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Back in July of 2007, Lefevre’s Art Supply and Custom Framing was unexpectedly opened by two nurses interested in a career change. James and Angie Lefevre brought the small, locally owned, custom framing shop to Houma, La. and it has since been a haven for the artists of the South.


Now, the shop is owned by Dominique and Shane Quinn, who bought the store in 2023. Dominique is a born and raised resident of Raceland, La. while her husband Shane has lived here for 15 years. Dominique has always carried a strong affinity for art, having studied at the Art Institute of Phoenix. When the store popped up for sale, she knew it’d be the perfect place for her creative ambitions.

“We mostly do custom framing, but we do have small art supply sections. We try to cater to local artists so we sell lots of high quality, fine art supplies. We’re not really a crafty store,” said Dominique. “We also do photo restoration and plaque engravings for awards and things.”

Keeping the name it’s had for over 17 years, Lefevre’s is located in Bayou Cane on Enterprise Dr. and according to Dominique, the store carries higher quality supplies for fine art such as oil paints and more that big box stores may not offer. Customers are also able to order supplies online while in store.


“A lot of people like to come in because it’s nice to actually walk into a store and get that ‘art smell.’ The smell of an art store is nice, but I can’t smell it anymore because I’ve gotten used to it. I miss that!” Dominique shared.

Supporting a local business like this means great things for the local art community. Rather than spend money on cheaper supplies that big box stores order in bulk, shopping at small art supply shops like Lefevre’s gives the people of Houma and surrounding areas the chance to seek out high quality supplies. Most of what Lefevre sells is actually right from SLS Arts Inc. in New Orleans. At Lefevre’s everything is right where you need it, and they are more than willing to order any supplies you can’t find in store.

“Being able to see all of the different artwork and things we get to frame is always cool, and hearing the stories behind things,” Dominique said of her favorite part about running the store. “When artists are coming in looking for stuff, I usually get to chat with them about what kind of art they do, and then they’ll show me their work and I like seeing what kind of stuff they do. That’s always fun.”


Because the summertime is their slowest season of the year, Dominique and Shane started putting on art classes during the summer. The classes were held every other Saturday and featured oil painting or watercolor lessons. Watercolor proved to be more popular this summer, and Dominique plans to revive them again next summer.

Being solely located in Houma has shown Dominique that plenty of people down here do share a big appreciation for art. While she is thankful for her business, she is a bit surprised that the local area does not have more fine art supply shops like them as she finds there to be a pretty big art community here.

A good portion of their business comes from the art students of Nicholls State University. Dominique said, “We actually have a great relationship with Nicholls. I work closely with the art department to find out their supply lists that they need, and I carry specifically everything they need. They just have to come here. They don’t have to go anywhere else. I carry everything!”


Lefevre’s even goes the extra mile to offer pre-made art supply kits for Nicholls’ art students for certain classes such as the beginning design and print making classes. That means the students need only to pay a flat rate, that’s also discounted, to acquire all of their needed school supplies.

Nicholls students can also get a ten percent discount on anything they may need all year round.

Getting to be at the epicenter of the Houma art scene, Dominique has been able to encounter many unique artists and art collectors. One story that particularly sticks out to her is one where a guy came in and brought a canvas he bought at an estate sale that turned out to be an original piece by a New Orleans based artist, Harouni.


“It was worth $20,000 and he got it for like $200!”, Dominique shared. “We got to restretch it for him and frame it, and it was crazy because it was like the most expensive art piece I’d ever seen.”

Walking into Lefevre’s, customers can see walls of frames with the widest selection in Houma. Each wall has a door that opens with even more frames behind it. While some frames are in store, most are ordered in the length molding meaning it comes in the shape of a stick and they cut it and fit it to whatever shape they’re framing. The most challenging and unique piece they’ve framed so far was a stained glass, octagon shaped piece which required them to measure each side and cut each piece of the framing to fit around it perfectly. Square or round frames tend to be the easiest and most common orders, although Lefevre’s won’t shy away from the challenge.

Aside from the custom framing, Dominique and Shane have started displaying a partial gallery of local artworks in their store.


“We’ll have artists come and rent out a little space to put their prints or original paintings. We have people who come in to frame art pieces and who are art appreciators, so it’s nice for them to be able to see some local art and purchase them while in the store,” Dominique said.

The display consists of four shelves, each with a corresponding bin, and artists can rent the space for $10 a month, fill it with art pieces no bigger than 11×14, and each week, Dominique will shuffle the shelves so that each artist gets a chance to be on the top shelf. Lefevre’s also takes no percentage of these sales so the local artists get to keep whatever they make from selling in this partial gallery.

“I think it’s pretty cool. It gives them more exposure for their art because there’s not a lot of places they can set up their stuff to sell, and I get customers in here who have the chance to buy them,” Dominique said.


The majority of their customer base for their framing, according to Dominique, tends to be older people with sports memorabilia or art collections. “It’s usually people who have something that’s worth a lot, or means something to them, that they’d like to get framed,” she said.

As for the art supplies, that customer demographic actually tends to be younger people who want to buy things and create art, mostly Nicholls students. Dominique hopes to work more with the Art Guild as well.

Not only does Lefevre’s offer their custom framing or gallery space, but they also print high quality art prints for local artists. While they can’t print in super large quantities, the quality speaks for itself.


“There’s one artist who is a consistent person who comes and gets stuff printed. She even has a little display in here where she sells her bookmarks that she paints. I scan it for her, digitize them, and make them look as close to the original as possible, and print them for her, and she’s amazed at how they look,” Dominique shared.

Dominique tends to go into the store about an hour or so before opening to work on custom framing orders before customers become her day’s priority. She enjoys the morning quietness, but she is also planning more for Lefevre’s future.

“We’re trying to set up an online website to sell things. We actually got a laser printer and can make custom ornaments that you can get your name on, and we’re trying to get that up before Christmas so people can order them and we can ship them out,” Dominique said. “Once we get that going, maybe the increase in revenue will help us open an online art store with things that can be shipped everywhere. Unfortunately people shop more online than in stores.”


She also has plans to upgrade to a larger format printer so the business can begin offering poster prints and more high quality printing services in general.

It is places like Lefevre’s Art Supply and Custom Framing that helps keep Houma’s art community alive. This is not only a place for artists, but for art appreciators, and anyone wanting and willing to support local businesses in our bayou community.