Explore the massive circular layout of the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum, reflective of the Modernist style and incorporating Colorado marble and Texas granite throughout its interior. Renowned for its fresco, dioramas, rotunda map, Native American artifacts and gorgeous gardens and grounds, the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum offers something everyone will enjoy.
Highlights of the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum
The Fresco
The Fresco by renowned artists Conrad Albrizio, at the main entrance of the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum, offers a glimpse at the earlier methods of industry and agriculture that sparked the economy of Louisiana and the Ark-La-Tex during the 1930s, setting the scene for what’s inside. The four panels that span 700 square feet are considered to be among the most significant paintings in the South. To the left of the entrance is a women standing before images of widespread agricultural activity from the southern part of the state as well as Louisiana landmarks including the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. To the right of the entrance is a lumberjack, representing North Louisiana’s vast timber industry, stood before the Long-Allen Bridge over the Red River in Shreveport-Bossier City, the Caddo Parish Courthouse and other North Louisiana attractions.
The Dioramas
Inside the Shreveport museum, 22 world-renowned dioramas represent Louisiana. The highly detailed dioramas include figures and animals, farm equipment and machinery as well as reproductions of crops, all set before backgrounds painted by Louisiana artists. Admire each diorama depicting an aspect of Louisiana’s agriculture, technology and natural resources and representing activities common to the state economy during the Depression and Post-Depression eras.
The Rotunda Map
In Louisiana State Exhibit Museum’s rotunda is a topographical relief map of Louisiana created by internationally renowned sculptor Duncan Ferguson. At 49 feet in circumference, the state map is divided into 64 parishes and was originally painted with one of seven alternating colors and its rivers, waterways and the Gulf of Mexico painted in blue. Highlights of the Rotunda Map include its geographical relief, with the map peaking at Mount Driskill, the state’s highest point at 535 feet. A compass rose can be seen in the upper right corner of the map. Agricultural and industrial icons which help identify the crops and industries found in regions and cities throughout Louisiana are also found on the map.
West Wing Gallery
The Museum’s West Wing Gallery includes an art gallery with rotating exhibits showcasing fine arts of the Ark-La-Tex region. The Clarence H. Webb and Dorothy Dodd Webb Native American Galleries feature artifacts and a large diorama of Louisiana's Poverty Point Archaic archaeological site, officially designated as a World Heritage Site. As you explore the Gallery of the CaddoNation, you will find numerous examples from the Museum's renowned Native American collection including a 31-foot Caddo dugout canoe, the largest found west of the Mississippi, as well as pottery and other objectsmade of stone, wood, copper and shell by Louisiana's Native American tribes.
Explore the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum’s gardens and grounds. Including the Medicinal Garden, American Indian Garden, Rotary Club of Shreveport Garden, the Courtyard and the main-entrance Rose Garden, Louisiana State Exhibit Museum’s gardens and grounds are a retreat for all who visit.
Travel Tips
- The Louisiana State Exhibit Museum is ADA complaint.
- Traveling exhibits at the Museum rotate regularly and include Smithsonian exhibits.