Baton Rouge Artists to be Featured at Art Showcase

Five artists with direct connections to the Diocese of Baton Rouge will be among six artists featured in the first Catholic Art Showcase scheduled Nov. 14 at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.

The event, which is being hosted by the St. Louis IX Art Society (SL9), a Catholic art apostolate founded earlier this year, is scheduled from 1-4 p.m. in the Schulte Auditorium. 

Artists with diocesan ties include Jacob Zumo, Andrew Coleman, Blair Gordy Piras, Norman Faucheux and Abigail Reller. Also featured will be Catholic illustrator and painter and Lafayette native Jaclyn Warren.

Zumo, a Baton Rouge native who has plans to open his own gallery, has trained in Florence, Italy and specializes in modernized Sacred Art. 

Coleman, a Catholic woodworker from Baton Rouge, is a former seminarian.

Piras, a native of St. Francisville, is a former artist-in-residence at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Piras, who studied in Florence, currently resides in the Covington/Mandeville area.

Faucheux also trained in Florence and studied art at LSU.

Reller attended LSU and is an abstract artist.

Joining the SL9 artists will be Father Philip Neri Powell, OP and Father Dan Darmanin of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Jordan Haddad, director of Lay Ministry Programs and Lay Formation at Notre Dame, said the St. Louis IX Art Society exists to “promote a culture of Catholic art in south Louisiana by supporting local Catholic artists and providing opportunities for the Catholic faithful throughout the area to witness firsthand the beautiful Catholic artwork being created in our dioceses.”

He also announced the creation of the St. Louis IX Art Fund, which will be used to commission SL9 artists to beautify under-resourced Catholic parishes, schools and ministries throughout southern Louisiana, work that will be provided at no cost.
The art showcase is free and open to the public.