First Fridays series continues with Margaret Brinkhaus

    Artist Margaret Brinkhaus of Sunset continues the First Fridays with a Little Lagniappe series from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, July 6 at the St. Landry Parish Visitor Information Center, I-49 exit 23, just north of Opelousas. With the theme “Constructing Art: Salvage – Reuse – Create,” the First Fridays series emphasizes recycling and features artists who create new art out of materials left over from construction of the Visitor Center.

Margaret Brinkhaus

    These pieces will later be used in a traveling exhibit throughout the parish. The Visitor Center, which marked its first anniversary on May 23, highlights green construction and sustainable practices, both old and news.

    Brinkhaus will demonstrate how palmetto leaves can be turned into art. She will also make ropes and cords from daylily and iris leaves.

    A renowned gourd artist, Brinkhaus has presented workshops at Louisiana Folks Roots, Cite’ des Arts in Lafayette and numerous schools and libraries.

    Brinkhaus is also a member of the Natchitoches Art Guild, Baton Rouge Arts Market, Sunset Garden Club and the American Gourd Society. She owns and operates La Caboose, a bed and breakfast inn that was once a red Southern Pacific Railroad caboose.

    Admission is free to the First Fridays series, which concludes Aug. 3 with Tommy Myers. A mixed media artist and woodworker, Myers creates birdhouses from found objects.

    First Fridays is supported in part by a Grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council as administered by the Acadiana Center for the Arts.

    For more information, call the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission at (337) 948-8004. Follow the center on Twitter @StLandryParish or on Facebook at St. Landry Parish – It’s Gumbo for Your Soul.