Downtown Shreveport’s arts community is thriving, and that was definitely clear the first weekend of April. 

The long-awaited unveiling of the renovated Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, the Art of Community Workshop at Central ARTSTATION, and the opening of the “We Make a Million Good Times” exhibition at artspace all show how Shreveport culture is coming alive. 

First was the highly anticipated grand re-opening of the historic Municipal Auditorium with Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover kicking off a public party to celebrate the first look at the $5.3 million renovation.

“The public is absolutely invited to come out and take a good look at this beautiful building and the outstanding restoration that’s been accomplished thanks to the faith they put in us by passing the 2011 bond issue,’’ Glover said.

The party was held 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Grand Promenade on Elvis Presley Boulevard and included building tours, door prizes and “auditorium appetizers.’’ 

The Municipal Auditorium is listed with the U.S. Department of the Interior as a national landmark for being the home of the legendary Louisiana Hayride and for its distinctive architecture.

The renovations bring the building into compliance with all accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act. A new ramp respects the symmetry of arena, allows everyone to use the same “front door” to the arena floor and adds a new ADA/flexible tiered, platform seating in front of the original seats. There were also improvements to the flooring and air conditioning.  

The Elvis Presley Street entrance has been restored to its original boulevard street location with lighting, landscape and pavers to mimic the old trolley lines that ran down the center of the boulevard. Also, the previously unusable ballroom has been restored completely by polishing the existing light fixtures, repainting and repairing the windows, and installing a new wood parquet floor, which matches the species of wood and pattern of the original floor.

Next, the Art of Community: Building an Arts and Culture Network for Multicultural Communities workshop was held 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 4 at Central ARTSTATION. The event brought together local artists, cultural and community-based organizations, local art organizations, teachers, librarians, gallery owners and more to discuss issues related to preserving the myriad cultures represented in our area. 

The workshop was presented by SRAC in partnership with Laura Marcus Green and Amy Skillman, workshop facilitators from Building Cultural Bridges, a national, interdisciplinary project merging the arts and social services in support of multicultural heritage.

“We had individual artists and representatives from organizations attend the workshop on Friday,” Tiana Kennell, art resource center coordinator for SRAC, said.  “The purpose of the workshop was to talk about the different cultural groups we have in Northwest Louisiana and how we can come together to really make our history known, both here in our corner of the state and outside the area as well.”    

Kennell said the workshop sought to answer a very important question facing our community. “How do you connect the past to the present, and how do you carry that on to the future? We have so many cultures represented here, and we want to preserve that.”  

Finally, a one-of-a-kind new exhibition debuted at artspace April 3. “We Make Millions of Good Times: Inspiration from Angels” is an exhibition of artwork from the residents of Holy Angels, a residential and training campus for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  

“What is so unique about Holy Angels residents is that their art is completely from their mind; it comes from no one but themselves,” Hannah Lee, creative arts coordinator for Holy Angels, said. “This is one of the big trends right now in fine art, and it is called outsider art.  It is different from other schools of art, which all react to the school of art that came before it.”  

“I am so excited for people to see this exhibition,” Lee said. “I don’t think they understand the depth and power of their work. It’s not something that our residents do to pass time; it’s something they wake up every day for. They live and breathe it.”  

“When the residents arrived at the show the night of the opening, when they saw their work framed and hanging on the white walls, and all of the people looking at their work, they were just beaming with pride,” Lee said.  

“We Make a Million Good Times” will be at artspace through May 3.