LSU: Building an American Renaissance Exhibit Opens at Louisiana's Old State Capitol
Purple and gold fever took over downtown Baton Rouge on Sept. 17, as LSU celebrated the local opening of an exhibit that details its rich architectural history.
The LSU spirit not only filled Louisiana's Old State Capitol, but also took over nearby Galvez Plaza, as LSU spirit groups performed during the city's weekly "Live After Five" concert series event that afternoon, in conjunction with the opening.
One of the highlights of LSU's Sesquicentennial Celebration, LSU: Building an American Renaissance is currently housed on the second floor of Louisiana's Old State Capitol. The exhibit opened to the public Sept. 14 and will remain through Oct. 18. Admission to the exhibit is free, and the display is open during regular museum hours.
To commemorate the occasion, a special, invitation-only opening reception and ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in the capitol's second-floor rotunda.
The exhibit features 30 display boards of LSU architectural history compiled by J. Michael Desmond, a professor of architecture in the LSU College of Art & Design. Several faculty members assisted Desmond in his work. These include LSU landscape architecture professor Van Cox, architecture professor Marsha Cuddeback, LSU history professor Paul Hoffman and LSU School of Art Director Rod Parker. Graduate students assisting in the project include Anthony Threatt and Santanu Majumdar.
Also on display are three scale models created by Desmond's students of select buildings within the university's quadrangle – Hill Memorial Library, Atkinson Hall and Foster Hall.
Information included in the exhibit details the campus' beginnings in Pineville, LA., and its move to Baton Rouge, first to the city's downtown area and then to its current location. It also documents work conducted by the Boston-based Olmstead Brothers Firm, which originally designed the current campus master plan in 1921, and Theodore Link, who designed the original quadrangle buildings and oversaw the campus' construction until his death in 1923. New Orleans architectural firm Wogan and Bernard ultimately completed the project.
Representatives from LSU Sesquicentennial Celebration corporate sponsors joined LSU Chancellor Michael Martin, LSU Architecture Professor J. Michael Desmond and Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne to celebrate the opening of the "LSU: Building an American Renaissance" exhibit Sept. 17 at Louisiana's Old State Capitol.
Desmond received an $180,000 grant through the Getty Foundation's Campus Heritage program in 2006 to conduct research and create a blueprint of how to restore and preserve the university's original 18 buildings. The grant came with an education element, which led to the creation of the touring exhibit. Upon hearing of the exhibit, LSU officials approached Desmond to see if he would allow the exhibit to become part of the university's Sesquicentennial Celebration, which he did.
"Theodore Link intended that it'd (the campus) be a teaching tool and that it instill a set of values in the students who came from all across Louisiana in the 1920s to be exposed to the highest traditions in Western architecture," Desmond said. "He integrated references and high points of the Renaissance tradition into the campus so that when student went back to their home towns, they'd take this raised set of expectations with them. We should do more of that. It's a great thing."
Desmond said that the method was also used by Thomas Jefferson when he designed the University of Virginia.
"What you'll see here is evidence of how such planning can be a benefit, through integration of architectural forms and broad planning ideals. There's no other example in the state that was successful as this was in the beginning."
Desmond said that LSU Press is also planning to publish a book about the architectural history of the campus that will be based in large part on his work.
"The exhibit only goes up to the dedication of the current campus," Desmond said. "However, the book will include the next decade that goes into the Huey P. Long era."
Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, whose office's Louisiana Department of State Museums Division has worked with LSU to provide venues for the exhibit and to transport the exhibit materials throughout the year, said he felt the exhibit "chronicles the majesty and the beauty of the campus we all love so much."
"Michael and his group did a wonderful job in creating this exhibit," Dardenne said. "We've been privileged to share in the exhibit's traveling road show, transporting it to various museums and helping people all over Louisiana enjoy what we sometimes take for granted, the magnificent beauty of the LSU campus."
The touring exhibit has made stops in Tioga, Shreveport, Ferriday, Lake Charles and Monroe so far in 2010. It will remain in Baton Rouge through Oct. 18, and rounds out the year at The Cabildo in New Orleans beginning Nov. 4.
This is the exhibit's second showing in Baton Rouge. In late 2009, the exhibit premiered in the LSU Student Union Art Gallery before embarking on its statewide tour in 2010. Stops made so far on the tour included Tioga, Ferriday, Shreveport, Lake Charles and Monroe.
LSU Chancellor Michael Martin said with recent increases in student enrollment and test scores, having a campus rich in history is a valuable asset.
"One of the appeals of those great students coming to join us is the campus that has been developed here," Martin said. "It's a home for them not only during their educational careers, but for the balance of their lives. It's comforting to go back and look at the history and the evolution of this great campus and see that, over the years, investments in buildings, grounds, fields and texture are still paying off today. That sends a powerful message in times like this. When others are shrinking and lowering standards to fill classrooms, we're seeing higher standards in growth and enrollment and a much more diverse student body who want to come and not only appreciate the great faculty and staff we have, but the wonderful campus that's been developed to be their home."
Martin added that another message of the exhibit, especially in recognizing its sesquicentennial in 2010, is that the university's longevity has brought it through many important world events.
"We've been around a long time," Martin said. "The sesquicentennial anniversary is this year, and we're celebrating that. But we're really celebrating the next 150 years. We know this campus has moved twice. We've been through a Civil War, Reconstruction, three official depressions, two official world wars and many others, the civil rights movement and a whole variety of stresses and strains. This institution is still here. It's still strong, and it's still committed. That's embedded in many ways in the campus itself. It sends the message that we'll be here a while longer.
"During hard times in the past, great leaders invested in one of the most important institutions any society can have – a great university. If you walk around the campus and look at the buildings we appreciate today, many were built during one of the deepest depressions in the history of America, and leaders stepped up and found a way to continue to invest in the future that we are now experiencing. It's a great appeal, a sustaining place that gives us a sense of purpose and a sense of longevity. It's a symbol that generations today have a responsibility to generations to come to pass on to them a great university on a great campus."
(l to r) J. Michael Desmond, Van Cox.
Martin thanked Desmond for providing "a stellar message that has gone out across the state" with the exhibit.
"Everywhere it's been, it's told the people of Louisiana that in whatever corner of the state they live, they are the owners of a truly great university, and they should be proud of that," Martin said.
The tour stop at Louisiana's Old State Capitol is significant to LSU's history. In 1853, the Louisiana General Assembly established the Seminary of Learning of the State of Louisiana near Pineville. After the original campus burned in 1869, the institution moved to Baton Rouge and reopened. In 1870, its name was changed to Louisiana State University. It later merged with Louisiana State University Agricultural & Mechanical College in 1877 to form the current institution. Housed at the Pentagon Barracks in downtown Baton Rouge, the university moved to its current location in 1925, with the campus officially being dedicated in April 1926.
"I think the message here, for me, is that one of the highest things we can do as public servants is to build an uplifting and shared public environment," Desmond said. "That's an example of what you're going to see here, and it's been a privilege to be a part in telling this story."
Dardenne, Desmond and Martin joined LSU Sesquicentennial Celebration sponsors and LSU Student Government Vice President Dani Borel, who emceed the event, as Desmond cut a ceremonial ribbon to mark the official opening of the exhibit. Desmond then led a guided tour of the exhibit for those in attendance.
After the reception, the LSU Tiger Girls led a procession next door to Galvez Plaza, where they opened the city's weekly "Live After Five" concert series event that afternoon with a lively performance.
Later, during a break taken by scheduled performers Four Unplugged, members of the LSU Tiger Marching Band and Golden Girls marched into Galvez Plaza and delighted the audience by playing some of the group's most well-known standards. The performance came in advance of the nationally ranked LSU Tiger football team's home opener the next day against SEC rival Mississippi State University. After the performance, those in attendance were invited to visit the exhibit during its stay in Baton Rouge.
After leaving Baton Rouge, the exhibit's final stop will be at The Cabildo, 751 Chartres St., New Orleans, where it will be on display from Nov. 4 -Jan. 1. A special grand opening event will be held Thursday, Nov. 4, at 6 p.m. where Desmond will give a lecture on the history of LSU's architecture. The event is sponsored by the New Orleans chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
For more information on the Old State Capitol, call 225-342-0500, or contact Cliff Deal, director of museums for the Louisiana Department of State Museums, at 225-362-5224 or e-mail cliff.deal@sos.louisiana.gov.
For more information on the Louisiana Secretary of State's Office and its part in the program, contact Public Information Officer Brandee Morgan Patrick at 225-922-2880 or e-mail brandee.morgan@sos.louisiana.gov.
The LSU: Building an American Renaissance exhibit is one of several signature activities taking place throughout 2010 as part of the university's Sesquicentennial Celebration. Sesquicentennial-related events throughout the year are made possible thanks to generous donations to the university by the following sponsors: Campus Federal Credit Union, Baton Rouge Coca-Cola Bottling Company, AT&T, Raising Cane's, ExxonMobil, Entergy and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Louisiana.
For more information on LSU's Sesquicentennial Celebration, visit www.lsu150.com.
