The Norton is located at:
4747 Creswell Avenue
Shreveport , LA 71106-1899
The Norton is open to the public from:
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday
1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends
For more information call 318-865-4201
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History In the early 1920's, Richard W. Norton (1886-1940) became one of the discoverers of the Rodessa Oil Field in north Louisiana . Over time, Mr. Norton's wife and son began to amass a significant collection of fine art. In 1946, to honor Mr. Norton and for the benefit of the community, Richard W. Norton, Jr. (1919-1974) and his mother, Mrs. Richard W. Norton (1886-1975) created the R.W. Norton Art Foundation. In turn, the Foundation eventually established the R.W. Norton Art Gallery, basing its initial collection upon donations from the acquisitions of the Nortons. Today, due to the on-going efforts of the Board of Control and the Foundation's work, the R.W. Norton Art Gallery's offerings continue to expand, grow, and contribute to their community. |
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The Building
When the building for the R.W. Norton Art Gallery was originally planned, it was determined to use a contemporary design that would be light, open, and possess the potential for expansion. The resulting museum opened to the public in 1966 and presently contains twenty four exhibition rooms. The long-range plans of the founders were realized when an expanding collection made necessary the addition of a south wing which opened in 1990 and a north wing, which opened in 2003. Visitors with physical disabilities will find easy entrance to the building as there are no steps from the curb to the front entrance and no stairways inside the Norton on the main museum level. Wheelchairs are available for loan at no charge to visitors for use indoors. |
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Collections The R.W. Norton Art Gallery houses incomparable collections of American and European paintings, sculptures and decorative arts spanning more than four centuries. Since its opening in 1966, the museum has become particularly well-known around the country for its impressive collections of works by those titans of western art, Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Click here to learn more |
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Library The Gallery houses a research library containing approximately 10,000 volumes consisting of books on the fine arts, United States history, Louisiana history, and genealogy. The non-circulating collection includes rare books and folios, including the very rare double elephant folio of John James Audubon's The Birds of America. Click here to learn more |
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Azalea Gardens In addition, the Norton is set amidst forty beautifully landscaped acres, including azalea gardens complete with more than 15,000 plants including several hundred native azaleas. A gently winding walking path leads visitors through the grounds which includes a small bridge over a stream, a pond, benches within the azalea beds, and outdoor sculptures. Recently the gardens were rated as one of the South's favorite spots as featured in Southern Living's spring 2005 issue. Click here to learn more |
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Education
The Education program encompasses several aspects of the Norton’s permanent collection and its special exhibitions. Guided tours are available by appointment for groups of 10 or more people for a range of ages. Public tours occur on the first Saturday of every month at 2 p.m. Community lectures are available to the public, civic organizations, and school groups at various times of the year. Outreach programs bring the Norton’s arts out to the greater community. Click here to learn more |
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Oral History Project Not all heroes get headlines. But thanks to the R.W. Norton Art Foundation’s Oral History Project, they do get remembered. These people, living quietly among us, changed our lives in ways we hardly realize. Their stories, whether tales of wartime valor, the struggle to obtain civil rights, pioneering efforts in the oil industry, gifted and innovative music-making, or building a community both diverse and vibrant, deserve to be told and recorded. In short, the Oral History Project is dedicated to preserving the stories of the men and women who made the world in which we live a better one. Click here to learn more |
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Mission Statement
The mission of R. W. Norton Art Gallery is to collect, preserve, study, exhibit, and stimulate appreciation for and advance knowledge of works of art and literature. The R. W. Norton Art Gallery manifests this commitment by establishing, preserving, and documenting a permanent collection that primarily but not exclusively reflects 19th and 20th century American and European art; by presenting exhibitions, tours and educational community programs; by sustaining a research library for scholarship; by supporting publications of intellectual merit; and by encouraging the exchange of ideas and art with other cultural venues in the local and regional area. Central to R. W. Norton Art Gallery’s mission is the encouragement of an understanding and enjoyment of art and literature by the diverse local, national, and international audiences that it serves. |