Albert Earl Hartiens
June 12, 1920 - June 26, 2008
Albert served in the Army Air Corps from 1939 to 1945 as a tail gunner on a B-17 bomber.

After returning to Louisiana following his service in World War II, Hartiens moved to Lafayette from Monroe in 1949 to open a Sherwin Williams store downtown. "I had taken two years of high school French, and they seemed to think that qualified me to be the manager of a store here," he says with a laugh. Lafayette was just beginning to boom. By the early 1960s, the south side of Lafayette was under development. Hartiens set up shop,  The Evangeline Paint Store, down the road from another Lafayette icon, Judice Inn. "Johnston Street was just a gravel two-lane back then," he recalls. "But it didn't take long until they were paving it. Progress was taking place." He was selling house paint, competing with his old employer. "I just had a wonderful business," he says. "I sold a lot of paint. But of course, eventually along came the big box stores [like Lowe's and Home Depot]. That just knocked us out."

 
For 43 years Albert Hartiens supplied the town of Lafayette it's art supplies.

His store not only sold art supplies to area artist, he assisted artists with framing their works of art and sharing his extensive knowledge about the tools of the trade. The late Mrs. Hartiens had convinced her husband to also open up his shop for art lessons.

In 2007 he was forced to close his store after experiencing a massive stroke.

Albert's' wife Louise, who died in 2003, was also a painter; in the late 1990s she urged her husband to open up his shop for art lessons. Artist clients became teachers, bringing in students who also became customers. "I taught there because I enjoy art and I enjoy passing it on to other people," says Bernard. "Albert Hartiens opened his doors to me. I wasn't looking to teach art. But it's helped me. While I'm teaching, I learn, too. I don't know what I'm going to do now."