Standing Invitation: Come Draw. Come Paint. Come Observe.

In the great museums of the world, you’ll often find an artist sitting quietly in the galleries, pencil in hand, sketchbook open. Studying the drape of a marble robe. Capturing the way light lingers on a painted face. Or maybe sketching a visitor lost in thought, a child’s curious gaze, the quiet moments between looking and seeing.

This tradition—drawing in museums, using them as places to make as well as to look—goes back centuries. Renaissance apprentices learned by copying the Old Masters, not to replicate, but to understand how those artists saw.

That tradition doesn’t belong only to Florence or Paris. It belongs wherever art lives. So it belongs here, too.

At the Northeast Louisiana Delta African-American Heritage Museum, we’re extending an open invitation to all local artists: Come draw. Come paint. Come observe.

No reservations needed. No formal program. Just bring your sketchbook, your pencils, your charcoal—whatever lets you work quietly—and find a corner. Let the art on our walls inspire you. Let the stillness focus you. Let the space become part of your creative practice.

A museum shouldn’t just be a place you visit once. It should be a place you return to, where your connection to the work deepens over time. When you sketch here, you’re not just honing your technique—you’re joining a conversation across generations. You’re seeing through the eyes of those who came before, then adding your own voice to the story.

And this practice can lead somewhere. Artists who spend time in museums—drawing, observing, reflecting—often become collaborators. They join group shows, teach workshops, or help shape what art means in this region. We’re here for all of it. Consider this your invitation to become part of the museum’s living rhythm.

So whether you’re a working artist or someone who’s been meaning to pick up a pencil again—come. Stop by on a slow afternoon or a quiet Saturday. Stay an hour. No need to call ahead. Just come and create.

We’re open Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 4pm. And on Saturday from 10am to 2pm. Your next sketch could be the start of something—for you, and for us.

#SketchAtTheDelta