08/04/2026
River Oaks Explores Home, Memory, and Place in New Fall Exhibitions
River Oaks Square Arts Center is preparing to open a new set of exhibitions that explores the places we carry with us, the landscapes that shape our identity, and the memories that continue to influence how we see the world. Beginning August 27, the galleries will feature Reflections of Home by Larry “Kip” Hayes in the Bolton-Davis Gallery, Through the Cypress Veil by Leah Morace in the Galerie des Amis, and The Shape of Place: Childhood Memories by Katy Keppinger Arbour in the Stokes-Harris Gallery. Though each artist works from a distinct perspective, all three exhibitions share a deep connection to Louisiana and the powerful sense of place found throughout the region.
“This group of exhibitions feels especially meaningful because each artist is looking at home through a different lens,” says Rachael Dauzat, Executive Director at River Oaks. Larry “Kip” Hayes preserves the rural landscapes and structures that are slowly disappearing, Leah Morace captures the mystery and beauty of Louisiana’s wild places, and Katy Arbour reflects on the memories formed on her family’s farm. Together, their work reminds us that place is more than geography. It becomes part of who we are.”
In the Bolton-Davis Gallery, Larry “Kip” Hayes presents Reflections of Home, a collection rooted in the quiet beauty and fading character of rural South Louisiana. Born and raised on a farm in Broussard, Hayes developed an early appreciation for the barns, bayous, fields, animals, and everyday structures that define the region. His creative career began in the 1970s as a freelance photographer, documenting the subtleties of the landscape before transitioning into painting. That photographic background continues to inform his work, giving his paintings a grounded realism and careful sense of composition.
Hayes is known for richly textured oil and acrylic paintings, often created on reclaimed materials such as century-old cypress boards, weathered wood, and pieces of tin. Those surfaces are not simply supports for the paintings. They carry their own histories, marks, and imperfections, adding another layer of authenticity to the scenes he depicts. His work serves as a tribute to a way of life that is slowly disappearing, preserving images of sugarcane fields, grazing animals, country roads, and timeworn structures before they exist only in memory.
That commitment to Louisiana’s cultural landscape has earned Hayes a devoted following. His work has been exhibited locally and internationally, with pieces in collections as far away as South Africa and among collectors including Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bullock, and Gwyneth Paltrow. He has shown at Gallery 600 Julia and Sutton Gallery in New Orleans, as well as the Hemmerling Kalle Gallery and Museum. His paintings are also included in BARE Walls, a Lafayette-based art subscription program that places original works in businesses and public spaces.
Hayes will share his process during a special Reflections of Home Workshop on August 27 from 1-3 p.m. Designed for beginner to intermediate artists, the workshop will include a live demonstration on preparing reclaimed tin and weathered wood for artistic use. Hayes will explain how to preserve the original character of these materials while transforming them into meaningful works of art. He will also discuss the relationship between discarded surfaces and the stories they carry, examining how reclaimed materials can evoke memory, history, and belonging. The workshop is $40 per person, and a supply list will be provided upon registration at RiverOaksArtsCenter.com/workshops.
In the Galerie des Amis, Leah Morace presents Through the Cypress Veil, an atmospheric exploration of Louisiana’s bayous and wild places. Beneath layers of moss, shadows, and reflected light, Morace captures landscapes that seem suspended between the familiar and the mysterious. Her paintings celebrate still waters, ancient cypress trees, and the magnificent birds that inhabit these environments, presenting the bayou as both a natural ecosystem and a place of quiet wonder.
Morace’s work is grounded in reverence for the Louisiana landscape. Rather than simply documenting a scene, she creates a mood that allows viewers to feel the solitude and mystery of the environment. Darkness and light coexist throughout the collection, suggesting that the bayou is a place where beauty often reveals itself slowly. Through the Cypress Veil invites viewers to look beyond the surface and consider the stories hidden within the water, trees, and shifting shadows.
Meanwhile, in the Stokes-Harris Gallery, Katy Keppinger Arbour presents The Shape of Place: Childhood Memories. Using painted and printed papers, Arbour creates layered mixed-media collages inspired by life on her family’s ancestral farm in Central Louisiana. Open fields, seasonal changes, and ordinary moments from childhood become the foundation for abstract compositions that examine how memory can preserve not only what a place looked like, but how it felt.
Arbour also draws inspiration from watching her children experience the same landscape that shaped her own early years. This connection across generations gives the work added depth, allowing the farm to function as both a personal memory and an ongoing family story. The exhibition explores how familiar places change over time while remaining deeply embedded in identity.
The Shape of Place: Childhood Memories is dedicated to Arbour’s mother, Ella Elizabeth James, an accomplished Central Louisiana artist whose creativity continues to inspire her. That dedication brings an additional layer of intimacy to the exhibition, linking the artistic influence of one generation to the work of the next. Through collage, texture, color, and fragments of memory, Arbour considers how family, landscape, and creativity can become inseparable.
Before the fall exhibitions open, River Oaks will celebrate the work of its youngest artists with the Summer Arts Studio Student Show on August 15, 2026, from 4-5 p.m. The exhibition will feature more than 100 works created by students from all four sessions of Central Louisiana’s largest and longest-running visual arts summer camp. Every student will have at least one piece included in the show, selected by instructors based on artistic merit. The exhibition gives campers the opportunity to see their work displayed in a professional gallery while allowing families and the community to experience the remarkable creativity developed throughout the summer.
Summer Arts Studio continues to be an important part of River Oaks’ educational mission. For more than 30 years, the program has taught visual art fundamentals in a variety of media while reinforcing the importance of art as both a creative outlet and a cultural anchor. Many campers return year after year, and some later serve as volunteers, instructors, or paid members of the summer staff.
The Summer Arts Studio Student Show is supported by Explore Alexandria Pineville CVB, the Louisiana Project Grant administered through the Arts Council of Central Louisiana, The Hotel Bentley, RoyOMartin, Cleco, Dun-Cour LLC, Jackson Orthodontics, Alexandria Pediatric Dentistry, the River Oaks Board of Directors, Martha and Will Crenshaw, Beverly and Gray Easterling, Tammi and Bryon Salazar, Leetha and Lance Harris, Noelle and Michael Crowell, and Michelle and Chris Karam.
The fall exhibitions will be on display from August 27 through October 10, 2026, with an opening reception scheduled for Thursday, August 27, from 5-7 p.m. The opening reception is free and open to the public. The exhibitions and reception are sponsored by Explore Alexandria Pineville CVB, the City of Alexandria, Hotel Bentley, the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development, Red River Bank, Cleco, The Bentley Room, The Mirror Room, RoyOMartin, Legacy Floral Designs, and Diamond Grill.
For more information about the exhibitions, the Larry “Kip” Hayes workshop, the Summer Arts Studio Student Show, or other upcoming programs at River Oaks, call (318) 473-2670, visit RiverOaksArtsCenter.com, or follow River Oaks Arts Center on Facebook.
Leah Morace Art
