Crave Romance Boutique · Lafayette, Louisiana
The Collection
Hundreds of works. Every wall. A history of desire, displayed without apology.
Most stores put art on the walls to fill space. We put it there because pleasure has always been worth looking at.
Walk into Crave and look up. Above every shelf, wrapping every wall from the entrance to the back room, hangs a collection that has been growing for years and doesn’t plan to stop. Paintings, prints, photography, mixed media — hundreds of works, from artists known and unknown, each one chosen because it belongs here.
There is no formal name for it. No velvet rope, no audio guide, no admission fee. It is simply part of the store — the same way the products are part of the store, the same way the community room is part of the store. It exists because Jolene and Mike Menard believe that erotic art is not something to be kept in a back room or a browser tab. It belongs on walls, in daylight, where people can stand in front of it and feel something.
The collection is alive. Pieces come and go. New work finds its way in. If something resonates — if a piece makes you stop — that’s the point.
The Art Walls
Works From The Collection
The Display Cases
A History of Desire
Near the entrance to the community classroom, there are display cases. Inside them: antique vibrators, vintage adult magazines, novelty brochures, packaging and promotional materials stretching back over a century. Artifacts from an era when all of this was kept far more hidden than it is today.
They are not there for shock value. They are there because context matters. Because understanding where we’ve been — how desire was marketed, suppressed, celebrated, and quietly passed hand to hand — says something important about where we are now. The technology changes. The feelings don’t.
The cases are still growing. If you have a piece of history that belongs here, Jolene and Mike would love to hear about it.
“The collection isn’t finished.
It’s never going to be finished.
That’s the point.”
Crave Romance Boutique — 3301 Johnston Street, Lafayette, LA