Connecting Through Arts & Culture: The Hilliard Art Museum’s Impact on Acadiana

For over two decades, the Hilliard Art Museum has served as a place where students, faculty, artists, families, and the community convene through art, culture, dialogue, and shared experience. It is a treasured community asset, holding pieces of Acadiana’s cultural identity in public trust, while ensuring that diverse cultural perspectives and experiences from around the world are made accessible to all. At the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, it stands as a shining example of how steadfast philanthropic support makes community impact possible.

The Hilliard is instantly recognizable to anyone who has driven through campus. Before you even step inside, its signature modernist glass and steel building, designed by the acclaimed firm Eskew Dumez Ripple, lets you know that something significant happens there. It’s the largest exhibition space between Houston and New Orleans, offering free admission for UL Lafayette students, faculty, staff, and children under five, as well as accessible pricing for the entire community.

At the heart of the Museum is its permanent collection of nearly 3,000 objects, spanning ancient Egyptian artifacts, 18th through 21st century European, Asian, and American art, and works by contemporary Louisiana-based artists that reflect our Gulf Coast regional history and culture. Year-round rotating exhibitions showcase local and international artists, fostering creative exchanges of ideas and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Together, these collections are more than an assemblage of objects; they are a living record of the human condition — who we are, where we come from, and what we value as a community.

The Hilliard’s impact extends well beyond its walls through educational programs, workshops, and events that nurture community engagement. Programs like Create & Play Café provide monthly hands-on creative sessions for families and kids ages four and up, while Family Fête offers a biannual community celebration of art, music, and performance.

Additionally, Arts Experiences for All connects students in Acadiana’s K-12 schools with age-appropriate art experiences that complement classroom learning, while the new Petit Atelier program gives students ages 9-14 the opportunity to use works from the Museum’s permanent collection as inspiration for artistic imagination. For the broader community, the Cross Currents series uses visual art as a catalyst for interdisciplinary dialogue, while Yoga in the Galleries encourages mindfulness and movement in a calm, art-filled space.

These programs and collections do not sustain themselves. Membership and donor support keep the Hilliard’s doors open, and its offerings accessible to all. For more than two decades, philanthropy and community investment have ensured that art remains a shared resource that belongs to everyone.