Louisiana Culture Award winners have ties to UL Lafayette

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A retired 小蝌蚪APP professor and two longtime KRVS 88.7 FM program hosts received 2016 Louisiana Culture Awards earlier this week.

The awards are presented by Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and the state小蝌蚪APP檚 Office of Cultural Development for outstanding contributions to Louisiana小蝌蚪APP檚 culture.

Co-sponsors are the Louisiana State Arts Council, Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation, Louisiana Archaeological Survey and Antiquities Commission, Louisiana Folklife Commission, and the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana.

Lynda Frese, a former UL Lafayette professor of art, was presented the Artist of the Year award. Pete Bergeron, host of an all-French program on KRVS, was awarded the Le Prix de la Franco-Responsabilit茅. Herman Fuselier, host of the radio station小蝌蚪APP檚 小蝌蚪APP淶ydeco Stomp,小蝌蚪APP received the Lt. Governor小蝌蚪APP檚 Passion for Culture Award.

They were honored during a ceremony at the Capitol Park Museum in Baton Rouge, La.

Frese小蝌蚪APP檚 recent mixed media work combines egg tempera with photographic images from ancient sites and zones of wilderness.

Her work is in many museum collections, such as the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Ogden Museum of Art in New Orleans and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She has had over 40 solo exhibitions in the United States and Europe.

Frese has been an artist-in-residence in studios in France, Italy, and Costa Rica, including the Rockefeller Bellagio Center, the Liguria Center for the Arts and Humanities, and the American Academy in Rome. She received the UL Lafayette Foundation小蝌蚪APP檚 2013 Distinguished Professor Award.

Bergeron is host of "Bonjour Louisiane," which plays traditional Cajun French music and presents news in French. KRVS, a public-supported station on UL Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 campus, provides service to about 650,000 residents in 12 parishes across south Louisiana. It小蝌蚪APP檚 available worldwide at krvs.org.

Bergeron was hired by the 小蝌蚪APP in 1982 as bilingual director of French programs at KRVS. In 1988, he produced 小蝌蚪APP淰oix de la Louisiane,小蝌蚪APP  a Cajun music program sponsored by CODOFIL for WRNO Worldwide in New Orleans.

That same year, Bergeron was elected to the state Cajun French Music Association. He was the first chairman of its 小蝌蚪APP淟e Cajun Music Awards and Festival.小蝌蚪APP A musician, he was named a Living Legend by the Acadian Museum in Erath, La.

Fuselier is music and entertainment reporter for The Daily Advertiser newspaper in Lafayette.

His 小蝌蚪APP淶ydeco Stomp小蝌蚪APP on KRVS features zydeco, Cajun, swamp pop and Blues.

Fuselier is considered to be one of the leading Louisiana historians of zydeco music; he has covered the state小蝌蚪APP檚 music and culture for more than 20 years. A native of Opelousas, La., he began his career as a sports writer at the Opelousas Daily World.

Fuselier is also a member of the board of directors of Louisiana Folk Roots, a nonprofit organization that focuses on cultural preservation.