The LSU Museum of Art hosted its monthly installment of “Art at Lunch” on Wednesday with the chief operating officer of the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge. 

“Art at Lunch” is a event where speakers are invited to share their knowledge on a variety of topics pertaining to the arts. Guests are supplied with water and soda, all they have to do is bring lunch and talk. Luke St. John McKnight, COO of the Arts Council, broke down the effects artistic culture can have on Baton Rouge residents and the community in his presentation. 

He said incorporating art into community building can lead to a greater sense of health, well being and even economic growth. 

“One of the primary ways arts and culture strengthen communities is by fostering a sense of identity and belonging,” McKnight said.  

McKnight said art allows for individuals of a community to see themselves reflected back, admired and acknowledged. This not only increases mental and physical health, he said, but boosts civic pride as well. 

This cultivated identity can also be leveraged by local governments, McKnight said. He said local art becomes embedded into a city’s personality, which can then be promoted to the rest of the state, country and world. For example, murals around neighborhoods.

Unique and vibrant areas tend to boost tourism and social engagement, he said. However, government planning and decision making must incorporate arts and culture for this promotional collateral to be created authentically.   

“Collaboration between arts administrators, artists and policy makers is crucial to secure funding, develop infrastructure and prioritize cultural growth,” McKnight said. 
Gerri Hobdy, owner of the consulting firm Pleroma and attendee of the presentation, said it’s important that we hear the voices of community and arts leaders. 

“We have to continue to share with one another,” she said. 

McKnight began his presentation and speech by letting the audience know that his key points not only came from research, but his life experiences as well.   

“I’m a native son of Baton Rouge steeped in the African American experience, with the Black church as its community anchor,” McKnight said. 

He said his interest for the arts grew when he was in high school. His passions flourished through creative writing, music and theater at the Baton Rouge Center for Visual and Performing Arts. He even went on to perform with artists such as rapper and music producer Lupe Fiasco. 

McKnight said he realized the spaces that he used to perform in were always missing something on a cultural level. His next step was to curate spaces for artists to create openly and connect through culture, he said. 

“Build The Fire” is a seasonal exhibition created by McKnight. It’s an event where artists from across different disciplines can gather and create together. Through planning and organizing, McKnight said he experienced how community connections can lead to increased well being.  
“Creating these events and curating these spaces not only connected attendees to one another, but also connected me to peers and mentors,” McKnight said. 

Brandon V. Lewis, museum educator and public programs manager for the LSU Museum of Art, organized the event. Lewis said he has known McKnight for about 20 years. They both graduated from McKinley High School. 

Lewis is also an artist and currently has an exhibit up in the Louisiana Art and Science Museum. The exhibit, titled “The Healing Power of Jazz,” will be up until September. Lewis said many people may not know about how the work McKnight is doing can help the community.  

“Because so often, we highlight things that don’t have substance,” Lewis said, “Luke and his work has substance.”   

McKnight said it’s his goal to ensure youth entering the arts don’t feel the way he did when he was going through his journey. There are physical, financial and cultural barriers that could make this process harder, he said. 

McKnight said he will continue his work to show that arts education is not only for recreation, but for healing purposes as well. 

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