Editor’s Note: At around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, the LSU Museum of Art cancelled this event because of inclement weather and announced it plans to reschedule the event for a later date.
The LSU Museum of Art began to pay tribute to Haitian art in December with its exhibit “The Carnival, the City and the Sea.” Now, with the exhibit’s March 20th closing date approaching, the museum is turning the lights down and the music up.
In partnership with the Baton Rouge Blues Foundation, LSU MOA is hosting “Museum After Dark” March 10 from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. The event will use the Haitian-themed exhibit as a backdrop to a blues listening party and a rum tasting.
BRBF is most notable for its annual Baton Rouge Blues Festival. To promote the festival more, “Museum After Dark” was born.
“We want to branch out to the art community and tell them about Baton Rouge’s heritage of the blues,” board member of BRBF Courtney Debetez said.
Debetez said this event is a way to get the word out to the community about the upcoming festival, along with the blues artists.
“People think of music from Louisiana and they immediately start thinking about New Orleans,” he said. “The Blues Foundation is about bringing that to Baton Rouge, and this event is a great way to get people together for that.”
As visitors of the museum observe the artwork and mingle, a rum tasting will be provided by New Orleans Rum Distillery. BRBF will play music of the artists who are performing in the upcoming festival while guests drink and take in the art.
Clarke Gernon, executive officer of BRBF, said when they were approached with the idea by the museum, he felt partnering with the LSU MOA during this exhibition was a great opportunity for the two institutions to collaborate.
Haitian art, New Orleans rum and Baton Rouge blues have loose ties, but Gernon said he saw the connection.
“There are definitely ties that do exist between the two cultures,” Gernon said. “When talking about Louisiana and Haitian culture, there was trade taking place with things like sugarcane and rum. There are also artistic influences that Haiti had in our early days.”
Members of the museum and the foundation hope the event provides a learning platform for people to approach them with questions about more of those connections.
Tickets for “Museum After Dark” are $5 for museum and BRBF members. The event is $15 for non-members.

Gallery • 15 Photos

Greta Jines

The Carnival, the City and the Sea exhibition explores Haitian life and culture and includes “Garden of Eden” by Schiller Du Bellay. The exhibition will be on display until March 20, 2016, at the LSU Museum of Art.