Courtesy of Randell Henry.
"Black Stallion," by Randell Henry.
Beneath the overwhelming (and loud) aesthetics that come with being Louisiana’s political hub and SEC temple, Baton Rouge holds tightly to an intimate and lively arts scene—made up of diverse perspectives brought in by the city’s universities, legacy artists who have worked here for decades, and an ever-growing crop of emerging creatives benefitting from and contributing to local arts programming.
The “scene” itself is still a relatively young one, with origins going back to the 1930s with the creation of the Baton Rouge Art League (BRAL). At the time, the arts were largely confined to the university settings. Founded by seven local women, BRAL aimed to bring the arts to the community by facilitating art exhibitions and developing a permanent collection—all while raising funds to support public school art programs and continuing education for its artist members. The League was also responsible for establishing the Louisiana Art Commission, a precursor to today’s Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism. Today, one of BRAL’s most important functions is to preserve and exhibit works by some of Louisiana’s earliest professional artists, included in the Louisiana WPA Art Collection—featuring artists such as Clarence Millet, Charles Reineke, and John McCrady. These works can still be seen today in local museums and galleries, as well as in their permanent home at the Louisiana State Archives.
"It's a really exciting time to see what artists are doing in Baton Rouge and how it relates to their counterparts across the state."
—Jason Andreasen, President/CEO of Baton Rouge Gallery
Another major development in Baton Rouge’s arts landscape took place in the 1960s, when a group of LSU faculty members couldn’t find anywhere in the city to display their contemporary work. They opened the Unit 8 Gallery in 1965, before officially becoming the Baton Rouge Gallery (BRG) in 1966. Still in operation today, BRG is one of the oldest artist cooperatives in the nation—featuring a diverse collection of works by artists working in, or with a connection to, Baton Rouge.
In 1973, the Junior League of Baton Rouge proposed the creation of a local Arts & Humanities Council for the city, dedicated to promoting "cultural growth, economic development, and educational enhancement through the arts" across eleven parishes in the Greater Baton Rouge Area. From its early days, the council facilitated arts festivals, public art, and local performances while providing opportunities and resources for local artists—missions it continues today on a larger scale from its headquarters in the state-of-the-art Cary Saurage Community Arts Center.
Since then, the city has welcomed state-of-the-art museums with galleries dedicated to exhibitions by both local and international artists (all within a short drive of one another), fostered the opening of dozens of locally-operated galleries dedicated to everything from experimental art to art-as-wellness, invested in projects that have woven a rich tapestry of public art across the city, and facilitated a range of arts education initiatives for all ages.
