Editing Alexandria, Louisiana (section)

==Museums==
{{Unsourced|section|date=January 2025}}[[File:Alexandria, LA, art museum IMG 1136.JPG|200px|right|thumb|The [[Alexandria Museum of Art]] is located downtown along the Red River.]]

[[File:Alexandria museum.JPG|thumb|200px|right|An historic former Rapides Bank and Trust Company building houses part of the Alexandria Museum of Art to the left in photo.]]

[[File:Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center (revised) in Alexandria, LA IMG 4277.JPG|right|thumb|200px|The 615-seat Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center is located on Third Street across from the ''[[The Town Talk (Alexandria)|Alexandria Daily Town Talk]]'' building]]

[[File:Arna Bontemps African American Museum, Alexandria, LA IMG 4280.JPG|right|thumb|200px|[[Arna Bontemps]] African American Museum in downtown Alexandria]]

The [[Alexandria Museum of Art]] was founded in 1977 and occupies an historic Rapides Bank Building on the banks of the Red River. The building was built c. 1898 and is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. The museum opened to the public in March 1998. In 1998, the Alexandria Museum of Art expanded and constructed its grand foyer and offices as an annex to the Rapides Bank Building. In 1999, the Alexandria Museum of Art was honored as an Outstanding Arts Organization in the Louisiana Governor's Arts Awards. In 2007, the Alexandria Museum of Art entered into a collaborative endeavor agreement with Louisiana State University of Alexandria (LSUA). The Alexandria Museum of Art now also serves as a downtown campus for LSUA classes, and is host to multidisciplinary community events, including concerts and recitals, lectures, yoga classes, Second Saturday Markets, and Museum Afterhours.

The [[Louisiana History Museum]] is located downtown on the bottom floor of the former library. A small facility, it showcases the history of all Louisiana, with emphasis on the central portion of the state, Rapides Parish, and Alexandria. Major exhibit areas concern [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], Louisiana geography, politics, health care, farming, and the impact of war.

The T.R.E.E. House Children's Museum and [[Arna Bontemps]] African American Museum are located within the Cultural Arts District.

The [[Kent Plantation House]] in Alexandria, completed by 1800, was located on a Spanish land grant. It is the oldest standing structure in Central Louisiana, one of only two buildings in the city to survive the burning of 1864 by Union troops fleeing after having been defeated at the [[Battle of Mansfield]] in [[DeSoto Parish, Louisiana|DeSoto Parish]]. The house has been moved from its original location but is still located on part of the first land grant. It is open for tours daily except Sundays at 9, 10, and 11 a.m. and 1, 2, and 3 p.m. The tour is led by costumed docents and includes the house furnished in period pieces, some belonging to the original family, and all nine outbuildings, including an 1840-50s sugar mill, [[blacksmith]] shop, barn, two slave cabins, open-hearth kitchen, and milk house.