A gifted, amiable, and inquisitive photographer, Theodore “Fonville” Winans (1911-1992) had an intuitive eye for composition and an innate ability to connect with his subjects, revealing both their personality and a sense of place. Winans drove the backroads and navigated the bayous of south Louisiana during the early 1930s. Along his...
A gifted, amiable, and inquisitive photographer, Theodore “Fonville” Winans (1911-1992) had an intuitive eye for composition and an innate ability to connect with his subjects, revealing both their personality and a sense of place.
Winans drove the backroads and navigated the bayous of south Louisiana during the early 1930s. Along his...
Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser and the Capitol Park Museum announce the opening of Me Got Fiyo: The Professor Longhair Centennial on April 19, 2022. The exhibition explores the life and legacy of Henry Roeland Byrd, better known as Professor Longhair or simply Fess, one of the most beloved and influential pianists in New Orleans...
The Louisiana State Museum creates a major exhibition in the Presbytère Museum, commemorating the milestone 150th anniversary of the Rex Organization, the foremost New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe. Since its founding in 1872, Rex has taken on an unparalleled leadership role in Carnival, setting the standard of excellence for the dozens...
The New Orleans Jazz Museum will debut a new exhibition, New Orleans Music Observed: The Art of Noel Rockmore and Emilie Rhyson Thursday, January 30, 2020. This new exhibition brings together for the first time the musical portraits of acclaimed artists Noel Rockmore and Emilie Rhys. The exhibition opens with a reception at the New...
The New Orleans Jazz Museum will debut a new exhibition, New Orleans Music Observed: The Art of Noel Rockmore and Emilie Rhyson Thursday, January 30, 2020. This new exhibition brings together for the first time the musical portraits of acclaimed artists Noel Rockmore and Emilie Rhys.
The exhibition opens with a reception at the New...
The youngest of eleven children, Ruppert Kohlmaier, Sr. was born in the German town of Kranzberg, outside Freising, northeast of Munich. The Kohlmaiers were successful wheat farmers who lay claim to vast acres, including Pontalusburg, a mountain later seized by the Nazis. As a youth, Ruppert began constructing furniture, for which he evinced an...
Drumsville!: Evolution of the New Orleans Beat explores the role of percussion and rhythm in New Orleans and how the innovative drummers from the Crescent City continually changed that role and took it around the planet. The exhibit has a beautiful sampling of photographs and drums from everyone from Warren “Baby” Dodd and Jack Laine to James...
The prolific work of George François Mugnier (1856–1938) is one of the Louisiana State Museum’s most treasured photography collections. Produced primarily between 1880 and 1920, it offers a glimpse of New Orleans cityscapes, southeast Louisiana landscapes, and people at home and work. Lens to the Past features Mugnier’s...
The prolific work of George François Mugnier (1856–1938) is one of the Louisiana State Museum’s most treasured photography collections. Produced primarily between 1880 and 1920, it offers a glimpse of New Orleans cityscapes, southeast Louisiana landscapes, and people at home and work.
Lens to the Past features Mugnier’s...
People have been making history at the Cabildo for more than two hundred years. Politicians, government officials, and members of the public who gathered at the Cabildo shaped law, politics, society, and culture in New Orleans and Louisiana. The building has witnessed important events—tragic and celebratory—as well as several famous visitors....
James Michalopoulos, New Orleans’ most recognized living artist, conjures the moods and syncopation of jazz in an exhibition at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. This retrospective will span the artist’s most recent paintings of street musicians to rarely seen works, loaned from private collections across the United States–including the original...
This exhibition explores the life and work of Clementine Hunter, one of the most important self-taught American artists of the twentieth century. Hunter, who referred to painting as “marking,” produced thousands of images drawn from her experiences working and living on Melrose Plantation in Louisiana’s Cane River region. More than fifty...
Fifteen double elephant folio engravings from John James Audubon’s Birds of America, published to great acclaim between 1827 and 1838, are on exhibit at the Wedell-Williams Aviation and Cypress Sawmill Museum. Audubon, who painted more birds in Louisiana than anywhere else, lived for a time in New Orleans and at Oakley Plantation, now...
As part of New Orleans’ tricentennial activities, the Cabildo is proud to open a brand new exhibition, We Love You, New Orleans. Celebrating the people, places and things that make New Orleans one of the nation’s most unique cities to visitors and residents alike, the exhibition plays as a love letter to the city from the Louisiana...
From "Buona Sera" to "Just A Gigolo," that "Old Black Magic" still has the world under Louis Prima’s spell! Join us at the New Orleans Jazz Museum for the exhibit The Wildest: Louis Prima Comes Home. As a trumpeter, singer, songwriter and performer, this son of New Orleans sons swinging persona conquered New York, Las Vegas, Hollywood...
Mobile native and long-time New Orleans resident Andrew LaMar Hopkins is a self-taught artist who brings nineteenth-century Creole culture in New Orleans to life with his stunningly detailed and colorful paintings. An antiquarian, collector, and enthusiast of southern Creole history, Hopkins draws inspiration directly from his Creole heritage...
The exhibition Carnival in the Nation’s Capital: The Washington Mardi Gras Ball will showcase the story of Louisiana’s not-to-be missed annual celebration. Begun in 1944 by homesick Louisianians eager to introduce fellow Washingtonians to their favorite holiday, Washington Mardi Gras has expanded to a three-day whirlwind of parties,...
This exhibition commemorates the Battle of New Orleans. The overwhelming defeat of the British Redcoats at the hands of a rag tag band of “dirty shirts”—as the British derisively called their foes—captured the American imagination, contributed to a sense of national identity and...
This exhibition celebrates the legacy of aviation pioneers Jimmie Wedell and Harry P. Williams, who formed an air service in Patterson in 1928 that quickly rose to the top tier of air racing. Displays include numerous replica aircraft, such as the famous Miss Patterson #44 and the Gilmore #121,...
Grounds for Greatness: Louisiana and the Nation shows Louisiana’s impact on the nation and the world. From the Louisiana Purchase to the critical role Louisiana played in our nation’s wars (including the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812, the Civil War and both World...
Combining eyewitness accounts, historical context, immersive environments and in-depth scientific exploration, this exhibition shows the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and how Louisiana is learning to live more safely with hurricanes. Oral histories and artifacts, such as a Coast...
Every year in Natchitoches, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (LSHOF) honors its newest members during the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. The LSHOF Class of 2020 includes outdoorsman Phil Robertson, former LSU football coach Nick Saban, Sweet Lou Dunbar of the Harlem Globetrotters, and second-...
An exhibition of photographs from the museums permanent collection, the images show the resilience of the people of Louisiana in the face of adversity and their enduring goodwill toward neighbors in times of disaster. Sept. 9, 2015, marks the 50th anniversary of Hurricane Betsy....
Since 1699, when Pierre Le Moyne, sieur d’Iberville, celebrated Shrove Tuesday at his encampment on the Mississippi River, Mardi Gras has been an integral part of Louisiana’s culture. Experience this extraordinary tradition through rare artifacts, scores of magnificent costumes,...
This exhibition tells the story of how diverse groups of people—Caddo Indians, French and Spanish settlers, free and enslaved Africans and rural Southern whites—created the distinctive regional culture that thrives today. With vibrant displays and diverse artifacts dating from the 1700s...
Discover Louisiana’s cypress lumber industry of the late 19th and 20th centuries. Patterson was the industry’s heart, with the largest cypress sawmill in the world at the F.B. Williams Cypress Company. Photographs and tools—including an 1890 passe-partout, or crosscut saw—tell the story...
Sports are a passion in Louisiana, as much a part of our rich culture and heritage as music, food and architecture. Now there’s a place to relive the great moments in Louisiana sports history and celebrate the achievements of our greatest athletes. Every day is game day at the Louisiana...
Exploring this National Historic Landmark will offer both a tour through a historical structure and the culture that surrounded the home throughout history. Situated on the banks of Bayou Lafourche, this was the residence of two of Louisiana’s significant political figures: Governor...
The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame has more than 300 men and women on its roster. Our interactive database can provide you with information on Hall inductees. You can look up figures by name, sport, hometown or alma mater and find out more about his or her career and biographical...
Take a road trip through the state, exploring regional culture, religious practices, foodways and architecture. Another feature highlights the rich legacy of Louisiana music—jazz, rhythm and blues, blues, country, zydeco, swamp pop and Cajun music—and its global influence. Key artifacts...
Part of the Lower Pontalba Building on Jackson Square, this row house represents mid-19th century life in New Orleans. Because residents were tenants who lived here for only a few years at a time, the 1850 House furnishings do not represent any single family. Rather it reflects mid-19th...
The Old U.S. Mint began producing coins for the United States in 1838. During the Civil War, it briefly issued Confederate coins, making this mint the only one to make both American and Confederate coins. Minting operations ceased in 1909, and for the next several decades the building...
