Sixty young visual artists from elementary, middle, and high schools recently had the chance to collaborate with the Grammy-nominated American Patchwork Quartet – and the result can be seen by visitors to the Lafon Performing Arts Center.
While the Quartet musicians played during their visit to work with St. Charles Parish students, the latter sat onstage and sketched ideas, which they then spent the day turning into a large-scale patchwork quilt. The special educational residency set artist Wassily Kandinsky as an example and inspiration, exploring how he visualized music. The piece was revealed in the lobby before the American Patchwork Quartet’s public performance at the Lafon Center.
It is part of the Lafon Center’s Art Experience Series. Throughout the school year, all students from pre-K through eighth grade have the opportunity to see a professional production at some point, free of charge. The Art Experience Series expands on that for students specializing in the arts, giving them a chance to engage with and learn from professionals.
“You have a chance to really learn from the masters and also feel seen and taken seriously by professional artists,” said Ned Moore, Lafon Performing Arts Center director. “And that’s something that can make a huge difference in a child’s arts education … sometimes we’ll have choir groups from our schools perform with performing artists. And for our visual arts students, this was a big reason why we were so excited to bring the Grammy-nominated group American Patchwork Quartet into our program.”
Moore said the Quartet had piloted a similar collaboration before in various classrooms.
“I heard this and thought, wow, we have some talented art teachers here in St. Charles Parish who can take this to the next level, a super crew of arts teachers who could take what American Patchwork does and turn it into something really spectacular,” Moore said.
The artists’ visit also was part of the St. Charles Parish Public School District’s Page Meets Stage program. This chapter of the program included a book discussion of “Clay’s Quilt” at the East Regional Library in Destrehan. Page Meets Stage is a special program in which twenty community members can take part in a collision of books and performances at the Lafon Arts Center in partnership with St. Charles Parish Library.
For the quilt, select Talented Art students from several grade levels listened to the band and illustrated how the music made them feel. The artwork was combined into a collaborative display at LPAC.
The American Patchwork Quartet is a musical group that reinterprets traditional folk songs with multicultural influences. Founded by guitarist and arranger Clay Ross, the group blends elements of jazz, Hindustani classical music and Americana while exploring themes of immigration, identity and unity.
Their debut album “American Patchwork Quartet,” released in 2024, features 14 tracks influenced by Appalachian folk, gospel, and Indian classical music.
Moore said the quilt will be displayed at the Lafon Center all year.
“It’s a massive mural that’s suspended there, and it’s amazing to see,” Moore said. “It’s very striking and beautiful, and people have been kind of captivated by it. And the students themselves get to see their artwork. You can see them pointing it out to people … we had hundreds of people here for the show and the students got to see the public appreciate their work, and it’s great to watch.”
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