A Guide to Baton Rouge's Gallery Scene
From the original Baton Rouge Gallery to the ultra-contemporary Yes We Cannibal
The most obligatory entry point into the Baton Rouge art world is without a doubt the Baton Rouge Gallery (BRG), which for almost sixty years now has operated as a nonprofit showcasing high-caliber contemporary art by artists living and working in Baton Rouge. Occupying a circa-1927 pool house that was historically closed after the civil rights protest known as the Baton Rouge Swim-In, the gallery still operates in the manner of an artist cooperative—meaning that its members are chosen by the existing artists as a group. Members include elders who have in many ways defined and elevated the Baton Rouge art scene such as Edward Pramuk (one of the gallery’s founders), Randell Henry, Judi Betts, and Frank Hayden; as well as a host of the city’s biggest emerging artists of today, many of them coming out of LSU and Southern University’s art programs. In addition to its member shows, BRG brings local creatives together for weekly Sundays@4 events that offer a venue for local authors, artists, musicians, and performers to engage directly with the community. Each April, the gallery clears its walls to make space for an exhibition of works by local high school students, and in January hosts one of Baton Rouge’s most popular arts events of the year, the juried exhibit Surreal Salon—celebrating pop-surrealist works from around the globe and culminating in a soirée that brings the spirit of the exhibition to life with a costume party rivaling Mardi Gras. BRG is also responsible for bringing local art to the city’s newest arrivals through its rotating showcase of more than fifty works on display at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is one of Baton Rouge’s newest arts spaces, Yes We Cannibal. In an unassuming building in Baton Rouge’s Mid City neighborhood, co-founders Mat Keel and Liz Lessner have introduced their ambitious, anti-profit home for collective social and artistic experimentation—showcasing works by some of the globe’s most exciting and boundary-pushing modern artists, as well as featuring local artists exploring issues directly affecting this region, such as the future of Louisiana’s oil industry, students’ experiences at Baton Rouge’s Broadmoor High, and more. Filling a space for philosophically-tilted, speculative, and avante-garde artistic exploration—since its opening in 2020, Yes We Cannibal has unlocked new layers of the city’s artistic fabric.
Mid City, where revitalization initiatives have ushered in a host of locally-owned, creatively-inclined businesses, is home to several of the city’s best commercial galleries and frame shops, as well. Elizabethan Gallery has been operated by Liz Walker since 1977, and the current gallery space is filled wall-to-wall with the work of local artists in a range of styles—with a bent toward impressionistic landscapes and vivid depictions of flora and fauna. Right down the road, you’ll find Frameworks Gallery, which has been around just as long, and represents a smaller collection of contemporary Louisiana artists. Just outside of the neighborhood is Ann Connelly Fine Art—one of the city’s preeminent galleries, representing a highly-curated group of local, national, and international artists in a chic, airy gallery space. Across the city are more galleries with smaller, but distinguished collections, including: Acadian Frame & Art, operated by Cathy Sherburne for over thirty years; The Framing Boutique at Studio de Chene, operated by artist Marla Hoppenstedt; and The Healthcare Gallery & Wellness Spa—which joins immersive art experiences with inner and outer wellness.
End your gallery tour in the arts hub of Baton Rouge that is the downtown district. In the Shaw Center for the Arts alone, you’ll discover three distinct galleries. The Gallery at the Manship Theatre features rotating exhibitions of local and national artists, and the Jones Walker Foyer just below it focuses on artists working in Baton Rouge. Accessible from the ground level sidewalk, the LSU School of Art Alfred C. Glassell Jr. Exhibition Gallery brings the work of the university’s students and faculty out of the campus setting and into the downtown community. Director of Galleries at LSU Courtney Taylor has hinted at new initiatives in the works at Glassell, and plans to bring more activated, community-facing exhibitions and programming to the space—emphasizing its role as one of the most ultra-contemporary venues for art in the city.
"The great thing about downtown Baton Rouge is we are a hub for the arts and I think a lot of people haven't realized that yet."
—Brandon Lewis, an artist and the Museum Educator and Public Programs manager at the LSU Museum of Art
And an exploration of Baton Rouge arts would not be complete without a pilgrimage to the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge’s groundbreaking Cary Saurage Community Arts Center, which having opened in 2021 is still a bright and shiny new addition to the downtown arts scene. With over 12,000 square feet of space dedicated to local artists and arts organizations, the Arts Council has added an impressive facility to the city's visual arts estate. The Center’s Shell Gallery hosts a rotation of exhibitions by local and traveling artists, including the Center’s artists-in-residence.