The College of the Arts at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is proud to announce the opening of Refuge: The Courage to Witness, a yearlong interdisciplinary project initiated by School of Visual Arts Associate Professor Hagit Barkai. The project uses visual art and community engagement to explore what keeps us disconnected from suffering, conflict, and the potential for healing and peace.
Running from late May 2025 through April 2026, Refuge brings together artists, students, scholars, and community leaders from across the region and beyond. The project culminates in Barkai’s solo exhibition, The Courage to Witness, on view March–April 2026 at NUNU Arts & Culture Collective, presented alongside Side By Side / Piece By Peace, a juried group exhibition featuring local artists as well as UL Lafayette students and alumni. Both exhibitions will open together in a shared reception on Friday, March 13, 2026, from 6–9 PM.
Through painting, mixed media, literary works, performance, and dialogue, the exhibitions examine the psychological, cultural, and political mechanisms that obscure the realities of conflict, while highlighting practices that cultivate courage, empathy, and reconnection. Themes include coexistence, shifting perspectives, holding contradictions, and navigating the gray areas between peace and conflict.
In addition to the exhibitions, Refuge includes an art symposium and a series of Refuge In Dialogue community conversations that invite public participation and collective reflection. Together, these programs position art as a catalyst for resistance, connection, and collective healing.
About the Artist
Hagit Barkai is an associate professor of painting with in the School of Visual Arts at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She received her MFA from Penn State University and holds a B.A. in Philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, with additional training in drawing and painting at the Jerusalem Studio School. Barkai’s work explores psychological and emotional choices in both public and private settings and has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Scope International Art Fair (Miami Basel), Manifesta (Hasselt, Belgium), Kunsthalle Faust (Hannover, Germany), and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Locally, her work has been shown at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, the Hilliard Museum, and Basin Arts. Her work has been widely reviewed in regional and national arts publications, and she is the recipient of multiple honors, including the UL Lafayette Rising Star Award.
Refuge: The Courage to Witness is supported by an ArtSpark Grant from the Acadiana Center for the Arts, funded by the Lafayette Economic Development Authority and the National Endowment for the Arts. All exhibitions and programs are free and open to the public.
Learn more and view the full schedule: https://www.hagitbarkai.com/refuge
Side By Side / Piece By Peace
NUNU Arts & Culture Collective, 1510 Courtableau Hwy, Arnaudville LA 70512
March 6 – May 1 2026
Opening Reception: Friday, March 13, 6-9 PM
Jurors: Anna Kojevnikov, Claire J. Amy, Clare Cook, Sami Parbhoo, Yael Gronner
Participating artists:
Aerial Lange, Alex V. Cook, Ali Sonnier, Allison Theoret, Anjolina Fuselier, Anne Bujold, Bailey Broussard, Bethany LeJeune, Boris Fitzgerald, Brooklyn Vincent, Carey Hamburg, Carolina Chauffe, Chandler James, Eliza Mai Hinrichs, Hope Simpson, Isabelle M Dufrene, Izzy Thomas Bradley, Jennie Lynn Hammatt, Kelsey Shaw, Kennedy Timmons, Lex R. Thomas, Louis Deumite, Louise (Layne) Lieber, Loveday Funck, Lynda Frese, Malcolm Cormier, Martha Garner, Nancy J. Roller, Oana Chivoiu, Olivia Luz Perillo, Penny Roussel, Peter Klubek, Samantha Sigur, Sketch Zachary Ware, Susan David, Ted Turluck, Teresa Luong