Each year, our team comes together to select a new theme for our new season (September through May). In choosing a theme, our goal is to spotlight a specific facet of Louisiana’s heritage cultures through original exhibitions, publications, albums, and films. Last year, we were thrilled to explore Louisiana’s musical heritage through Musique(s), a contemporary anthology of Louisiana music in French and Creole produced with the support of the Library of Congress.

This year, as the country prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence (America’s 250), we want to examine how Louisiana’s unique cultures influenced America’s story. Established as an outpost, Louisiana is too often viewed as a peripheral space — a passenger to the broader forces that shaped this country. Yet what if our culture contained the multitudes of America — and what if Louisiana somehow was the very embodiment of e pluribus unum? This year, up and down the Mississippi River, and looking back to the 18th century and forward to now, we want to celebrate the culture(s) of the United States — and in doing so, we want to celebrate Louisiana.

We are thrilled to present L’Amérique selon la Louisiane: Louisiana’s America. A theme for our new season — a theme for the ages.