LSU Museum of Art Presents Southern Reflections: Art by Kathryn Keller and Shirley Rabé Masinter and Cherished: The Art of Clementine Hunter. Fall Reception to celebrate this exhibits will be on Thursday, September 12.

Baton Rouge, LA – The LSU Museum of Art is excited to announce the upcoming exhibition Southern Reflections: Art by Kathryn Keller and Shirley Rabé Masinter, on view from September 12 to November 17, 2024. This exhibition will run alongside the already open Cherished: The Art of Clementine Hunter. Together, these exhibitions highlight the vibrant and diverse artistry of Louisiana painters Kathryn Keller, Shirley Rabé Masinter, and the renowned Clementine Hunter, offering a rich visual journey through Southern landscapes and culture.

Southern Reflections: Art by Kathryn Keller and Shirley Rabé Masinter
on view September 12–March 23, 2025 (date extended)

The showcase Southern Reflections pairs Louisiana painters Kathryn Keller and Shirley Rabé Masinter, two female artists, both working in wet media, with a passion for rendering landscapes. Keller’s quiet, diminutive scenes focus on pastoral environments, rendered in an impressionistic style. Using loose, quick brushstrokes and muted, earthy colors, Keller highlights the splendor of nature, often setting up her easel to work en plein air, creating within the landscape itself. In contrast, Masinter focuses on cityscapes, crafting realistic urban tableaux. Her tightly detailed, photorealistic canvases explore the beauty in the manmade, highlighting the grit and authenticity of inner-city New Orleans. 

Cherished: The Art of Clementine Hunter
now on view until October 23, 2024

Clementine Hunter, an iconic Louisiana artist, lived and worked on Melrose Plantation near Natchitoches, Louisiana. Hunter’s life and art were deeply intertwined with the plantation’s people, activities, and culture. Starting her artistic journey in her fifties using discarded art supplies, Hunter created vibrant and expressive paintings that chronicled Southern life—celebrations, religious events, and daily activities. Her works, often created on found materials like cardboard and wood, are visual diaries that preserve her personal memories and the evolving life on the plantation.

The exhibition features over forty objects from the Graves Family private collection and three LSU entities: the LSU Museum of Art, the LSU Rural Life Museum, and the Alexandria Museum of Art. Hunter’s artworks celebrate community, tradition, faith, and family, reflecting her unique style and deep love for her Southern heritage.

The LSUMOA extends gratitude to the Graves family, of Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, for generously loaning paintings to this exhibition, and to Taylor Porter Law Firm for their sponsorship. Additional research, including an oral history project collecting stories and memories from Hunter’s descendants and close friends, has been supported by grants from the Traditional Fine Arts Organization (TFAO), the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, and the Louisiana Division of the Arts through a Louisiana Project Grant.

RECEPTION: Southern Reflections: Art by Kathryn Keller and Shirley Rabé Masinter and Cherished: The Art of Clementine Hunter

Thursday, September 12 from 6–8 PM / FREE

Join us for an evening celebrating our Fall exhibitions featuring Louisiana women artists Kathryn Keller and Shirley Rabé Masinter, from Southern Reflections, and Clementine Hunter of the Cherished exhibition. The event is free and open to the public.

Exhibition Programs & Access for All: Free First Sundays

ABOUT LSU MUSEUM OF ART

LSU Museum of Art is supported in part by a grant from the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, funded by the East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President & Metro Council. Funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by generous donors to the LSU Museum of Art Annual Exhibition Fund. Free Friday Nights is sponsored by the Louisiana Lottery Corporation. Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.

VISITOR INFORMATION

The museum is located in downtown Baton Rouge at 100 Lafayette Street on the Fifth Floor of the Shaw Center for the Arts. General admission is $5 each for adults and children age 13 and over. Admission is free to university faculty and students with ID, children age 12 and under, and museum members. Active-duty military and veterans, first responders, and their families receive free admission with ID as part of the Blue Star Museums program. Show your EBT card and photo ID at the admissions desk and receive free admission for up to 4 individuals as part of the Museums for All initiative. Museum Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday 1-5 p.m.; and closed on Mondays and major holidays. Free admission occurs on the first Sunday of each month and every Friday night from 5-8 p.m. For more information: visit www.lsumoa.org, call 225-578-3000, and follow the museum on social media @lsumoa for exhibition and program updates.