In his 1976 Bicentennial Year Proclamation, President Gerald Ford challenged communities across America to shift the celebration away from being mainly a national spectacle and toward becoming a community-centered movement. “Let 1976 be a year of reflection, a year of sharing, and foremost, a year of achievement…as we begin our third century, there is still so much to be done…We must work to enrich the quality of American life at work, at play, and in our homes.” 

President Ford’s challenge became a civic blueprint for the citizens of Shreveport who responded with three new initiatives-—the Shreveport Regional Arts Council , the Red River Revel Arts Festival, and the Independence Bowl—community events that were designed to be local and lasting rather than one-time celebrations. Now, fifty years later, as we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, SRAC, the Revel, and the Indy Bowl are also celebrating having created something that people still gather around in 2026. 

503 THE EXPONENTIAL POWER OF CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT will be one of the capstones for that golden jubilee, an exhibition curated by local artist Bruce Allen and hosted in artspace. A fifty-year tribute to these three long-standing organizations, 503 will fill artspace with artifacts that tell their story through October 17, 2026. 

“I want to recreate some of the most popular interactive projects from SRAC, the Revel, and the Independence Bowl,” says Allen.  “The exhibition will be anchored by a timeline for the viewer to see the interrelatedness of the city’s cultural offerings and civic growth, with each of the organizations having a featured area. I hope the community will take away a sense of pride in the accomplishments of their citizens.” 

The Shreveport Regional Arts Council is one of the best examples of the enduring institutions that Bicentennial planners hoped communities would create in 1976. SRAC was founded as the official arts arm of the City of Shreveport, with a mission to develop, nurture, produce, present, promote, engage, and educate the citizens of Northwest Louisiana about the arts. Kip Holloway, SRAC’s first executive director, helped shape it in its early years and Pam Atchison, who became executive director in 1986, expanded it into a regional arts institution.  

In 2004, SRAC expanded its mission with artspace, a place where people could experience art rather than simply view it. Academy –Award-winning filmmaker, artist, and author William Joyce; screenwriter James Hart; and sculptor Patrick Dougherty transformed the space into a “neverland” of immersive, stick-built installations to open artspace with a Peter Pan Centennial-themed installation. Throughout the next twenty-plus years, SRAC hosted exhibitions in artspace garnering national and regional attention including Batman Black and White: Sketch Covers by Chip Kidd, The Tattooed Portrait Series: 12 Years Retrospective by Shawn Barber, and Generationless: Skateboarders Are Artists, Too! by Steve Olson. 

A devastating arson fire in 2009 became one of the most transformative moments in SRAC’s history. Rather than view the fire as the end, leaders saw it as an opportunity to think bigger, and the city and SRAC developed a $100 million, public-private revitalization effort to relocate into the historic1922 Central Fire Station, now known as Central ArtStation. The tragedy reshaped SRAC’s role and helped launch one of the most ambitious arts-driven redevelopment projects in Louisiana. SRAC then became a catalyst for community development, historic preservation, and creative placemaking with the birth of the cultural district Shreveport Common. 

Current SRAC Executive Director Rebecca Bonnevier says, “As we look ahead, we need our community’s continued support to sustain and grow this mission by participating as artists, attending events, volunteering, sponsoring programs, and showing up as champions for the arts.”  

The Red River Revel Arts Festival is also a 1976 “legacy” project.  When Shreveport was designated one of the first Bicentennial Cities in the United States, Mayor Calhoun Allen named a Regional Bicentennial Commission to coordinate and plan events for the celebration. A task force led by Leone Reeder and arts and culture dreamers and optimists came up with the idea that Shreveport needed an Arts Festival. Every October, for fifty years, the community has celebrated the arts in an eight-day festival in downtown Shreveport providing the highest quality art, culture, education, and creative experiences to the community and accounting for more than $13 million in economic impact. 

Professional painters, sculptors, glass and jewelry artists, photographers, fiber and ceramic artists, and woodworkers return each year from across the country, with new artists joining to keep the roster fresh and exciting. A robust arts and education program for children of all ages is central to the festival with memorable traditions including community mosaic projects, a fourth-grade visual arts education program, and recently the Discovery Maker Zone (DMZ) combining visual arts, crafts, sciences, technology, performances, and hands-on activities. Through fifty years, the Revel has also hosted an impressive mix of entertainers including Kenny Wayne Shephard, Mannie Fresh, Chase Bryant, the Seratones, and country star Neal McCoy. 

Executive Director Logan Lewis says, “It is an absolute honor to carry on the tradition of the Red River Revel. The festival is a cultural event reflecting who we are and what is important to us in Shreveport/Bossier City. Created by the community’s citizens, there is nothing else quite like it. The grassroots and maverick spirit with which it was created is still very much a part of its culture, and a major reason why it is so beloved.” 

The Independence Bowl marked the 200th anniversary of American Independence by embodying the spirit of the celebration in name and purpose. The founders made up a virtual “who’s who” of Shreveport in 1976. They wanted an event that was more than football, and that would attract visitors, create local pride, bring television exposure, and become a lasting institution rather than a one-time bicentennial event. The Bowl honors an individual or organization each year that reflects “the spirit of freedom and independence on which the United States was founded.” The Omar N. Bradley “Spirit of Independence” award recipients have included five-star general Omar N. Bradley, John Wayne, President Ronald Reagan, Chuck Yeager, the Boys Scouts of America and the Tuskegee Airmen. 

Executive Director Missy Setters says, “Today the Independence Bowl is a great source of pride for Shreveport/Bossier City accounting for an average economic impact of $24 million annually. We are one of only thirty-five communities in the country that hosts a college bowl game. ESPN/ABC have highlighted our community to the world for thirty-fouryears. And we impact the community with a free youth football clinic, $140,000 in donations to area educators since 2021, and scholarships to local graduating seniors totaling $105,000 over twenty years.” 

1776 to 2026–two and a half decades! Celebrate the fifty year successes of the Shreveport Regional Arts Council, the Red River Revel Arts Festival, and the Independence Bowl during  503 THE EXPONENTIAL POWER OF CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT at artspace, Shreveport. 

SHREVEPORT REGIONAL ARTS COUNCIL 

Central ARTSTATION, 801 Crockett St. HOURS 

Artspace, 708 Texas Street Artspace: Tuesday-Friday, 11am-5 pm 

shrevearts.org (318) 673-6535 Saturday, 12 pm-6 pm