Panel Talk

Cross Currents

May 9, 2025
5 p.m.
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A series that positions visual art as a starting point for interdisciplinary dialogue—connecting the arts with history, science, technology, literature and cultural inquiry. Each installment invites artists, scholars, and the public to consider how art helps us see and understand the world in new ways.

For its inaugural program, the Hilliard partners with the Center for Louisiana Studies for a conversation about Louisiana’s evolving cultural landscape. Framed by the exhibition Tides, Time, and Terrain: Floyd Sonnier and the Evolving Cultural Landscape, this evening brings together artists and scholars to explore how place and memory continue to shape our visual narrative and cultural identity.

Enjoy drinks and bites as we dive into this rich dialogue at the intersection of art and Louisiana’s living history.

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Featured Experts:

  • Drake LeBlanc — Creative Director, Filmmaker and Artist
  • Herb Roe — Artist featured in the current exhibition Tides, Time and Terrain
  • Jane Vidrine — Musician, Folklorist, and Cultural Activist; Director of the new Louisiana Music Museum
    • Moderated by John "Pudd" Sharp, Folklorist and Assistant Director for Research at Center for Louisiana Studies

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Drake

LeBlanc

Drake LeBlanc is a filmmaker and media artist from Lafayette, Louisiana. Drake is the Founder and Creative Director of Above the Beyond, a multi-media production company responsible for creating disruptive, thought-provoking film and digital content. Drake also co-founded Téle- Louisiane, a multi-lingual media platform that aims to breathe new life into Louisiana’s languages, cultures and people.

Herb

Roe

Herb Roe was born and spent his childhood in the Appalachian regions of Southern Ohio and Northeastern Kentucky. In 1992 he received a scholarship to the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio and attended his freshman year there. In the summer of 1993, he met the Louisiana mural artist Robert Dafford. He subsequently apprenticed to and worked for Dafford for 15 years on mural projects throughout the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys. As a Dafford Muralist, Roe specialized in large scale, long term historical mural projects, often connected with local Chambers of Commerce, Tourism Bureaus and Downtown Development Agencies. Many of these projects took between 5 and 10 years to complete and ranged from 1 to 50 murals in each town. In 2007 Roe began to pursue a career as a fine artist, specializing in oil paintings depicting the history and culture of his adopted home in South Louisianas Acadiana region. His most recent series of works explores his childhood home in Appalachian eastern Kentucky and southern Ohio and adulthood traveling and working in the southern US.

John ”Pudd”

Sharp

John "Pudd" Sharp joined the Center staff in 2009, becoming Assistant Director for Research in 2012. An Alabama native, he earned a Bachelor of Arts from Auburn University and a Master of Science from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He is a documentary filmmaker and folklorist. Sharp has implemented several field research projects, serves as the primary contact for the Center for Louisiana Studies Archives, writes grants, works with film and video restoration and digitization, and hosts Center for Louisiana Studies events. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Louisiana Folklife Commission since 2016 and served as Treasurer of the Louisiana Folklore Society from 2011 until 2022.

Jane

Vidrine

Jane Vidrine, a Grammy-nominated musician, arts administrator, music educator, and folklorist, is the inaugural director of the Louisiana Music Museum. With a long and diverse career in teaching, curriculum creation, museum curating, and cultural program development, Vidrine brings a wealth of experience and a profound passion for Louisiana’s cultural heritage to this esteemed position.