Spray can in hand, senior Kai Gomez did not expect to find herself painting a life-sized version of Smurfette on a Wednesday night atop senior Talulah Monthy’s shoulders.

The two cheerleaders are used to being in such a formation, but in this case, they were not on the sidelines of a football game but rather at the VIP opening night of street artist Sébastian “Mr D 1987” Boileau’s exhibit “Frenchies and Friends” at the Alliance Française of Houston.

Monthy and Gomez were part of a group of eight students who spent the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 30, tagging walls and enjoying hors d’oeuvres, surrounded by French expats and artists. Boileau, a Houston-based Franco-American artist taught the students his art form in French.

“We felt very immersed,” senior Sofia Aboul-Enein said, an AP French Language & Culture student. “We don’t even have to leave Houston to get immersed in French.”

Although Boileau and his assistants drew black outlines for the mural and told the students to color it in, the students gradually took on more artistic expression and went beyond the lines. They were encouraged to “go crazy and be creative,” filling in empty spaces with French phrases, drawings and random thoughts. Aboul-Enein especially enjoyed painting part of Smurfette and  a “glitching-effect” butterfly.

“So many people came up to me saying they wish they went,” Monthy said. “It was so much fun but also calming.”

The organization behind the event, Alliance Française de Houston, is a French cultural center that offers language classes, community events and art exhibits for both enthusiasts and natives of French-speaking countries. French teacher Shelley Stein, who is regularly in contact with the Alliance, has gotten to know Alliance director Elodie Ricolfi, who reached out to her to invite student volunteers to be part of the “live entertainment” at the event.

“It was the perfect time for this event because students were having stressful weeks, between spirit week, college apps and academics,” Stein said. “But they were able to let loose, relax and just have fun.”

The students’ prior exposure to this art varied greatly. Sophomore Felipe Casal, who had previous experience with spray painting, helped other students who had never touched a can before.

“It was my first time doing anything with spray paint,” junior and French student Lachlan McFarland said. “I am not much of an artist, so it was thrilling to experience a new medium I could connect with.”

Boileau has done big commissions throughout Houston, and “Frenchies and Friends” incorporates both individual pieces and wall paintings.

“You might see some of his murals or graffiti painted across town,” Stein said. “He has an impressive ability to reproduce iconic characters, but then put them in completely different contexts.”

Stein notes that the “quintessentially French” cartoon characters Astérix and Obelix, originally created by Réné Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, appear in several of his works, but with a local twist. On a two-story wall of the  Alliance’s Montrose-area home, a mural shows Astérix donning cowboy boots and Obélix transporting a NASA rocket on his back. Their speech bubble says “Bonjour Houston,” a nod to both French and Houstonian cultures.

“His work is extremely diverse, and he turns characters into something completely different,” Stein said. “He brings together classic French and Belgian cartoon characters with local lore.”

Students of Stein’s French Literature and Civilization class recently finished a comic unit in which they spent their summer reading a variety of Franco-Belgian graphic novels and created a poster display for the Academic Commons.

“I knew they would be into it because they were really excited about the books in class,” Stein said. “That is why I encouraged all of them to attend.” Four of the eight students were members of the class.

In the spring, French teacher Elizabeth Willcutt teaches a unit on art history in which students research and create presentations on French and Francophone art through movements.

“We wanted to get some good French immersion, including language and culture,” Stein said. “Art is a great way to study culture and bring it back to the classroom.”

This story was originally published on The Review on November 1, 2024.