A Slice of Plaquemines!

Don't forget to take a photo with the sculpture and tag us on social media #LayayaArts ! 

To see a quick video of the process that went into building this sculpture at LAYAYA Imaginarium Studios click  HERE!  

The Sculpture Team & Safety 

Paige Britton was the lead project artist on this sculpture under the direction of Jo Hughes with Michael McClendon serving as the installation assistant. 

The orange slice sculpture installed by LAYAYA was created by LAYAYA intern artists, with all individuals involved in the final piece being 21 or older due to the materials used. An earlier flat piece, which was not part of the final sculpture, was developed during the concept and teaching stage to demonstrate the initial stages of the process and provide students with hands-on experience. During this phase, students worked with fiber paper—a safe alternative to fiberglass—to learn how to build a basic armature and understand how materials would later be applied. This process helped establish scale and technique, and while we had hoped to incorporate it into the final sculpture in some way, it ultimately was not suitable and was later damaged during storage before LAYAYA moved into the current building. Despite this, the exercise was valuable in teaching foundational skills for several days that summer. The completed sculpture required over 273 hours of hands-on work, not including multiple curing and sanding stages which spanned nearly a year, and was constructed using fiberglass by experienced artists who are required to use proper PPE at all times when working with such materials as you can see in the photos of the installed sculpture being made. It is important to note that photographs from earlier stages depict students working only with foam, light plaster cloth, and fiber cloth—NOT fiberglass. LAYAYA remains fully committed to the safety and well-being of all young artists involved in its programs and we wanted to clarify our requirements for these types of projects.  Anyone working with fiberglass, polyester resin and other such materials must wear full protective jumpsuits with hoods, safety glasses, special gloves made to work with fiberglass/resin and use a respirator coded for fiberglass work while working or in the properly ventilated work area.  

The Orange Sculpture had several roadblocks—literally. 

When Isa Rivera first asked if we could help make this dream happen, we were happy to do what we could. She began reaching out to businesses throughout the parish to help cover the cost of materials. LAYAYA agreed to complete the project at the cost of materials and to contribute about 25% of those costs if she could raise the rest. Isa immediately got to work. When she approached Jason Campagna of Papa Joe’s Snowballs in Belle Chasse, he was enthusiastic about the idea and generously offered on the spot to fund the material costs needed for the project. Isa also secured two additional donations—$100 from Kim Turlich-Vaughn and $150 from Tea Bar—and raised another $400 by selling items herself. Those additional funds will help support the QR code webpage and hosting connected to the sculpture.

We had originally hoped to have more than one orange sculpture funded, but due to timing and other obstacles, we decided to move forward first with the teaching portion of the project. During the summer, Isa, Abigail Dykes, and Isrra spent several days learning the armature process using foam, plaster cloth, and fiber paper. It was certainly messy work, as the photos show, but they gained valuable hands-on experience and had a lot of fun in the process. At the time, LAYAYA was transitioning from a mobile platform into the new Imaginarium, and we are especially thankful to Bill Hall for allowing us to use space in his building for that teaching portion. We made a huge mess—but cleaned it all up, of course—and he never once complained.

By the end of the summer, we had to move the teaching pieces into shared storage and put everything on hold until late December while we renovated the building for the move. Unfortunately, the original armature pieces were damaged in storage, so we were unable to use them in the interior of the final sculpture as we had hoped. However, the young artists were still able to contribute small items that were placed inside the final sculpture so they could remain a part of it in a meaningful way.

The sculpture’s final placement also came with its own set of challenges. Originally, it was supposed to be installed just four feet off Highway 23 at Papa Joe’s Snowballs, and the design was planned to be about two feet shorter than the sculpture installed today. But as many in Belle Chasse know, major highway repairs, bridge construction, and heavy traffic caused repeated delays. By the time that work was completed, additional construction began along Highway 23, including digging up the sidewalk edges from Barriere Road to Avenue A—right where the sculpture was supposed to go.

Meanwhile, the 21+ sculpture team continued working on the piece you see installed today, dedicating an entire room at LAYAYA Imaginarium to the project while waiting for the right opportunity to install it. During that time, the original installation area was struck by a car twice within a year, also damaging the large Papa Joe’s Snowballs sign. At that point, we began rethinking the placement due to the heavy traffic and ongoing safety concerns. Ultimately, with the sculpture complete and waiting at LAYAYA Imaginarium, it was decided to install it where it now stands—near the snowball stand, but safely out of the way of future construction and anymore “sidewalk drivers.”

Throughout the entire process, Mr. Campagna showed incredible patience, understanding, and support, and we are deeply grateful for that. The decision was then made to wait to install the sculpture until closer to the seasonal opening of Papa Joe’s Snowballs this spring. With Isa back in town for a visit between her studies and travels abroad, we aimed to get it into the ground as close to April 18 as possible. April is an especially busy month for festivals and events, so the timing was chosen carefully so that Isa could finally see the sculpture in person and take photos with it before leaving again, while still keeping the installation close to Papa Joe’s seasonal opening in May.

To celebrate, Papa Joe’s Snowballs will host a special event on Saturday, May 16, from noon to 1 p.m. They will also debut a special citrus-flavored snowball created to commemorate the sculpture—one that is sure to become a new favorite. They even ordered special cups featuring the LAYAYA logo, and very generously, a portion of the proceeds from this new flavor will be donated to LAYAYA to help us continue our work in the community.

We hope to see you there!