Courtesy of New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation
Blake-Anthony Johnson, the new Chief Executive Officer at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation
As we are poised to ring in a new year with all the resolutions and new beginnings that come with it, we review some exciting changes at notable Louisiana institutions shaking up their leadership roles over the past few months.
Bayou Teche Museum
Ana Moreno-Bellomy was announced on November 1 as the new executive director of the Bayou Teche Museum in New Iberia. She replaces Marcia Patout, who led the museum for the past eleven years.
Courtesy of the Bayou Teche Museum
Ana Moreno-Bellomy is the new Director at the Bayou Teche Museum
Moreno-Bellomy, with experience in business administration and marketing, will focus on encouraging collaboration and inclusivity at the museum. She will be the point person for daily functions, alongside planning for the annual gala. Already a member of the museum team prior to her appointment, Moreno-Bellomy should, the board believes, shift seamlessly into a leadership position.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ana to this new role in our museum,” said Larry Hensgens, Bayou Teche Museum Board President, “we are confident that her skills will be an asset to the museum we are confident that together, we will achieve remarkable milestones and create new opportunities for the museum.”
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation
In late October the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation (NOJHFF, for the uninitiated) announced Blake-Anthony Johnson would take the helm as the new Chief Executive Officer. To this new role, Johnson brings experiences as the president and CEO of the Chicago Sinfonietta and co-chair of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, among other successes.
“New Orleans holds personal significance for me through my family’s roots, and I am honored to serve an organization that uplifts both the legacy and future of this powerful art form, and the vibrant communities connected to it,” Johnson said. “This is a place where creativity and culture drive both daily life and economic opportunity.”
Opera Louisiane
Opera Louisiane, known for bringing impressive musical performances to the Greater Baton Rouge region, appointed Louisiana native and Grammy Award-winning tenor Paul Groves as general director in early September. Groves’s career spans opera houses with international acclaim and concert stages alike. He now serves as a faculty member at LSU, mentoring operatic talent.
After his 1992 debut at the MET as Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer, Groves has returned in roles such as Camille de Rosillon in The Merry Widow and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni.
"I am very excited to be the new General Director of Opera Louisiane," Groves said. "Together with our excellent staff, Opera Board members, and Artistic Director Michael Borowitz, I know Opera Louisiane will achieve national and international acclaim.”
The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities—The Helis Foundation John Scott Center
After a nationwide search, The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities announced in May that Brandon V. Lewis would serve as the new director of The Helis Foundation John Scott Center. Located in downtown New Orleans, the 6,000-square foot community space honors the late artist and MacArthur Fellow, John T. Scott.
Lewis is an established museum director, with a background as educator and public programs manager for the LSU Museum of Art and the District Fine Arts director for the City of Baker School System in East Baton Rouge Parish. An artist himself, he even presented a solo art exhibition in 2023 titled Say Amen, Somebody at Ferrara Showman Gallery in New Orleans.
“As an artist, I stand on the shoulders of great artists like John Scott,” Lewis said. “I want to continue to build on his legacy by inspiring communities, and the center as a safe, collaborative space for creatives and people to come together, celebrate life and unpack hard topics with change and hope as the unifying themes.”
The River Road African American Museum
Not quite a new appointment, but one worth mentioning, is the announcement last November of L'Oréal Monique Evans as director of the River Road African American Museum. A fixture in the downtown historic district of Donaldsonville, the Main Museum located in the Brazier-Watkins House celebrates the history and contributions of Africans, both American and globally. The museum also preserves the legacies of the Dr. Lowery Medical Office, a Rosenwald School, True Friends Benevolent Association Hall, and the Episcopal Church of the Ascension.
Evans, who brings to the role more than twenty years of experience in the fields of arts and culture, as well as academia, has served in a range of positions in New Orleans and other cities across the country. Her work as everything from a teacher and visual artist, to event manager and producer, has granted her a unique perspective as she dons the mantle of the museum’s greatest advocate.
"As we endure political, economic, and climatic instability, America and our global society are experiencing unprecedented times within this millennium. As stewards of the earth, it is my goal as the new Executive Director of the River Road African American Museum to preserve, promote, and support what remains of rural river parish life through educational, artistic, social, and community development,” Evans said. “By contributing to the development of a cultural economy within the rural river parishes, we hope to provide an inclusive and diverse experience for the community and tourists, allowing for a more equitable distribution of resources to its residents.”
