Julien Poydras Museum and Arts Center

In 1992 the society purchased the shuttered 1924 Poydras High School. In 1996 the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.  In 2011 the Pointe Coupee Historical Society won an award from the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation “for preserving and restoring historic Poydras High School from demolition,and through adaptive reuse, returning it to the community as an asset for present and future generations.” 

 

Over the years the museum has presented art shows such as Treasures of Pointe Coupee, Local Wood: Painted Woodcarvings by A.B. Crochet and Henry Watson, and New Roads and Old Rivers: Richard Sexton Photographs Pointe Coupee, and history exhibitions such as 150 Years Ago: Relics of the Civil War in Pointe Coupee. 

 

The Poydras Museum’s 200-seat auditorium has presented the Arts Council’s Performing Arts Series and the Pelican State Chamber Concerts for more than a decade.  Other successful programming has included the Last Friday Louisiana Film Series, and scheduled talks and lectures of the Historical Society.

 

Rental Space in the Center 

The society utilizes all the first floor spaces of the Poydras Museum for Historical Society and Arts Council business and programming, and leases upstairs space in the center to businesses and nonprofit organizations.  Facilities - museum room, auditorium, and ballroom - are popular for reunions, parties, and receptions available for occasional rental.

 

Funding

The Pointe Coupee Historical Society and the Julien Poydras Museum and Arts Center are funded through the generosity of  members, local businesses, grants from local and state cultural organizations, and revenues from rental of the Poydras building itself.