Louisiana State Exhibit Museum
4.8(365)google
4.9(11)yelp
HistoryFree
Overview
This list of museums in Louisiana is a list of museums, defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical interest and make their collections or related exhibits available for public viewing. Museums that exist only in cyberspace (i.e., virtual museums) are not included. Also included are non-profit and university art galleries.
Practical Info
Suggested Duration2-3.5 hours
Best TimePerfect year-round, highly recommending Tuesday through Friday mornings (9:30 AM - 12:00 PM). Completed in 1939 as a grand neoclassical circular pavilion, it houses over twenty world-class, intricately detailed historical dioramas of Louisiana life. Morning sun columns pierce the rotunda skylight beautifully.
Getting ThereLocated at 3015 Greenwood Road, adjacent to the State Fairgrounds in mid-western Shreveport. Driving is highly convenient: take I-20 to Exit 16A (Hearne Ave/US-171), head north for one block, and turn left onto Greenwood Road; the landmark circular white granite facade appears on your right with an extensive free asphalt parking lot.
Travel Tips
- The circular rotunda exhibits fragile native Caddo pottery protected by active infrared alarms; breaking the plane of the display borders triggers local police alerts.
- Closed completely on Saturdays and Sundays; the complimentary visitor lot has a strict 10ft 6in overhead clearance bar that tears high-profile RV roofs.
- Galleries maintain powerful micro-climate refrigeration to halt mold growth; bring thermal clothing, and note that external sweetened beverages are banned.
Reviews
Positive
- This 1939 Neo-Classical rotunda building is an architectural masterpiece; its crown jewels are the 22 hand-built historical dioramas, ensuring exceptional high-fidelity.
- Exhibits hold great depth, mapping Louisiana's hydrology, early Cajun agriculture, and a 30-ft prehistoric Native American dugout canoe; an amazing free learning feast.
- Completely open and free to the public with ample hassle-free parking; strong A/C makes it a heavenly refuge from humid summer heat, remaining quiet and uncrowded.
- The central rotunda hall is impeccably maintained with gleaming floors and fine New Deal-era murals, backed by polite staff for a flawless high-value encounter.
Heads up
- Admittedly, display layouts look dated and traditional, relying on dense blocks of text strictly in English without modern interactive touchscreens, raising barriers for foreign guests.
- Permanent exhibits are rarely rotated, and the lighting inside diorama glass cases looks slightly dim, lacking cutting-edge tech integration to engage restless young kids.
- The facility operates no internal cafe or snack counter to purchase water; when tired, you only have hard corridor benches, showing a need for lifestyle amenities upkeep.
- Being in an older neighborhood, street lighting drops near the gates at dusk; occasional transient populations loiter on nearby park lawns, so stay alert.