When you think of the Louisiana State Museum (lsm.crt.state.la.us), the thought of it being a musty stodgy place filled with relics from our past and with an occasional tourist roaming around the historical building enjoying the air conditioning and clean restrooms, might come to mind.  This is far from the reality; come to the Presbytere today on Jackson Square and you will find it filled with lively, educational, multi-faceted interactive exhibitions, and lots and lots of visitors.   Each of the three exhibits currently on display are worth the visit, significantly the recently installed “Living with Hurricanes Katrina and beyond” with the still relevant topic and creative installation steals the show.

All of those who lived on the Mississippi Gulf Coast have inevitably seen their lives changed, for both better and worse, by Hurricane Katrina; the storm of our lifetime.  This is not a quiet exhibition; in fact it is noisy, lively and animated, due to the effective use of videos and audio components interlaced within the different galleries of the exhibition.  After a brief history of hurricanes in Louisiana, there are three televisions blaring the live Chanel 4 newscast the day before the storm, and displayed below an hourly timeline of the four days before the quickly moving storm. 

The footage of the storm blowing though New Orleans displayed on multiply screens, leads the visitor into the attic of a New Orleans home.  The stories of people who were forced to evacuate quickly into their attics moments after the levees broke and the water flooded in, are heartbreakingly told through audio recordings. 

The next large gallery opens up to the immediate aftermath and the disastrously ineffective recovery and poses the question “Is this America?”  Seats from the Superdome, two flags that flew over Charity Hospital and a pirogue used by a first responder; all legacies of the storms, are displayed in the dramatically lit gallery.  Hanging from above are etched glass images of the helicopters and actual rescue baskets that were used to pluck people off their roofs.  

Personal memories are immediately brought back to mind with a display of MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) and canned water. In a side gallery, there is Tommie Mabry’s wall from the B.W. Cooper Housing Project, where he documented, in felt tip marker, life in the abandoned city during the days immediately after the storm.

The last gallery gives the impression of being in a home that has been gutted down to the wooden frame.  Individual monitors are set within the glass panes of assorted vintage windows mounted on a wall, creating a multi-image, highly effective and emotional piece by Louisiana filmmaker Glen Pitre (coteblanche.com) about the people of New Orleans returning home to begin the arduous and daunting process of rebuilding their city. 

This first class history exhibition “Living with Hurricanes: Katrina and beyond” has not gone unnoticed.  Within the first three months of its opening in October 2010, the attendance at the Presbytere has more than doubled going from 9,307 to 23, 604 visitors:  let’s not forget this was in the midst of a global recession and the BP disaster. 

The exhibit “Living with Hurricanes: Katrina and beyond” is located at The Presbytere on Jackson Square, New Orleans and is part of the Louisiana State Museum (lsm.crt.state.la.us). Admissions are $6 for adults and free for children twelve and under.  Hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For more information, please call 800.568.6968 or visit http://lsm.crt.state.la.us, on Facebook and Twitter.