R.W. Norton Art Gallery — Attraction in Shreveport

The Artwork was nice, the gardens where nice, but some of the employees, I don’t know if they were trying to be nice, just didn’t really care or realize how they where acting or doing. Me and my Family enter into the building, my sister had a 2 month old husky with her, we walk in and we hear, "Wait, wait, you can’t bring that in here…" One of the employee’s said as pointing here finger at the object that was before her. My family and I new that this animal should have probably not have entered this place and understood why it shouldn’t have been there. As my sister waited outside with the animal, we observed the artwork. I found a brilliant beautiful piece of art, and decided I wanted to remember this, so I brought out my device from my pocket, and started to film the artwork, I heard a voice over my shoulder saying, "Are you taking a video?" I replied in a confused tone, "Yes, ma’am. I am." As I proceeded to film the video she replied in a tone that wasn’t very pleasant, "You can’t take videos, you can’t take them." After the shock of hearing this I quickly stopped the filming and said, "what?" In an innocent and confused tone of voice. She told me to delete the video, (As if our world could be at serious danger if I hadn’t done so) I admittedly deleted it. After this confusing thing happened, she said I can still take photos. After this I was even more confused. I obeyed and walked away wondering, "Why? There has to be a logical explanation for this?" Later on I was was getting a little flustered by the employees standing over me watching my every move, so I went outside to check on my sister who was with the animal. As I was out of the building I see an employee escorting a security guard out of the building, I looked over at my father who was getting his camera ready to take my sister’s graduation pictures (Which was the main reason we came) The security guard was walking towards my father, he told him that you can’t do photography, my father was confused but obeyed and put it back. The security guard apologized and left. Later on we walked through the gardens and I had...

I drove 3 hours to get to this museum today as a last minute Spring Break day trip. I had a bit of a delay due to a check engine light, but figured I would still be able to see a lot of the art if I arrived by 4:00, one hour before closing time. I walked in at 4:20 and the first two men who greeted me were extremely friendly and kind. I proceeded to the first room and looked around for only a short time because the security guard was practically breathing down my neck. I moved on to the next room and an older man told me the museum would be closing in 15 minutes (it was only 4:25). I politely thanked him and moved on. One minute later, this same man told me I needed to keep moving because the lights would be off in 15 minutes. I looked at my watch, confused, but moved to the next room. He walked with me, which I thought was odd, but continued to attempt to look at the art. He told me a THIRD time that the museum would be closing in 15 minutes (at this point, it was 4:30). I told him that he has already told me that a few times and he just smiled at me. I asked about the Botanical Garden and he was confused. He told me that there was a water park around the corner, but I needed to leave the building to get to it. I saw this as a harsh attempt to make me leave so I asked for directions to the bathroom before leaving. This man waited for me in the hallway outside of the bathroom! I left the museum and looked for the garden. I thought it was a little strange that photos aren’t allowed in the garden, so I decided it would be best to leave. I sat in my car while looking up directions to get back home. Everyone who was in the museum left in a large group at 4:50 and all of the employees followed five minutes later. If the employees do not want the gallery open from 10 until 5, then the hours need to be changed or someone should have told me to leave when I walked in. I have never seen anyone behave so unprofessionally at a museum. I always experience great hospitality elsewhere. I will definitely be limiting my trips...

The R W Norton Museum is an immaculately maintained facility. The floors are polished to a high gloss, shinier than the finish on my car. The only lint or dust in the facility probably came from my Carhartt tee shirt. It has a stately, reverent, ambiance that causes everyone to feel like they have to whisper. I am not sure why; sound doesn’t damage paintings only bright light does. As long as you don’t use a flash you can take as many pictures as you like. And I did. There are docents available through out the museum to answer questions. A first, I thought they were stationed to keep a watchful eye on people of questionable character like me.

I am a big fan of Charles Russell and Frederic Remington. The museum has a great collection of Russell’s painting, along with works from many other western artists. The collection is not solely western art, there is a good variety. Check the pictures. If you are a folk-art enthusiast, or if you are an Antiques Roadshow nerd, you may have seen paintings by Clementine Hunter, a local artist from Natchitoches Parish. The history of this lady is worth the time to read if you are not familiar with her work. Anyway, getting to see her work was my event of serendipity from the visit.

In comparison, I enjoyed the R W Norton Museum, much more than I do the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa.

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