The Community and The Collection

Considering both the depth of knowledge and painstaking curation involved in the recent reopening of its permanent collection, the LSU Museum of Art could well have declared Art in Louisiana: Views into the Collection as the definitive compilation of its holdings and called it a day. That’s not the plan, though; developing the collection is an ongoing effort, one whose direction is guided in no small part by the will and makeup of the community it serves. From inviting the public to post anonymous critiques and feedback via Post-It note to engaging in an involved dialogue on race, the exhibit has opened itself to hearing the voices of the people. Equally important, of course, is making sure it’s speaking back to the people as well.

Courtney Taylor has implemented a variety of changes since she became LSU MOA’s permanent curator in mid 2016, from increasing the font size on gallery labels (a small change, but one whose helpfulness is immediately apparent) to acquiring more contemporary art from underrepresented demographics such as women and minorities. She hopes a push for diversity in the collection will foster a sense of inclusiveness, which will in turn further deepen the conversations with the community. Slowly, more threads of meaning connecting pieces of the exhibit will be teased out to form “a more cohesive narrative,” Taylor hopes.

Along these lines, Taylor is designing three different gallery guides to provide different “layers of looking,” supplying viewers with the kind of information that sparks important connections and draws them to engage more deeply with a piece, whether through the lens of Louisiana culture, technical craft, the revisionist power of privilege, or connections with contemporary life. What story does the collection have to tell you?