A wall in Franklin’s Pocket Park is now Robert Dafford’s blank canvas.
And you may already be familiar with some of his work since many of his murals can be found in Downtown Lafayette.
At a public meeting on Friday afternoon with Mayor Foulcard and Franklin Main Street Director Ed “Tiger” Verdin, Dafford shared his vision for the blank wall.
Verdin said the murals depicting life along with Bayou Teche will show scenes of the Chitimacha Tribe, Gunboat Diana, African American baptisms, sugar harvest industry, sugar barges, kayaking and the state's native flowers and animals.
Dafford said when he went to the park…he was immediately inspired.
“When I looked at the way they constructed the sidewalk around Macy and reflecting the windings of the Teche, I immediately saw a mirror image of it painted into and it would be the bayou,” Dafford said.
The project is made possible through a public arts grant from the Louisiana Office of Culture Development.
Those in attendance at the meeting expressed they’d like to see depictions of sugar kettles, lamp posts, fishing and crabbing, sugarcane stalks as well as historic homes.
St. Mary Council and Aging Executive Director Beverly Domengeaux said she was present to voice senior citizen concerns by ensuring history is incorporated.
“They wanted to be sure that they captured the history of our community,” Domengeaux said.
"Which I think they really did because we talk about it a lot. They tell stories about it a lot and some of them are a lot older then some of them. But it started with the Indians and we go to the Chitimacha we meet with the Chitimacha people a lot.”
Domengeaux said she’d like to see Spanish Moss trees incorporated in the mural and likes the idea of the Teche serving as a representation of the city.
“I think this was a great way of presenting the history of us by using the Bayou Teche because that used to be the lifeline of this area and that’s what they all remember,” Domengeaux said.
Dafford said the mural should be complete by the end of spring.
