Discover Alexandria: Art, History and Wildlife

Alexandria brings together a variety of interests: contemporary art from Louisiana, historical photographs from Central Louisiana, architecture and wildlife. This gives you several specific starting points for planning your trip, depending on which aspects of the city interest you.

Art and History in the Museums

The Alexandria Museum of Art is a landmark on Alexandria’s riverfront. Its extensive permanent collection is dedicated to contemporary art from Louisiana; the museum also offers changing exhibitions from the collection. This means that alongside individual exhibitions, works from the museum’s own holdings are also a focus. For art lovers, a museum visit can therefore be a highlight of the trip in its own right, offering a look at art from Louisiana.

The Louisiana History Museum’s Newcomb Collection offers a different way to explore the region. It comprises 675 photographs from Central Louisiana, dating from the 1860s through the 1960s. The collection thus spans a broad period and differs thematically from the contemporary art at the Alexandria Museum of Art. If you are interested in photography and regional history, you will find a clearly defined collection here, whose size and time span already give a good sense of its focus.

Arts and Crafts and Educational Programs at River Oaks

River Oaks Square is a center for contemporary visual art and arts and crafts. The facility includes three galleries and studios belonging to resident artists. Its offerings go beyond exhibitions: the on-site art academy regularly offers classes for adults and young people. Demonstrations, lectures and workshops are also part of River Oaks’ educational mission. Online preregistration is available for workshops. The arts program therefore includes both exhibition spaces and ongoing learning and event offerings.

This combination gives Alexandria’s cultural offerings a distinctive focus: galleries and artists’ studios sit alongside classes and a range of educational programs. If you are interested in visual art or arts and crafts, River Oaks lets you explore different types of offerings rather than basing your visit solely around an exhibition.

Treehouse Children's Museum

The Treehouse Children's Museum also connects its history with a specific learning concept. An expansion of the museum was completed in July 2004. It included 7,800 square feet for hands-on learning and interactive play. These details describe both when the expansion was completed and its intended purpose.

The museum hosts daily field trips for school groups, day care centers, Head Start centers and homeschool groups. This part of the program is aimed at organized groups, making it a different reason to visit than the collections at the art and history museums. For planning purposes, it is particularly helpful to distinguish between the group program and the other cultural offerings mentioned here.

Wildlife and Architecture

More than 500 animals representing over 160 species from around the world live at the Alexandria Zoological Park. Underwater viewing windows offer glimpses into the world of river otters, alligators, turtles and fish. The animals and range of species give the zoo a distinctly different profile from Alexandria’s museums and arts venues. If you are planning your trip around animals, you will find a highlight of its own here.

Another cultural landmark is Kent House, a classic example of French Colonial architecture. Alongside the art collections, historical photographs and offerings at River Oaks, this site reveals another facet of the cultural offerings discussed here. When choosing what interests you on your trip, you can distinguish between regional history, contemporary art, arts and crafts, architecture and wildlife without reducing these different subjects to a single focus for your visit.

Discover more destinations: Boyce, Ball, Pineville.

View the broader travel guide: Rapides Parish.