Finding Alice and Tea Party Hats Exhibits

Event Website

Port Allen- In conjunction with the Finding Alice: Artists Exploring Wonderland featuring Abelardo Morell, the museum will display Tea party Hats: The Louise Fertitta Collection, on April 11, 2026, a selection of hats that belonged to beloved West Baton Rouge community member Mary Louise “Weeze” Saia Fertitta (1927-2020). She and other female family members were known for their stylish, and sometimes whimsical hats. Nicknamed by many as the “Queen of Port Allen,” legend had it that Louise never wore the same hat twice.

Finding Alice: Artists Exploring Wonderful featuring Abelardo Morell and Tea Party Hats: The Louise Fertitta Collection, will be on view through May 24. Finding Alice is toured by Exhibits USA, the national touring exhibition program of Mid-America Arts Alliance. Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, first published in 1865, the exhibition explores the enduring influence of the classic story on artists across generations through photography, illustration, and book art. Tea Party Hats: The Louise Fertitta Collection is an accompanying exhibit curated from objects from the West Baton Rouge Historical Association’s permanent collection.

Finding Alice contains works from two photographic series by acclaimed artist Abelardo Morell, alongside multiple illustrated editions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland featuring work by Andrea D’ Aquino, Salvador Dali, Camille Rose Garcia, Yayoi Kusama, Oleg Lipchenko, Peter Newell, Evgeny Alexandrovich Shukaev, among others.

Reflecting on his initial Alice in Wonderland series, Morell explains that he designed the images to exist within landscapes made of books, inspired by Carroll’s connection between Wonderland and the discovery of imagination through reading. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Morell began a second body of work, Through the Looking Glass, shaped by the experience of sheltering in place. Morell found parallels between Carroll’s story and the uncertainties of contemporary life. In both series, Alice’s resilience – her ability to confront the irrational without ignoring it – emerges as a guiding theme, offering and instructive model for navigating turbulent times.

For more information about the programs and activities associated with the exhibitions, call 225-336-2422