Lunchtime Lecture

The Museum periodically hosts Lunchtime Lectures to accompany permanent and changing exhibits. This program features guest lecturers including scholars, historians, artists and book authors to name a few who speak from 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM. These presentations are free and open to the public with limited seating and audience members are always welcome to bring a brown bag lunch. When available, guest speaker presentations will be made available online.

Hidden History of Louisiana’s Jazz Age

  • Location: Brick Gallery
  • Date: April 26th, 2023
  • Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
  • Admission: FREE

The Museum will host a Lunchtime Lecture and book signing program on the Hidden History of Louisiana’s Jazz Age recently published by History Press on Wednesday, April 26, 2023at 12 PM. Join author Sam Irwin as he shares fascinating behind the scenes stories from Louisiana’s Jazz Age that address murder, lust, and adventure. A book signing will follow the presentation. Participants may bring a bag lunch or plan to visit local eateries on the westside before or after the program.

Sam Irwin is currently the front man and trumpet player of the Florida Street Blowhards, a traditional jazz band in Baton Rouge, the author of three books, and the public relations director for the American Sugar Cane League. Prior to that, he served as the press secretary of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. Before becoming a writer, he worked as a history teacher, used car salesman, store manager, crawfish buyer, honky-tonk owner, tour guide, waiter, pawnbroker, and owner of the legendary Paradise Records at the north gates of LSU. In addition to Country Roads magazine, his work has appeared in Offbeat, 225, Louisiana Film and Video, The Advocate, Teche News and House and Home. His fiction has been published by Dead Mule, Tom's Voice, Gulf Coast Writers Anthology, Spillway Review, Long Story Short, Gris Gris Rouge, Country Roads, Cape Fear Crime Festival Chapbook, Murder in the Wind Anthology, Love is in the Wind Anthology and the Nicholls State Jubilee Anthology.

Art and Addiction

  • Location: Brick Gallery
  • Date: April 27th, 2023
  • Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
  • Admission: FREE

The Museum will host a Lunchtime Lecture on Thursday, April 27th, 2023 at 12:00 PM on Art and Addiction to accompany the Museum’s current exhibit by the same name. Please join featured artist, Ben Peabody who will share stories of addiction and recovery. Anyone attending this FREE program is welcome to bring a brown bag lunch or visit local eateries in the area before or after the presentation. 

Ben Peabody is a Baton Rouge artist who describes his work as symbolic assemblage. His labor-intensive work combines a variety of materials and techniques to create complex art for a complex subject matter. He uses modeling, casting, carving, constructing, and assembling while working with plaster, wood, metal, and repurposed materials to tell stories with the use of words and recurring symbols in his visually intriguing three-dimensional compositions. The intent of his Art and Addiction series is to raise awareness of addiction, end the stigma of addiction, and spark conversation addressing prevention and helpful resources in a safe environment.