Sargent, the education director for the Acadiana Center for the Arts (AcA).
Sargent said a pelican was created for each of the 10 PACE schools, but the project soon became much bigger than that.
"People were so excited by them that they said 'We want to do this. We want more. We want to see these all around town,'" Sargent said.
Artists began submitting designs for the pelicans, and community members were able to choose a design to sponsor for creation.
"Around 2000, 2001, 2002, we had about 80 to 100 pelicans all around Lafayette, so Pelicans on Parade," Sargent said.
However, after that initial flock of pelicans, the program came to an end. It was nearly 20 years before another pelican was made when the AcA decided to pull out the original mold, once again.
"To celebrate 20 years of Pelicans on Parade, we created the Pelican Ball," Sargent said. "So, that's an opportunity where there are one or two created each year that are new that people can have commissioned or purchase on that's already been created."
Applications just opened for artists to submit their designs for this year's Pelican on Parade to be auctioned off at the Pelican Ball.
Local artist Carey Hamburg, who submitted several designs for the original flock of Pelicans on Parade, including the pterodactyl pelican at Old Vogue and the Greek urn pelican at Poseidon's Greek Restaurant, shared a few tips for any artists thinking of submitting designs this year.
"In submitting designs, you want to make sure it's something that's doable and something that fits the shape. Some people painted as if you're painting a flat wall, but it's really a curvy shape, so some of those designs, they're interesting, but they're not going to work," Hamburg said.
In order to be eligible to submit a design, you must be an artist living within Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Mary, St. Martin or Vermilion Parish.
The application period began on July 1 and will end at 11:59 p.m. on August 15.
You can read the submission guidelines here and access the templates and application here.
If you're interested in learning more about the history behind the Pelicans on Parade, you can read the original field guide here.
