The Rotunda Map at Louisiana State Exhibit Museum

Found within the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum’s rotunda is a topographical relief map of Louisiana, measuring 49 feet in circumference. It is the largest known topographical relief map of the State of Louisiana.

 
Created by internationally noted sculptor Duncan Ferguson, the map is original to the design of the Museum and was funded as a part of the building's original contract. It is a fabulous example of art created with New Deal Funds.

 
Ferguson, who was the chair of the Arts Department of Louisiana State University, sculpted the plaster of paris structure. He and Conrad Albrizio, artist of the gigantic four-panel fresco that greets visitors to the Museum, were colleagues on the faculty at Louisiana State University and likely collaborated in creating and detailing the map.

 
Ferguson divided the state into its 64 parishes, each painted with one of seven alternating colors. The rivers, waterways and the Gulf of Mexico were painted blue. One of the most notable features of the map is its geographical relief. The map clearly shows the state's highest point of 535 feet, peaking at Mount Driskill in the north-central section and sloping gently southward to the Gulf of Mexico.

The map also includes a compass rose in the upper right corner.  Agricultural and industrial icons are found on the map, which help identify the crops and industries found in regions and cities throughout Louisiana. Some of the icons found on the map and in Louisiana include crawfish, timber, cotton and cattle.

 
While the map has been painted over numerous times in its 70-year existence, a team of conservators headed by Shelly Paine restored the map to its original surface in 2006. Although not all of the icons original to the map were recovered during the restoration, the final production is very close to the original.

 
On most any day at the Museum, a common scene is of children and adults alike peering over the rails surrounding the map, pointing out the parishes, waterways and agricultural products and industries found all over Louisiana. 
 

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