For the Love of Art and Architecture: How a gift grounded in personal passion and creativity is supporting the Hilliard Art Museum

Chad Bushnell has spent a lifetime pursuing his curiosity and admiration for design. His architecture career has given him opportunities to design projects in many countries, from South America to the Arctic Circle, and Asia to the Middle East. And, wherever he travels, he makes a point to seek out local cultural and artistic venues. Now, he’s investing back into his experiences and passions with a significant bequest to the Hilliard Art Museum on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s campus.

He has visited some of the world’s pre-eminent art museums, and still, when he recalls those that have impressed him the most, the Hilliard remains at the top of his list. "The Hilliard is one of the nicest and well-curated museums for its size anywhere," Bushnell said. "We have seen things there that we have not seen anyplace else, and that includes the Victoria and Albert Museum in London." 

It’s this love for art and the Hilliard that led Bushnell and his wife Terri Colangelo, to make a bequest to the Museum’s preservation and collection support funds. Their gift will bolster the Museum’s collection and aid in restoring its A. Hays Town Building; one of the most enduring and well-known structures on campus. The building will be restored to full functionality within the year, followed by improvements to support its use as a contemporary educational and community space.

"There's more to South Louisiana than Zydeco and gumbo," Bushnell said with a chuckle. "The Hilliard presents Louisiana’s culture to the world and world culture to Louisiana, offering everyone who walks through its doors a glimpse into perspectives, customs and artistic traditions apart from our own." 

Bushnell says both his pursuit of architecture and his philanthropic inclinations were inspired by his father, who was an interior designer with an appreciation for art, and who was deeply religious and believed in helping others. 

"My father was the person who would give his last $20 to a homeless person," Bushnell recollected. “His example of giving without expectation and helping without needing credit has never left me.” 

Art books filled Bushnell's childhood home, where he learned to appreciate art and design at an early age. He recalls recently standing in front of works by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse at the Museum of Fine Art in Houston, and flashing back to the moment when he discovered them in a book of famous artists at age 8. 

Bushnell graduated from what was then the University of Southwestern Louisiana with an architecture degree in 1974. During his time on campus, he took cross-disciplinary courses in environmental engineering, environmental biology, physical geography, psychology and anthropology, which gave him a well-rounded understanding of context in design and how ecology, human behavior, and climate systems shape it. 

For Bushnell, the Hilliard reflects his belief in the influence of art, culture, and design. He sees it as more than a museum, considering it an integral space where students, faculty, and visitors to the community can step away from everyday distractions to explore creativity and find inspiration. 

Bushnell says giving back to his alma mater and supporting the Hilliard gives him a deep sense of pride, and he hopes his support will help preserve the Hilliard as a community asset for generations to come. "Giving is an easy thing to do,” he said. “For me, it is so much more enjoyable and meaningful than receiving, particularly when it’s so well deserved as a place like the Hilliard.”