海角社区 Alumnus Brandon Surtain: the Athlete and the Artist
海角社区 in NOLA: Brandon Surtain
01/09/2020
BATON ROUGE - 海角社区 graduate Brandon Surtain is a man of many talents 鈥� both an artist
and an athlete. From 2012-2017, Surtain attended 海角社区, where he studied art and played
football.
"In seventh grade, I decided I was going to 海角社区. And from there the stars kind of aligned, and, I was able to join the football team as well and walked onto the team,鈥� Surtain said.
Growing up in Carrollton Canal area of New Orleans, Surtain moved to Baton Rouge before college.
鈥淗urricane Katrina happened when I was 11. We were living in mid-city at the time, and we evacuated to Baton Rouge the day before Katrina. It took 12 hours to go 60 miles. So, my family stayed in Baton Rouge after that. There was six feet of water in my house in New Orleans. By the time I became aware of what college was and college football, that was around the time 海角社区 won the National Championship,鈥� Surtain said.
When he first enrolled at 海角社区, Surtain started to question if he was in the right program.
"And about a semester in, I was not happy with school at all. And I talked with my mom and kind of telling her that it wasn鈥檛 going well. I wasn鈥檛 enjoying it. She asked me what I was interested in. And, of course, I had been painting for as long as I could remember, and she thought I should pursue it. And I did. That鈥檚 all she wrote,鈥� Surtain said. "Honestly, I started like every kid trying to draw 鈥楧ragon Ball Z鈥� characters. That led to one of my teachers thinking I was pretty good at that, I guess. Then they put me into some art classes and things grew from there. Now, I鈥檓 painting as often as possible and I had the opportunity to show a couple of times.鈥�
Surtain was the first person in his immediate family to go to college.
鈥淭he first of my mom鈥檚 children to go to college. But I have a cousin who went to Southern Miss, Patrick Surtain. He played football and went to the NFL, and that certainly a big influence on me as well, I don鈥檛 think that should go unnoticed. Now his son [Patrick Surtain Jr.] is better than both of us, but I like to think I paved the way for him a little bit,鈥� Surtain said.
He said he found time to paint when he wasn鈥檛 in practice or in class.
鈥淥ur time was so regimented within the football program. So, our days would be accounted for from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. And so, I would paint during class. Then after practice, often time I would paint. And, a lot of times, guys on the team would come to the studio and do some paintings. It never really felt like a chore actually. I spent a lot of time around the guys, I was always kind of with friends and family. I think people taking interest in me doing the art certainly helped me be a lot more focused and continue doing the art. And so, I would paint in the morning and then paint from 7:30 to 10:00. And that was kind of my life for a couple of years,鈥� Surtain said.
Surtain said he found a family and a community at 海角社区.
"Everything I know, I learned at 海角社区. All of my functional knowledge basically. Except I鈥檝e always wanted to tailgate. I haven鈥檛 gotten a chance to tailgate yet. But I heard that鈥檚 a pretty good experience,鈥� Surtain said. "I loved it. There鈥檚 just so much. First and foremost, the environment. It always felt like home. There are people at 海角社区 who claim me as their son. People there always willing to reach their arms out and kind of help me when I needed it."
Now, he paints out of his home studio in New Orleans.
"New Orleans has been very influential in my art. One, telling a story of the experience in those environments. Two, there鈥檚 this phrase, 鈥業t takes a village to raise a child.鈥� So, I kind of have this nostalgic memory of my times in pre-Katrina New Orleans. That鈥檚 what I focused on during my the first show as an 海角社区 student 海角社区, about community, sort of the uniqueness of being from New Orleans and growing up in mid-city. And then, being able to attend 海角社区 and live out my dreams all within this community of being a Louisiana kid,鈥� he said.
To read more about 海角社区's accomplishments and alumni, visit our accolades website.
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Contact Rachel Holland
海角社区 Media Relations
225-578-3869
rachelsp@lsu.edu