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Opened in the spring of 2005, the Shaw Center's mission is to give the arts in Baton Rouge a prominent downtown address and to be a catalyst for the Capital City's emerging arts and entertainment district. That's a tall order, but throughout my self-guided journey around the center, it became clear how the center's momentum and emergent role are enriching this city.
 
I'm taking in the view from the building's rooftop lounge after exploring six floors of museum and gallery space, performance stages for homegrown and touring talent, restaurants and shops, studios, classrooms, offices and meeting spaces–—all centered on the arts. The Louisiana State University (LSU) Museum of Art is a major tenant here, taking up the Shaw Center's entire fifth floor. The LSU's Manship Theater is located on the first floor, along with two art galleries, a museum store, eateries like the Capital City Grill and PJ's Coffee House, while stunning public spaces are spread across the building's lobbies and terraces. As the Shaw Center rises floor by floor, the number of attractions and organizations grow too, and each contributes their own energy to the place. 
 
Walking to the main entrance, I stop to join the sightseers gazing and photographing the building itself, a gleaming structure of precise lines in glass and metal. The Shaw Center’s striking physical design gives the building an undeniable presence in Baton Rouge, and so it was no surprise to learn that it recently won an Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects.
 
Upon entering, my eyes are drawn up, and up, and up— following the open, towering main hall of the center. One side of the hall is dominated by the elegantly sloping white bowl shape of the LSU Manship Theater. The theater is quiet on my visit, but when I take a look inside, I instantly get a warm, embracing impression from the many amber-hued wood surfaces as they bend gracefully around the room. The soaring fly loft for sets, advanced sound, lighting and extensive backstage facilities all mean the Manship Theater can accommodate elaborate productions and meet the standards of world-class performers. With 325 seats, and not a bad one in the house, I envy the audience that experienced folk music legend Arlo Guthrie, the youthful Soul Street Dance Company, and the Latin-tinged rock of the Iguanas in this unique space. 
 
Just down the hall, I peek into a pair of black box theaters–— raw space used for rehearsals, dance workshops and smaller productions by groups like the Baton Rouge Playmakers. Part of the Shaw Center's vitality comes from having so many different arts organizations working in close proximity within its walls. The pair of gallery spaces on the first floor is an example of just how much diversity this arrangement offers. I first visit the Brunner Gallery, created by gallery director Susan Brunner and sculptor Rick Brunner. Their walls feature well-known and emerging regional artists such as sculptor Claudia Meyer and painter Dennis Campay, and the space proves as hip and original as any big city art gallery.
 
A short walk to the other side of the lobby brings me to the LSU School of Art Gallery, which features new work by current LSU art students, including often avant-garde thesis exhibitions. Both galleries change exhibits frequently, and they add balance and contrast to the longer-term exhibits on display at the LSU Museum of Art on the fifth floor, such as last year's show on 18th-century British artist William Hogarth.
 
I am eager to get up to the museum and check out the current Rodin sculpture exhibit, during this early spring visit. But along the way I decide to see what else is going on around the center.The second and third floors are the domain of the LSU School of Art and a menagerie of independent arts organizations. Students, local art producers and community leaders work literally right down the hall from each other. While there's not much here for the casual visitor to see, the work going on in these offices and classrooms is destined to play out in future programming for the area’s schools, arts spaces and public venues.
  
On the fourth floor, I wander out to a terrace. Not quite as high up as the rooftop area I'll visit later, this terrace still offers a magnificent view of the river and has become a favorite venue for wedding receptions and photo shoots. Partially shaded by a trellis, it offers outdoor seating and even sports its own sculpture garden. 
 
Here I relax and read up on the history of the Shaw Center. I learn that its roots go back to plans in the late 1990s to build a new art museum for LSU on the outskirts of town. In 2000, however, a consortium of university officials, government leaders and local nonprofits agreed that a larger vision could be fulfilled. The Arts Council was already redeveloping a downtown property and a performing arts center. Why not combine these plans with LSU's new museum and its School of Art to create a downtown multi-use arts hub? That vision led to the Shaw Center just five years later.
           
Finally it was time to see the museum concept that started it all. A quick elevator ride delivers me to the LSU Museum of Art, where both a touring group of retirees and a fieldtrip of schoolchildren are spreading out through the 17,000 square feet of exhibition space ahead of me. I start with a turn through the visiting Rodin exhibit, with its original sculpture and exhibits on the French master's own influences. Then I come to the museum's permanent collection with displays of Newcomb pottery, Chinese jade, Louisiana-made furniture, 19th-century landscapes, mid-century lithographs and paintings by self-taught Louisiana artist Clementine Hunter. In another room I find "LSU Art Past and Present," an ever-changing exhibit of work by LSU students and professors. Some of the most influential among LSU art instructors are the focus of the museum's newest exhibit, "Reunion: James Burke, Edward Pramuk and Robert Warrens," on display from May 17 to Aug. 9. Those visiting later this summer will have the chance to see "Living Color," a collection of portraits by New Orleans photographer Judy Cooper (from Aug. 28 to Nov. 1) and "Unconventional Realist," post-modern figurative works by Gabriel Laderman (from Sept. 4 to Oct. 25).
 
The day has left me famished, so I go up one more floor to Tsunami on the Shaw Center's top deck. I dig into alligator sushi rolls and soba noodles while young couples and businesspeople alternately shift their attention from their meals, to their conversations, to the broad windows framing a grand view.
 
Soon I'm outside, looking out over the river from the rooftop lounge. Peering down over the edge, I see a family en route to the Shaw Center's entrance. With the children running excitedly ahead, I wish I could tell them to save their energy. After all, they have a lot of exploring ahead of them just inside.