Louisiana high school juniors and seniors to share $25,000 in college scholarships
October 24, 2024 (NEW ORLEANS, La.) – The George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts (GRFA) in partnership with the Trombone Shorty Foundation recently announced the theme for the 2024 Visual Arts and Songwriting Contest – “HOME.LAND. – Reflections on Louisiana Landscapes and the Meaning of Home Through Art & Song.” Louisiana high school juniors and seniors are encouraged to explore and express what home means to them through the lens of the state’s unique landscapes. The 2024 contest winners will share $25,000 in college scholarships – in addition, visual art winners’ pieces will tour on exhibition across Louisiana (Summer + Fall 2025), while the first-place songwriting winner will have the opportunity to perform at the Trombone Shorty Foundation’s annual fundraiser, Shorty Fest, next May.
New this year! GRFA will be partnering with the Loyola University’s College of Music and Media to provide additional opportunities for Songwriting Contest Finalists. These benefits include: the opportunity to record their song in Loyola’s state-of-the-art Studio A, alongside in-house engineers and producers; the opportunity to have their original song distributed through various Digital Service Providers (DSPs); and, the opportunity to perform live at Freret Fest on March 29, 2025. Visual art and song submission applications are now open at www.rodriguefoundation.org. Deadline for entry submission is Friday January 17, 2025.
“Dad always used to say that if he wasn’t from Louisiana he probably wouldn’t have started painting in the first place.” said Jacques Rodrigue, Executive Director of GRFA. “This year’s theme happens to coincide with the release of the first ever documentary film about Dad called ‘Blue: The Life and Art of George Rodrigue.’ This film recently made its North American debut in October 2024, and fully explores the profound importance this state has had in shaping Dad’s work. As students participate in this contest, we encourage them to reflect on how Dad’s connection to his roots in Louisiana influenced his art, just as their own sense of home can inspire their creativity.”
“As we continue to nurture and mentor the careers of the next generation of our local creative leaders, this songwriting collaboration with the Rodrigue Foundation has become an important part of supporting the future of our music.” – Bill Taylor, Founding Executive Director of the Trombone Shorty Foundation.
“We are so excited to be partnering with the George Rodrique Foundation, and Bill Taylor and the Trombone Shorty Foundation, as well as to be hosting some of the songwriting contest winners, to have our producers help record the winning songs and perhaps to collaborate with our talented Loyola musicians,” said Jonathan McHugh, Hilton-Baldridge Chair, Music Industry Studies, at Loyola University. “Our goal at Loyola is to continue to attract the most talented singer-songwriters/music creators from Louisiana and from around the world to create in our studios at Loyola’s College of Music and Media.” George Rodrigue was deeply inspired by the land and culture surrounding him, providing a unique glimpse into the Cajun culture of Louisiana, while preserving what he felt was a dying heritage. He was inspired by the Oak trees and swamps in his hometown of New Iberia, and created lasting images which led to his initial success as an artist, and have since toured all around the globe.
In the spirit of George Rodrigue’s work, students are asked to create visual art that depicts their personal definition of “home”. We invite students to draw inspiration from their own lives, as well as Louisiana’s landscapes as they experience them. Students are encouraged to reflect on their personal connection to the land & culture, exploring themes of belonging, heritage, and the environment. Students who choose the songwriting track should craft lyrics and melodies that evoke the spirit of Louisiana’s landscapes and what it means to call this place home. Whether it’s a ballad about the Mississippi River, a song inspired by the sounds of the bayou, or a piece that captures the heart of a small town, these songs and lyrics should resonate with the sense of place that defines Louisiana.