In its role as a cultural and intellectual resource for the university, the city of Baton Rouge, and beyond, the LSU Museum of Art strives to enlighten and stimulate visitors via its collections, exhibits, conservation efforts, and educational programming.
The museum was established in 1959, and in 1962 it became available to the general public in the form of a modest period-room museum housed in the Memorial Tower. It was relocated to its current location at the Shaw Center for the Arts in 2005, with an enormous exhibition area of more than 13,000 square feet. More than 20,000 people, including adults and children, visit the LSU Museum of Art galleries each year, making it the only art museum in Baton Rouge. The museum is affiliated with Louisiana State University.
The museum hosts traveling exhibits of regional, American, and European artwork, including painting, sculpture, decorative arts, works on paper, and photography. These shows are of a world-class standard. The permanent collection has more than 6,500 pieces and ranges from one of the most extensive public collections of Louisiana art to a group of Chinese jade considered among the world’s finest. The exhibition area was over 10,000 square feet. They are filled with art installations that investigated the complicated regional history of Louisiana and were exhibited by the museum in March of 2016 as part of a comprehensive reinstallation of a collection centered on the art and culture of Louisiana.
The wider Baton Rouge area benefits tremendously from the LSU Museum of Art’s presence as a significant cultural and educational resource. The museum has made it a part of its purpose to promote ambitious art outreach activities. These initiatives include working on collaborative projects with local artists and LSU academics and students and fostering vibrant art programs in elementary and secondary schools.
The museum seeks to present projects of significant regional and national importance that place the art and artists of Louisiana in dialogue with the rest of the world through its exhibitions and programming to showcase and support the work of local Louisiana artists. In addition, the museum aims to showcase and support the work of local Louisiana artists. Education and outreach initiatives at the museum make it a priority to reach out to underprivileged communities and a broader cross-section of the general people in the community. Object-based learning is considered at the core of the museum experience, according to the perspective held by the education department. It believes that direct engagement with works of art in their original form provides essential connections to the past and compelling points of touch with the cultural challenges of the present day.
Museum Programs
Participating in these classes at the LSU Museum of Art will allow you to broaden both your artistic and cultural horizons.
During the epidemic, the LSU Museum of Art now offers virtual programs to keep visitors safe while maintaining their engagement with the museum’s ongoing exhibits and collection. Through Zoom, various virtual programs include artist presentations, gallery talks, workshops, and more. Please use the following registration links: each virtual program using Eventbrite. You will then be sent an email invite to use Zoom on the day of each virtual session.
Free First Sunday
Free entry is offered to families on the first Sunday of each month at the LSU Museum of Art’s Pennington Family Foundation Education Gallery. Additionally, there are a variety of engaging activities planned for children of varying ages that take place during this time. Examine the following schedule for particular programs offered on each free first Sunday.
Neighborhood Arts Project
The Neighborhood Arts Project, also known as NAP, is a free art outreach program established in 2012 by the LSU Museum of Art. It is intended for under-resourced areas with a high concentration of children, youth, and families who do not participate in summer camps, after-school, or weekend programs.
The NAP directly affects the activities that take place outdoors beneath pop-up tents. The program is readily accessible to people of all ages and does not require participants to depend on transportation or pay a fee. Establishing a foundation for life-long learning and providing a platform for exploring a broad spectrum of opportunities typically unavailable to children below the poverty line are two goals that can be accomplished through the variety of art activities offered. Creative expression can be encouraged through experiential exploration.
During the summer program, there were a total of 18 different teachers who led a total of over 40 other sessions. These sessions were held at six locations in five other neighborhoods, including Eden Park, Gardere, Melrose East, Old South, and Scotlandville. Between 2015 and 2016, the summer and the year-long program at Gardere delivered roughly 5,200 learning opportunities for children and teenagers in Baton Rouge.
Community Programs
The LSU Art Museum is a must-see in the Baton Rouge region through initiatives geared to bettering the lives of kids, adolescents, and families. Helps foster personally significant experiences for local community members. The activities are designed to stimulate creative thinking, encourage the development of healthy connections with one’s peers, and tap into the potential of art as a medium for personal expression.
The Community Insights Project
Through the issuance of an invitation to the members of the LSU MOA community and requesting that they discuss their thoughts and experiences about their collection and exhibits, this initiative aims to show respect for the many points of view held within that community. The LSU Museum of Art is looking for voice recordings that provide commentary on the art pieces displayed across the galleries. Visitors can scan QR codes included in the labels to listen to these viewpoints when uploading recordings. Think about filling out the email form below; someone from the museum will get in touch with you soon with further details.
School programs
The LSU Museum of Art is dedicated to education, and its educational programs reflect that dedication. These initiatives have been designed to improve the academic curriculum, foster creative pedagogical methods, and contribute to raising the ceilings of classrooms.
The educational programs at the school are individualized to meet the prerequisites of each subject and accommodate all pupils’ ages and skill levels. More and more institutions are beginning to implement the Common Core State Standards.
The staff at the museum is ready to assist educators in developing a visit that creatively crosses different fields of study and incorporates original artwork as primary-source material that may enhance learning.
Next article is about LSU Rural Life Museum.
Every one of their trips is conducted by a knowledgeable museum educator committed to fostering an engaging, exciting, and welcoming environment for all participants. Tailoring tours may accommodate your curriculum requirements, including a hands-on art-making component, a literary arts component, a mathematics or scientific component, or any combination of these three.
Get in touch with them at (225) 389-7200, or look at their website to find out more.