South Arts Southern Prize & State Fellowships for Visual Arts
on view June 4–September 6, 2026 at the LSU Museum of Art
The LSU Museum of Art presents the exhibition South Arts Southern Prize & State Fellowships for Visual Arts, on view June 4–September 6, 2026, a touring exhibition featuring artwork by the 2025 Southern Prize & State Fellowship for Visual Arts recipients.
Launched in 2017 by South Arts, the Southern Prize & State Fellowships for Visual Arts program celebrates and supports exemplary contemporary art in the American South. This exhibition features work by the nine 2025 recipients—one each from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee—representing the South Arts region. Represented artists and Fellows include: Loretta Pettway Bennett (Alabama), Gonzalo Fuenmayor (Florida), Masela Nkolo (Georgia), Travis Townsend (Kentucky), Edgar Cano (Louisiana), Stephen Phillips (Mississippi), Lydia C. Thompson (North Carolina), Felicia Greenlee (South Carolina), and Tabitha Arnold (Tennessee).
Working in ceramics, textiles, painting, and sculpture, the 2025 cohort presents a dynamic synthesis of past and present. Drawing upon ancestral craft traditions, from quilting and mask-making to biblical and folkloric imagery, the artists recast inherited forms through contemporary conversations around migration, labor, and identity. Rooted in material mastery yet resistant to nostalgia, their work extends Southern artistic legacies into compositions that feel at once grounded, speculative, and urgently of the moment.
South Arts is a nonprofit regional arts organization that advances creativity and innovation across the American South by supporting artists, organizations, and communities. Through grantmaking, professional development, touring exhibitions, and regional initiatives in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and state arts agencies, it expands access to the arts and strengthens cultural infrastructure throughout its nine-state region. South Arts’ Southern Prize & State Fellowships for Visual Arts is generously supported by the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, the Windgate Foundation, Southern First Bank, The Warner Fund, the Hambidge Center, and many generous donors. Learn more about South Arts by visiting southarts.org.
ReVision: Women in Photography
on view June 11–August 30, 2026 at the LSU Museum of Art
This summer, the LSU Museum of Art partners with the Paul R. Jones Collection at the University of Alabama, to present ReVision: Women in Photography, on view June 11– August 30, 2026. The show affirms the continuing impact of women artists who have shaped—and continue to shape—the visual language of photography. Drawn from the permanent collections of the LSU Museum of Art and the Paul R. Jones Museum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the works illuminate the intersections of personal and collective histories, demonstrating photography’s power as both a tool of empowerment and a means of reimagining shared narratives.
Representing a wide range of backgrounds, heritages, and lived experiences, the featured photographers offer perspectives grounded in the viewpoints of women. Through intimate portraits, conceptual narratives, and documentary approaches, the artists challenge assumptions about gender, identity, and representation while expanding conversations on the evolving roles of women in art and society.
Examples from the LSU Museum of Art’s Permanent Collection
Anne Noggle, a veteran fighter pilot, professor, curator, and artist known for her candid self-portraits celebrating aging. Noggle once reflected, “I like older faces, not because of aging itself, but rather the look of the face, the revelation of life, and the conflict between what was and what they are now.” She fearlessly explores the maturing female form, embracing the effects of time on the human body and the interpersonal relationships she formed later in life. Suda House’s 1980s Aqueous Myths series reflects on the status of women during that decade and the tensions of pursuing careers and equal rights while maintaining traditional roles as caregivers and mothers—swimming through what House described as the “torrent waters of trying to have it all.” Using water as both a literal and symbolic element, House situates her figures in fluid, dreamlike spaces that evoke resilience, vulnerability, and the constant negotiation between personal ambition and societal expectation.
Examples from the Paul R. Jones Museum’s Permanent Collection
Amalia Amaki’s collage-based practice engages the art and history of the African diaspora through layered compositions that combine photography with everyday materials. Drawing on vintage imagery and recycled objects, her work reclaims and recontextualizes representations of Black life, highlighting moments of intimacy and community while confronting the politics of race, memory, and visual culture.
Sheila Pree Bright’s Plastic Bodies series examines the pressures of contemporary beauty culture through visually arresting photographs that blur the line between human subjects and manufactured ideals. By referencing the polished perfection of dolls and commercial imagery, her images underscores how media-driven standards shape perceptions of the body and self-worth. Bright’s work contributes a critical and timely perspective to broader conversations about representation, conformity, and the politics of beauty.
Featured photographers in ReVision: Women in Photography include Amalia Amaki, Sheila Pree Bright, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Suda House, Celestia Morgan, Martina Mullaney, Dianora Niccolini, Anne Noggle, Kenda North, Akasha Rabut, Ming Murray Smith, Clarissa Thompson Sligh, Sheila Turner, Kristine Thompson, Melanie Walker, and Carrie Mae Weems.
Summer Exhibition Programs
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. Admission is free for educators with ID. 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. For more information: visit www.lsumoa.org, call 225-578-3000, and follow the museum on social media @lsumoa for exhibition and program updates.
SUMMER 2026 HOURS (MAY–AUGUST 2026)
Tuesday through Saturday: 10 AM–5 PM
Sunday: 1–5 PM
Closed Mondays and major holidays
Free admission the first Sunday of every month.
Image credits: All images are courtesy of the artists, lenders, and/or their representatives. Images are provided for press and promotional use only in connection with exhibitions at the LSU Museum of Art. The LSU Museum of Art, a unit of Louisiana State University, is a nonprofit educational institution and uses these materials solely for educational and promotional purposes. All rights remain with the artists and/or copyright holders. Any reproduction, distribution, or use beyond this context is strictly prohibited without prior written consent.
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