R.W. Norton Art Gallery

Love traveling and seeing the unexpected… What an impressive collection of C.M. Russell and Frederic Remington! If you’re a fan, a must go. Museum’s collection has a little bit of everything for everyone. The Cape painting by Andrea Kowch and the Himalayan Mountains by Peter Ellenshaw are showstoppers. The🧑‍🎄 exhibit was quite entertaining as well!

This lovely museum nestled among tall pine trees on 40 acres is free to visit with plenty of parking. This Shreveport staple is the largest in the city. The exhibits (American and European) range from statues to mixed media to oil paintings. Don't overlook the beautiful and serene gardens, open sunrise to sunset.

Norton has a special place in my heart. My wife and I spent many lunch breaks having picnics in the spring and fall when I worked nearby. The gardens are very well maintained.

Great way to spend an afternoon. The art gallery is free to visit. It is stunningly beautiful with a wide range of paintings, sculptures & glass artwork.

This art gallery has an extensive collection that blew us away. There was artwork ranging from Egyptian ruins to paintings by famous Thomas Moran, Bierstadt, Salvador Dali, etc. The botanical gardens are well kept however not currently in bloom since the weather is cooling down. The path around the gardens is tranquil nonetheless and open to the public. The museum is free, highly recommend donating on your way out. We will certainly be bringing out of town relatives back to this gem!

this place is truly spectacular. I visited from out of state and was so shocked there is no admission fee for this place (please consider donating)!! I have visited the Louvre in Paris and this place actually reminded me of it. From American art, European art, and local artists, to its absolutely stunning botanical garden, this place really blew me away with its collection. the attendants in each room are also very friendly and knowledgable- I recommend chatting/asking them any questions you have about the art.

We had a quick field trip there today. I had 6 students from a public school here in Shreveport. We did a museum scavenger hunt and I’m the type of educator that really looks closely to my students. In our visit today, multiple ladies kept on following us all around the museum and asking us to not get close to anything, not move this way, not point anything. I did not see any of my students point their pencil at anything. My students were already scared when these ladies kept on getting close to us whichever room we went. When we finished the European area, the front lady said to us (my 8-9 year old students), “I have gotten reports!” & scared my students more. This was a really bad visit. I didn’t know how to explain to my students how people can be very rude openly and it doesn’t matter where we are. Before this, I emailed the lady in charge of tours that we were coming for a short visit and she would not give us any tour for our small group. And even before this, I asked her if our grade level can have a field trip there but she said no too because of our numbers. She would not even try to accommodate half on the garden and half in the museum. This week I was teaching history and we went to the Louisiana Exhibit museum with the same kids 2 days prior and we have received warmth and even tour from Ms. Mary there. It’s just different how people treat others. My students learned this roughly today.

I had a great time visiting the museum and botanical gardens. I went two days in a row because there was so much to enjoy. If I had time, I would have gone on a third day. I get lost in the emotions evoked by art, and this experience was no different. I do wish there was a more thorough artist statement for more of the pieces.

This art gallery has an extensive collection that blew us away. There was artwork ranging from Egyptian ruins to paintings by famous Thomas Moran, Bierstadt, Salvador Dali, etc. The botanical gardens are well kept however not currently in bloom since the weather is cooling down. The path around the gardens is tranquil nonetheless and open to the public. The museum is free, highly recommend donating on your way out. We will certainly be bringing out of town relatives back to this gem!

This is a world-class museum with incredible variety. European and American art, gun collections, antique dolls, tapestries and sculpture and more. There is something for everyone.

This is a well curated privately owned museum and gallery with excellent, regional displays. The gardens are exquisite and very well planned and maintained.

Visited with a local friend, she says the grounds are normally lovely but sadly they have been damaged by recent storms and were not open. Admission to the museum is free, which is amazing. The building is a great space with the artwork grouped into an American Collection and a European Collection. I was disappointed that no photography of any kind is allowed inside the building (or on the grounds) - as you can see, I followed the rules, which is why I have no pictures to share. Normally when visiting museums I photograph favorite works to revisit later and/or photograph the descriptive info for future reference. I don't know when this rule was instated but there appear to be quite a few photographs online so I can reference those. There are guides stationed in each room, some seemed like they were there to be welcoming and helpful while others seemed to be watching for rule infractions and were a bit unnerving. Overall, visiting is a very nice experience, especially with it being free. I hope to return in the future and visit the botanical garden.

The R W Norton Museum is an immaculately maintained facility. The floors are polished to a high gloss, shinier than the finish on my car. The only lint or dust in the facility probably came from my Carhartt tee shirt. It has a stately, reverent, ambiance that causes everyone to feel like they have to whisper. I am not sure why; sound doesn't damage paintings only bright light does. As long as you don't use a flash you can take as many pictures as you like. And I did. There are docents available through out the museum to answer questions. A first, I thought they were stationed to keep a watchful eye on people of questionable character like me. I am a big fan of Charles Russell and Frederic Remington. The museum has a great collection of Russell's painting, along with works from many other western artists. The collection is not solely western art, there is a good variety. Check the pictures. If you are a folk-art enthusiast, or if you are an Antiques Roadshow nerd, you may have seen paintings by Clementine Hunter, a local artist from Natchitoches Parish. The history of this lady is worth the time to read if you are not familiar with her work. Anyway, getting to see her work was my event of serendipity from the visit. In comparison, I enjoyed the R W Norton Museum, much more than I do the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa.

An absolute hidden gem in ratchet city, who would've thought. My favorite secluded spot from the hustle and bustle of downtown which is literally a stone's throw away. Lovely collection of art and pristine gardens you could get lost in for hours, definitely a safe and aesthetic place to hang out with friends, family, or a solo picnic date; and the best part? It's totally FREE! If you have kiddos definitely check out the FB page for cute lil events they put on throughout the year. Parking is easy, anywhere along the side of the gate. Please never change, y'all! This place is too precious.

Beautiful gardens with walk paths and lots of shaded coverage. Feels like you've been transported outside of Shreveport. A beautiful part of South Highlands! There are ponds and water gardens for bringing you serenity. During the season when the azaleas are in bloom is absolutely breathtaking! There are also tables and chairs with umbrellas to enjoy coffee or lunch with a friend (bring your own lunch and friend haha) or just to read a book or listen to a podcast. There are benches throughout the gardens to sit and enjoy nature, people or squirrel watch or just sit and reflect. Don't miss the tiny gnome gardens hidden inside (in plain sight).

Everything that could go well, DID go well!!! Highly, highly, highly recommend this Art gallery and the botanical gardens that surround it! I couldn't be happier with BOTH aspects of this place!!!

I've never been to an event here, but I've walked the trail with family and my dog several times! We love it. It's always so peaceful, and the grounds are kept clean. It's great that the signage for plant identification are updated, as needed.

I'll admit as a newbie to the south, Louisiana keeps winning me over. And RW is no exception! In fact, it's been a highlight of my recent trips down here. While the museum was closed, their garden area was magical and great idea for a post-holiday stroll with a large family. The garden was quiet, vast, and rich with various fauna and art pieces. A great offering for excited kids in need of entertainment without being plugged to screens :)

The Gallery inside is beautiful and so peaceful, such a hidden treasure. The gardens are my favorite place to take a small walk and their events are fun to attend.

So glad I stopped in! An amazing collection of breath-taking art! A bit of everything!

We had one day to spend in Shreveport, and fortunately chose to visit this museum We were very pleasantly surprised by the size and quality of the collection especially considering that there is no charge to visit the museum. You could easily spend a couple hours. Almost every work of art had a very detailed description of the artist and the artwork. You will see works from well known American artists like Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer and Frederick Remington. They currently have an exhibit of art work about the life of Frida Kahlo. And if you're not too tired from walking around the museum, you can tour the beautifully maintained garden behind it.

The collection and facilities are absolutely wonderful. Even our 3 year old loved it and had lots of questions. It is not likely that we will return until the mask requirements are removed. When my glasses knocked my mask down, a docent was quick to scold me even as I was adjusting it. I don't need my visit ruined by an over zealous authoritarian type. There are probably not more than 25 people in the whole place at the time. We rarely saw others beyond our party of three. Given vaccinations and social distancing that was occurring it is too much needles drama from over zealous staff. The art is great. This staff in the American gallery needs a lesson in courtesy.

Lovely to walk through! Brought my little brother and a friend and had a great time. Gorgeous place. Outside garden is also absolutely lovely. 10/10 would recommend!

Great experience! My daughter thought it was absolutely amazing. If you're looking for something free to do in a healthy outdoor environment, this is it. Fresh air and a fun little adventure.

This is a place to bring out of town guests. They have an excellent collection of American Art (specifically civil war era) but also a sweet gun collection if you're into that, and even some folk tale kiddie stuff. The icing on the cake is the garden surrounding the building. It's almost as much of a draw as the gallery itself.

This place is awesome! Has some great pieces, beautiful gardens, huge building, and it's all free!

Well done art museum and very doable in a day. Lots of interesting works, though more focused on American and western than anything else. It's a good collection mixed with a few oddities here and there. The location itself is kind of out of the way, but set in a really nice part of town. It's kept up and if it weren't such a rainy day, I would have liked to wander the grounds a bit more. There are some empty wings to make it feel like it wasn't complete. Otherwise, I'm glad this place is here, and the price is right!

BEAUTIFUL ART GALLERY! This has to be the largest art gallery that I have ever been to. We found this as the #1 Shreveport to do on trip advisor and we were not disappointed. It is free to walk in and tour the gallery. They have the American Art gallery and the European Art gallery. We loved it all. Spent a good 2 hours touring the gallery and reading the history of the arts. You can take photos but no flash. Worth the trip and you get to see the beautiful large homes driving through the neighborhood to get here. I definitely felt like I was in a movie driving through the neighborhood.

I came here on my recent Shreveport trip on the recommendation from a few internet strangers, which is honestly how I find out about a lot of things. Someone told me this was not to be missed and also that it was free, and having a little extra time, I went. The museum is a bit of an odd setup, and I was concerned when I went in that it was all going to be like the art in my living room - set up to maximize wall space and without enough mental space to take it all in, but no - that's just one section of it. I wandered further in, and came upon a truly fantastic Alice in Wonderland exhibit. I got to see many editions of the book over time, various translations published all over the world, artwork from several artists, a number of the Disney posters, and most exciting of all, prints of Salvador Dalí's watercolor illustrations! This is truly something special and not to be missed, and I feel very lucky that I hit this at just exactly the right time.

I'm having a hard time believing no Yelper has reviewed this place. It's a free art museum, and a great way to spend a peaceful few hours on you own or with family or friends. There's an interesting and eclectic collection of mostly American, Native American, and European art works, glassware, dolls, guns, sculptures and other stuff collected by the Norton family. They also this period had a collection of US Patent application miniature models. The Norton family left this non-profit museum as a cultural legacy for the citizens of the Shreveport area.

This Gallery was unexpectedly amazing! There were so many rooms with so many different types of art - contemporary, sketch, paint, posters, weapons, pottery, statues, and more - from thousands of years ago to present day. And it's free! You should definitely go here if you're in or around the area.

WOW!!!! This has to be the best kept secret in shreveport. Do names like Rembrandt, Rodin, Russell make you perk up? I had no idea a place of this quality existed locally. My first visit was yesterday. I'll be back again and again. I can't wait for the azaleas to bloom!

I enjoyed the variety of Art exhibited and wouod gladly return everytime I was in the area. Seeing everything from diverse weaponry to tapestry to minerals to egyptian pottery to Italian art! It is absolutely comparable to some of the more familiar and larger known Museums. There was even a small but adorable children's section that displayed perfect originality and creativity that even the youngest mind would enjoy. Not that I would necessarily encourage small children here exactly but, should you pass through and find yourself intrigued with the idea, do not pass up going simply because your children are with you and you dont think they will enjoy it. It offers such diversity that there is something for all ages. Oh, and it is free!!

Nice art collection with tons of history. They also have some modern photography that looks to be rotational. No pictures of any kind inside any very limited cell phone only photographs outside. Keep your fancy cameras at home. Wish they would allow cameras so I gave 4 stars.

It was such a beautiful day, we didn't even make it inside. We only toured around the outside grounds and they are absolutely gorgeous. We must have got lucky too because their 'over 20,000' azaleas seemed to be at peak bloom just for us that day. Stunning. I took some pics too check them out.

This place is fantastic. Just beautiful and well kept up. I went on one of their first Saturday tours today and it was so educational. We learned about the antique doll collection and the gun collection. The new library is a sight to behold!!! I will be back for the next tour next month. Well worth your time!!

Maybe it was just the right place and right time for my mood, but I thought this place was awesome. In no way would I compare this place to a huge museum like the Metropolitan. But for being free, not crowded, and open on a Sunday, it was pretty neat. The main subjects you will see are American landscapes. Not every picture was my favorite, but I felt they had a nice collection of beautiful paintings. The descriptions were not that detailed, but lets face, we only retain so much of that information. Some random things they had that gave the place a nice touch was the full size statue of Marilyn Monroe and a live bee hive outside (not accessible to the public luckily). What takes this place to the next level is the Gardens area. Its really pretty and though no photography is allowed, no one was around to enforce it. I got lots of great pictures around the area. For what little Shreveport has to offer as attractions, this place should be high on your list if venturing to Shreveport. Much nicer than gambling all day, dontcha think?

What a wonderful surprise to find this in Shreveport - and even more wonderful to learn that entrance was free (the history of the family behind it - made their money in oil in the 1920s wanted to ensure that this art would be accessible to all, without financial barriers). We only got through half of the museum so we'll have to go back. Aside from the artwork, I loved the colors of the rooms and the quotes painted on the walls. The grounds behind the museum are amazing too and worth going back at different times of the year.

A gem of a museum, and the price is right: admission is free. While the collection here does feature some well-known artists like Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, Frederic Remington and Charles Marion Russell (and Paul Revere silver!), the real joy of the museum is in discovering things that you weren't really familiar with before. For example: the insanely ornate, weird, beautiful collection of rare, gilded pistols, or the realist paintings of Rosa Bonheur. Factor in two hours or so - it may be called a "gallery," but it's actually a pretty large museum, and it sits on about 30 acres of walking trails and sculpture gardens. Highly recommended.

An absolute gem for Shreveport!!! Can't believe I missed reviewing this place! My buddy and fellow Yelper Howard L. was right! I have been coming here for years! Going way back to second grade! I LOVE this place! And they have recently done major renovations and thrown fresh paint all over the place and it all just looks fantastic!!! But the greatest of great of all new additions and renovations to this finest of fine facility, is the new library/reading room. Ah-mazingly gorgeous, tranquil and fantastic! I LOVE it!! I have always LOVED the Norton!...Movie hounds may recognize this museum from the film "Homeland Security" which was also released under the title "My Mother's Boyfriend" with Selma (me-ow!) Blair, Meg Ryan, and Antonio (No, don't do it! Don't do it! Too sexy!-A lil' SNL reference) Banderas and Colin Hanks among others. I heard this production wrecked this place pretty good, but it has definitely made a full recovery and then some...And in the spring, for Easter, get your kids pics outside this gallery with the beautful blooming Azaleas in abundance. It's truly a sight to behold. Also located here are true works of Remington, loads of tapestries, antique dolls, antique guns, the large painting of Captain Shreve clearing the dam on the Red River in front of what would become our fine city (this very painting also adorned the cover of my Louisiana History textbook in 8th grade.) Again, this is a gem of Shreveport, and it gleams!

I absolutely loved the artwork!! So many different collections from Native American paintings to Victorian era. A lot of the painting had exquisite detail! Also a creepy doll collection if you're into that sort of thing. Several cool antique artifacts from BC. The gardens were so-so as its nearing winter nothing is blooming. I heard during the spring it's beautiful though!

This was an unexpected surprise! Kudos to the Norton family for making their extensive art collection available to the public at no cost. Great variety with many oil paintings and bronzes by a variety of artists including Remington and Russell. Absolutely worth a stop.

This is a must for anyone who is in town looking for some culture.The R.W. Norton is one of the largest Museums in the Shreveport/Bossier area. It's located just off Line Avenue in a quiet cul de sac. The museum boasts a large azalea garden in the Spring, and one of the nation's largest collections of Remington statues. They offer rotating exhibits of well known artists like Ansel Adams, as well as an extensive antique doll and gun collection, which is on permanent display. They also have a fabulous collection of work by European artist, Felix Kelly, representing his time in the American SouthEast.

Its nice that this is free. They had the entire south wing closed for renovation. The printable descriptions next to the art is kinda not as informative as it should be. The Hubby enjoyed it. I found it lacking.