Spanish Moon Fine Arts Foundation hosts debut event – á la Lumiére highlights local artists

When Leonela Guzman thinks of the Spanish Moon, she thinks about the big paintings that used to cover the music venue and bar’s walls.

“I missed that and wanted to bring that back,” she says.

Guzman reached out to recent LSU Art School graduate Stephanie Landry and the duo started the Spanish Moon Fine Arts Foundation. The idea behind the foundation is to give local artists a platform.

The inaugural event, á la Lumiére, kicks off at 9 p.m. Saturday at Spanish Moon. Cover is $5. Las Tinas will provide music. For more information, click here.

Landry says the foundation gives artists an opportunity to show on a much more regular basis, and there will be a new exhibit every two months.

Saturday’s show is all-inclusive, with sculpture, photography, paintings and audio-visual pieces. Some of the artists you can expect to see including Raina Wirta, James Mathis and even a few of Landry and Guzman’s works. A few of the pieces will stay on display at Spanish Moon until the next show.

In the future, Guzman and Landry want to see the foundation collaborate with other arts organizations and create something bigger for Baton Rouge.

“We want people to come out of the woodwork for this,” Guzman says. “We have a lot of people with potential. There are so many movements within the community that would be great to collaborate with. We want to integrate with that community.”

Landry says the foundation also offers another option for artists who are thinking about leaving the city.

“I think a lot of people go to LSU to study arts then immediately leave the city,” she says. “What we’re trying to do is keep people here and keep that talent around.”