INNOVATOR

Rodneyna Hart knows that a vibrant arts scene means better business and education

BY JENNIFER MACHA

It really matters. Cutbacks or COVID-19, complacency or the chaos of our times might keep us so focused on the 9-to-5 or on the news that we don’t look up to consider the truth: that a state’s culture and arts scenes are significant factors when quality of life is considered. The arts mean business. And business needs a vibrant—and innovative—arts scene. It adds value to an area, and it helps lure companies who are considering to invest their money, and their people, in a new venture. Once a new company is established, a vibrant arts scene helps keep them there.

And no one knows this better than Rodneyna Hart.

“I believe museums should be inspirational, sometimes aspirational, but most of all relevant to the communities we serve,” says Hart, division director for the Louisiana State Museum. “In my museums, I love to see artwork and artifacts that show the lived experiences of our citizens. Things that change your perspective and give new light to little-known stories.”

These stories play out in museums across the state under the Louisiana State Museum system. Hart oversees all of the state museums outside of New Orleans, which include the Capitol Park Museum in Baton Rouge, E.D. White Historic Site, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame & Northwest Louisiana History Museum, and

Rodneyna Hart, Louisiana State Museum Division Director, stands at the Capitol Park Museum second-floor entrance. Capitol Park Museum provides an extensive and vibrant exploration on Louisiana history, culture and commerce.

the Wedell-Williams Aviation and Cypress Sawmill Museum. She guides the direction and focus, across the board, for the various exhibitions, and she helps each museum engage with their individual, public groups.

“Every time you visit a museum, you are experiencing it in a different way,” says Hart. “Because you are not the same.”

Hart believes the mission of museums is to preserve objects that, over time, come to represent the sum of all lives that touch these objects, and all of the stories that surround them. Encouraging people to become patrons of the Louisiana State Museum system not only passes on the culture and history of our state, but also helps with economic development and enhancing the prosperity and quality of life for all residents.

The Capitol Park Museum in Baton Rouge captures the story of Louisiana in its entirety and is not micro-focused on one particular theme or region. It has permanent displays that showcase the rich and diverse history and culture of Louisiana from the Louisiana Purchase to the Mississippi River, from slavery to Civil Rights, and from Native American mounds and archeology to the various celebrations of Mardi Gras.

Recently the museum featured celebrated photographer Fonville Winans in “A Colorful World in Black and White: Fonville Winans’ Photographs of Louisiana.” Winans drove the backroads of Louisiana in the early 1930s and documented fascinating aspects of Louisiana culture before settling down in Baton Rouge and working as a state photographer, then a wedding photographer for more than half a century. His iconic photographs established him as a chronicler of his time.

“It was a really exciting and wonderful show to put on display,” says Hart. “And I was extremely proud. I got to design that exhibition.”

In August, Hart and her team opened the “The Negro Motorist Green Book” exhibit, the Smithsonian Institution’s powerful traveling exhibition which runs through November 14th. The Green Book was a guide—first created in 1936 by Victor Green, a Harlem postman—which provided Black travelers with critical, life-saving information on restaurants, gas stations, department stores and other businesses that welcomed Black travelers during the era of Jim Crow laws. The book also revealed information on sanctuaries for travelers, particularly in “sundown towns”—communities that explicitly prohibited Black people from staying overnight. This upcoming exhibit has a generous amount of educational programing offered throughout the exhibits on display. “The Negro Motorist Green Book” exhibit is being sponsored nationally by the ExxonMobil Corporation because its predecessor, Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, played a critical role in distributing the Green Book through its network of Esso stations. Esso also employed many Black engineers, scientists and marketing executives, and welcomed Black motorists at its gas stations.

“Being a part of the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibition is a great opportunity for Louisianans to experience a national exhibit right here at home. Capitol Park Museum is the only museum in Louisiana offering this experience,” says Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, whose office oversees the state museums. “Culture, recreation and tourism are vital to the vibrancy of our state, and the Green Book exhibit is just one more example of the quality that our museums bring to our communities.”

When it comes to rotating exhibitions, like “The Negro Motorist Green Book”, a significant amount of planning goes into bringing them to life. The process typically kicks off with an exhibition proposal which is reviewed by the Louisiana State Museum team. They consider the target audience, the specific appeal that the exhibit has for them, as well as the educational and programming components involved and the marketing side of the exhibit. According to Hart, planning and executing exhibits is “an organic process, where you start with the concept, and then you figure out the most dynamic and best way of executing it.” Once they have a concept, the team then works

PROTECTING & ENHANCING YOUR BOTTOM LINE

SALES & USE TAXES

Superior knowledge for addressing all Louisiana sales/use tax matters, such as multi-state reverse audits, audit defense, and appeals and disputes.

A specialized team of experts providing clients with comprehensive guidance regarding strategy, nexus concerns, audit defense, and exposure mitigation.

INCOME & FRANCHISE TAXES PROPERTY TAXES

Respected leader in helping companies secure property tax exemptions, file annual returns, and address concerns regarding assessments.

APPEALS & DISPUTES

A seasoned team of tax professionals representing a wide variety of industries in formal appeals and disputes regarding all areas of tax compliance.

BUSINESS INCENTIVES

Louisiana’s premire firm for helping companies identify, quantify, negotiate, and comply with Louisiana’s various incentive programs.

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

Our team holds unique relationships at the federal, state, and local level of government and has extensive experience advocating for business and industry.

JASON DECUIR

Partner & Co-Owner JIMMY LEONARD Partner & Co-Owner

The Advantous team consists of over 25 professionals led by partners Jimmy Leonard and Jason DeCuir. Our team brings over 100 years of combined industry experience and expertise and boasts a wide array of professionals, including CPAs, MBAs, JDs, LLMs, Sales/Use Tax Auditors, "Big 4" Public Accounting Senior Management and "Big 4" Public Accounting Practice Leadership and Business Incentive Specialists. Members of our team also hold unique relationships at the federal, state, and local level of government, including state agencies and officials, and have extensive experience advocating on behalf of business and industry.

Fonville Winans with camera flash, 1953

Oysterman, Grand Isle, 1934 Huey Long and LSU President James Monroe Smith, 1935

backwards from the deadline, securing the loans for display, writing, interpretating and research. Lastly, they vet all of the material by historians to be sure their research, interpretation and research is factually correct.

“I love material culture. I love history, I love stories. I love that we have this connection to our past, and a deeper richer understanding of it by being immersed in spaces,” says Hart. “I also love the mission of museums: that we are here to preserve objects, and for perpetuity, so that the experience you have will be the same experience that your grandchildren have. And that we can be storytellers, making sure to honor people’s histories.”

This conviction is why Hart is critically aware of the importance of the voice used when interpreting exhibitions, making sure that it is personable without being too eurocentric. Her goal is that the tone of each exhibit is knowledgeable and fact-based and elevates the various voices of those first-hand narratives represented. If she does her job well, more first-time visitors will become lifelong patrons of the arts.

“I want to create lifelong museum lovers, culture lovers, art lovers, people who grow in appreciation for the world around them,” says Hart. “And I love for my institutions to be that starting point. The place where people feel comfortable walking into a cultural space and know that it was for them.”

FONVILLE WINANS IN 2020 The Capitol Park Museum spotlighted the life of Fonville Winans (1911-1992) through the exhibit “A Colorful World in Black and White: Fonville Winans’ Photographs of Louisiana.” The Louisiana photographer was the chronicle of state culture of his times.