Louisiana Museum Foundation is a nonprofit that supports, administers funding, and raises awareness for the state-owned and operated Louisiana State Museum System.

Founders Ball 2025

LMF’s mission is to preserve, present and promote Louisiana’s history and culture through the provision of services in support of the collections, exhibitions and educational programming of the Louisiana State Museum.  Established in 1981, we are a nonprofit organization that fundraises on behalf of the LSM through grants, community and individual donations, corporate sponsorship and fundraising events.

Who we are

  • Benjamin A. Dupuy
    President

    Lloyd N. Shields
    Vice-President

    Marjorie A. McKeithen
    Secretary

    Murray A. Calhoun
    Treasurer

    Renee F. Carrere
    At-Large

    Kathleen Parke Edmundson
    At-Large

    T. Semmes Favrot
    At-Large

    Melissa Douglass Steiner
    At-Large

  • E. Tiffany Adler

    Anne R. Atkinson

    Mariah W. Bencik

    Beau J. Box

    Julie F. Breitmeyer

    Ralph O. Brennan

    Johannah M. Brown

    Ryan E. Burks

    Helen Nalty Butcher

    Mary L. Cavanaugh

    Dorothy M. Clyne

    Jeremy C. Corkern

    Scott P. Cunningham

    Kevin Ferguson

    Douglas W. Finegan

    Dana M. Hansel

    Lesli Harris

    William H. Hines

    Philip N. Hodges

    Noel Johnson

    Diane Sustendal Labouisse

    Seth A. Levine

    Kenneth E. Pickering

    Eugene A. Priestley

    Anne Flower Redd

    Permele Doyle Robinson

    Tia Nolan Roddy

    Aulston G. Taylor

  • Hancock Whitney/Mr. Scott Cunningham

    The Helis Foundation

    Mr. & Mrs. Dennis Lauscha

    Mr. & Mrs. L. Barbee Ponder IV

    Mrs. E. Tiffany Adler

    Ms. Anne R. Atkinson

    Mr. & Mrs. Ralph O. Brennan

    Mr. & Mrs. Murray A. Calhoun

    Mrs. Renee Carrere

    Chaisson Family

    Ms. Dorothy M. Clyne

    Mr. & Mrs. Benjamin A. Dupuy

    Mr. & Mrs. T. Semmes Favrot

    Jane Scott Hodges & Philip N. Hodges

    Jones Walker/Mrs. Marjorie Mckeithen/Mr. William H. Hines

    Mr. Tom Keyes & Mr. Keith Fox

    Mr. Henry Lambert & Carey Bond

    Marsh House Rum/Mr. Christopher Pucket

    Mr. & Mrs. Grover E. Mouton, III

    New Orleans Auction Galleries

    Ochsner/Mr. David Gaines

    Patrick F. Taylor Foundation

    Mrs. Katherine Rayner

    Mr. & Mrs. James C. Roddy

    Mr. & Mrs. Jerome D. Steiner

    Ms. Catherine Whitney

    Ms. Katie Adams

    Mr. & Mrs. Richard Adkerson

    Mr. & Mrs. Gregory Bensal

    Mrs. Julie F. Breitmeyer

    Mr. William Brockschmidt

    Mr. & Mrs. Alfred Whitney Brown

    Mr. & Mrs. Ryan Burks

    Mr. & Mrs. Kimberlin Butcher

    CAPTRUST/Mr. Bryan W. Fitzpatrick

    Mr. Eugene Cizek

    Ms. Courtney Coleman

    Mr. & Mrs. William Doyle

    Ms. Kathleen Parke Edmundson

    Mr. Richmond Ellis & Mr. Thomas Jayne

    Mr. Russell Evans

    Mr. & Mrs. Doug Finegan

    Mr. Louis Freeman Jr.

    Mrs. Tina Freeman & Mr. Philip Woollam

    Mr. & Mrs. Stephen A. Hansel

    Ms. Diane M. Sustendal Labouisse

    Mr. & Mrs. Edward LeBreton

    Mr. & Mrs. Robert LeBreton

    Mr. & Mrs. Sam Lee

    Mr. & Mrs. Seth A. Levine

    Mr. & Mrs. Donald M. Maclay

    Mr. & Mrs. Blaine McBurney

    Mr. & Mrs. Peter Moss II

    Mr. J. Stephen Perry

    Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth E. Pickering

    Mr. Eugene A. Priestley

    Mr. & Mrs. Edmund E. Redd

    Mr. & Mrs. Garner Robinson

    Mr. & Mrs. Lloyd N. Shields

    Ms. Debra Shriver

    Ms. Nancy Sorak

    Ms. Helen Stroud

    Dr. Corky Willhite & Dr. Erin Boh

    Mr. Nick Gray/How To Host A Party

    Mr. Speed Bancroft

    Mrs. Edward B. Benjamin, Jr.

    Mrs. Arthur Q. Davis

    Mrs. Frederick L. Haack

    Mrs. Rovert C. Judice

    Mr. and Mrs. Stephen A. Moses

    Dr. and Mrs. William C. Thompsonon

We make history happen. Our primary arms of service support the Louisiana State Museum’s education and conservation efforts. From costumes and ephemera illustrating the history of Carnival in Louisiana to comprehensive judicial and civil records of French and Spanish colonial rule from 1718 to 1803 and more — LSM preserves, researches and exhibits artifacts from a permanent collection of nearly 500,000 objects. 

What we do

  • George Rodrigue Rodrigue Before the Blue Dog

    Rodrigue: Before the Blue Dog

    Before George Rodrigue's Blue Dog paintings catapulted him to international fame, the artist was already known for his dark, often ghostly, depictions of the Cajun landscape, culture, and people. The exhibition is loosely divided into six thematic areas, all related to Cajun culture: landscapes, language and legends, families and communities, music, foodways, and way of life. Curated by Joyce Miller, this exhibition will run from November 23, 2024 - September 28, 2025.

  • Hunt Slonem: A Retrospective

    This retrospective explores Slonem’s profound connection with this poetic city and the impact of its exotic mystique on his artistic vision. Paintings and sculpture lent exclusively by Louisiana patrons and museums are explored in an art historical context, and the precedents for his painterly style and subject matter are briefly considered. The painter’s sources of inspiration in Louisiana are explored.

  • Creole New Orleans, Honey! The Art of Andrew LaMar Hopkins

    Creole New Orleans, Honey! The Art of Andrew LaMar Hopkins accompanies an exhibition of the same name on view at the Cabildo from November 22, 2022, through September 30, 2023. Published by the Louisiana Museum Foundation, the catalog features seventy of Hopkins’s unique paintings, as well as images of the Louisiana State Museum artifacts that inspired some of them. The catalog, edited by co-curator and Louisiana State Museum historian Joyce Miller, also includes five scholarly essays exploring nineteenth-century Creole culture in New Orleans.

  • Mystery in Motion: African American Masking and Spirituality in Mardi Gras

    This exhibition examined the direct influence of multicultural spirituality within the carnival traditions of Black New Orleanians.  The exhibit was on display from February 13, 2021, through November 28, 2021 and served as the centerpiece of the museum's planned programming to celebrate the 2021 carnival season.

  • Baroness Pontalba and the Rise of Jackson Square Exhibit

    The exhibit opened to the public Sunday December 2nd, 2018. The Louisiana Museum Foundation celebrated the closing tricentennial events at the Cabildo as the Louisiana State Museum featured the 18th-century New Orleans philanthropist, Don Andrés Almonester and his daughter, Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba.

We support all educational programming at Louisiana State Museums

From school field trips to online content, adult multi-session courses in activities such as beading or printmaking, to jazz yoga or mindfulness classes, we welcome all ages to participate in various programming throughout the year.

We seek out and administer grants from organizations like The Getty Foundation to the National Endowment for the Humanities to the National Science Museum and more — all to fuel Louisiana State Museums’ exhibits, digitize the collections, and execute various crucial projects for the vast network of museums. But we can’t survive on grants alone, as it often takes many hands and over 12 months to launch a new exhibition. Every donation counts and is tax deductible. We pride ourselves on ensuring that received donations are expended per the donor’s wishes.

How we do it