SLS 15RS-861 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 68
BY SENATORS PEACOCK, ADLEY, BUFFINGTON AND TARVER
COMMENDATIONS. Commends Louisiana State Exhibit Museum for its importance of
being a depository of history, major tourist attraction, and educational center for children and
adults.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commend the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum for its importance as a depository of
3 history, a major tourist attraction, and an educational center for children and adults.
4 WHEREAS, the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport was completed in
5 1939, as one of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal projects by the Works Progress
6 Administration (known as the WPA) and is an affiliate of the prestigious Smithsonian
7 Institution; and
8 WHEREAS, the circular building, designed by Edward F. Neild, is an architectural
9 jewel, layered inside and out with marble, granite, and polished aluminum and surrounds a
10 landscaped courtyard that features hand-cut limestone; and
11 WHEREAS, Neild was a Shreveport native, member of the American Institute of
12 Architects, who designed many public buildings in Louisiana, including the Capitol Annex
13 building in Baton Rouge and buildings around the country, most notably, the Harry S.
14 Truman Presidential Library in Missouri; and
15 WHEREAS, while the beauty of the building and grounds is reason enough to draw
16 attention, the original artwork in the building is impressive; and
17 WHEREAS, the WPA celebrated the importance of public art, as well as well-
18 designed public buildings, and the original artworks in the museum include a monumental
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SLS 15RS-861 ORIGINAL
1 fresco on the front portico of the museum executed by famed muralist Conrad Albrizio,
2 which introduces the public to the beautifully rendered scale dioramas that portray snapshots
3 of Louisiana life in the 1930's; and
4 WHEREAS, a topographical map by sculptor Duncan Ferguson centers the Rotunda
5 and serves to draw visitors into the facility immediately upon entering; and
6 WHEREAS, also in the Rotunda, additional artwork illustrates the cultural geography
7 of Louisiana and numerous Louisiana artists contributed murals that portray Louisiana
8 landscapes and historical events; and
9 WHEREAS, the West Wing gallery displays rotating art exhibits and houses one of
10 the most extensive collections of Louisiana Native American artifacts, from prehistoric
11 periods to the present, and is home to the permanent exhibit of the Poverty Point Diorama,
12 illustrating the life of people indigenous to Louisiana; and
13 WHEREAS, the new Native American Gallery displays a Caddo culture log boat
14 excavated from the Red River that is believed to be one thousand years old and is an
15 impressive thirty feet in length; and
16 WHEREAS, during the month of April, 2015, the museum has hosted an exhibit
17 titled Louisiana Icons: Symbols of our Heritage which features a collection of oil, acrylic,
18 and watercolor works, also in the West Wing Gallery; and
19 WHEREAS, the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum welcomed sixty-five thousand
20 visitors in 2014, of which more than 16,000 were school students from the Shreveport and
21 Bossier City area; and
22 WHEREAS, currently in its seventy-sixth year of chronicling the archaeological,
23 historical, and natural history of Louisiana, the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in
24 Shreveport is certainly an important treasure of Louisiana culture.
25 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
26 does hereby commend the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum for its importance of being a
27 depository of history, a major tourist attraction, and an educational center for children and
28 adults.
29 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
30 director of the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum, Wayne Waddell.
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SLS 15RS-861 ORIGINAL
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Mary Dozier O'Brien.
DIGEST
SR 68 Original 2015 Regular Session Peacock
Commends the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum for its importance of being a depository of
history, a major tourist attraction, and an educational center for children and adults.
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