NSU Art Exhibit Features the “Official Doll Maker” of the Cane River Area

An exhibit by artist Michael Graham will be on display through Friday in Gallery 2 located in the Fine Arts Annex on the Natchitoches campus of Northwestern State University. Graham is an instructor of drawing and printmaking at LSU-Shreveport.  Admission is free and open to the public. 

Graham created portraits of four revered Natchitoches Parish figures that are members of the Louisiana Folklife Center’s Hall of Master Folk Artists. Lair LaCour, Allen Metoyer, Cliff Carnahan and Overton Owens.   The Cane River National Heritage Area Commission funded the portraits. 

LaCour was the “Official Doll Maker” of the Cane River area and well known for her dolls and quilts.  Metoyer, known as “Big Al,” played keyboard and sang with a local band called “Al and the Gators.” LaCour and Metoyer were inducted in 1998.

Overton, known as “Dr. Drip Drop,” was a multi-talented musician and blues singer, who first performed in the north Louisiana area in the 1950s and 1960s.   He inspired many young musicians in the area who have become well known Louisiana artists.  Owens was inducted in 1997.  Carnahan, a 1992 inductee, was a songwriter and fiddler from the Cloutierville area, learned to play the guitar and fiddle from his father and an uncle.  One of his songs, “Oceans of Diamonds” was a top-10 hit. 

The Gallery is open Monday – Thursday from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. until noon.

A portrait of dollmaker Lair LaCour is part of an exhibit by artist Michael Graham that is display through Friday in Gallery 2 located in the Fine Arts Annex on the Natchitoches campus of Northwestern State University.