New Robert Dafford Mural at Antoni’s in Lafayette
From Dining to Painting: How the New Dafford Mural Came to Be
Dafford mural at Antoni’s Covered
On July 1, Antoni’s in Lafayette celebrated the unveiling of a new Robert Dafford mural in the Italian café’s Blu Room. Members of the Oil Center Association were invited for the unveiling, with limited spots available, followed by special dining availability in the Blu Room.
Antoni’s Co-Owner Holly Cure shared that about 2o people were in attendance, including Oil Center Association board members Kevin McKay, Mark Barton, Carol Trosclair and George Holland, as well as dignitaries from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette art program.
Dafford mural in Blu Room
The Blu Room is typically only open on Fridays and Saturdays, but with its new mural, the Blu Room provided art to gaze upon while diners, like Dafford, enjoyed small bites, including homemade focaccia with roasted garlic and pesto spread, bruschetta pomodoro, chocolate-dipped cookie bites and complimentary prosecco and red wine.
The Carts to the Cures
Eli and Holly Cure are the husband and wife duo running Antoni’s since 2013. Before the Cures, Bruce and Lynda Cart opened the Italian café in 1996. Holly first worked at Antoni’s in 2008 as an employee under the Carts. From there, she built a relationship with Bruce and Lynda, who eventually entrusted Holly and Eli, who also has a restaurant background, to carry out their legacy.
The Carts (Left) and The Cures (Right) at Antoni’s
Holly and Eli met working at the Blue Dog Café, and Eli worked at the Café Vermilionville at the time of the purchase of Antoni’s.
“We both are greatly involved in the day-to-day operations of the restaurant, with his strengths in the kitchen and maintenance and mine in front-of-house and bookkeeping,” Holly shared.
Dafford’s Blank Canvas: The Blu Room at Antoni’s
The Cures’ effort to preserve Antoni’s while keeping it a thriving restaurant is prevalent in the Blu Room, which now houses the new Dafford mural. The Blu Room is an additional space at Antoni’s that has undergone name and function changes, serving as an event room, extra space for COVID and, since 2024, a space for a meal and a show.
The room serves as Antoni’s venue for hosting jazz-style music acts on Fridays and Saturdays from 6 – 9 p.m., with full-menu table dining and a cocktail service lounge available.
Robert Dafford in front of Antoni’s mural
It was during one jazz night earlier this year that muralist Robert Dafford, known for his collaboration with Louisiana’s City of Murals, Rayne, was experiencing the Blu Room and told Eli that he would love to paint a mural on the large blank wall.
“I about fell out of my chair,” shared Holly, recalling her reaction to Dafford’s desire to make the Blu Room his canvas.
“I was born and raised in Lafayette, and we would take field trips as a kid to see his murals, so I knew who he was,” shared Holly. The idea of having a Dafford mural in the Blu Room had actually crossed her mind before, but she never wanted to bother Dafford during his dining at Antoni’s, and wasn’t sure he’d do anything “small-scale.”
“So here we are,” said Holly. “That was around maybe February or March, and now not only do we have a Dafford mural for people to admire but also a new friend, which is pretty cool.”
More on the Dafford Mural
Holly shared that the mural took about 8 weeks to complete, with most of the work done in Dafford’s studio before being moved to the wall of the Blu Room for finishing touches.
Holly and Eli weren’t sure what to fill the Blu Room with, so they gave Dafford full creative freedom. Drawing on the Blu Room’s purpose of music and community, Dafford created “Frequencies.”
“The painting blends realism and abstraction, with a central swamp scene running through the center showing that Louisiana ties all the musicians together as they play along a cobblestone street alive with soulful music,” shared Holly. “It basically encapsulates the idea that we are all spirits and energies in a physical world, with creative expressions like music and art fusing us all together.”
Dafford mural “Frequencies” in Blu Room
Holly also shared that Dafford used local musicians as inspiration for some of the figures by noting the way they stood and played their instruments but not to portray any specific musicians. However, guests at Antoni’s enjoy pointing out resemblances of who they think the musicians are.
The Blu Room remains open on Fridays and Saturdays for the jazz dining and lounge experiences, with future visions for rentals, allowing for weekday luncheons and after-work socials.
Three days after the unveiling at Antoni’s, Rayne had its own unveiling for its newest Dafford mural, celebrating 250 years of America.
