Marlene Yu Museum and Rainforest Art Foundation open for Preview Party December 18 and Grand Opening December 21.

SHREVEPORT, La., Dec. 16, 2014 — (PRNewswire) —  The Rainforest Art Foundation and Marlene Yu Museum will open the doors of the newly renovated former YWCA building at 710 Travis Street in Downtown Shreveport for the Grand Opening December 21 from 1-4pm and a Preview Party December 18 from 5:30-8:30pm.

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The Grand Opening is free with a suggested $10 donation per family to benefit RAF's Young Artist Gallery and Biology & Art Exploration Program. The event will have food donated from local culinary artists, wine, live entertainment and a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Downtown Development Director Liz Swaine and other officials. 

The Preview Party is a ticketed event with a cost of $125 per person. Tickets can be purchased at www.rainforestartfoundation.org/tickets. The Petroleum Club of Shreveport will provide dinner, and there will be cocktails, a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne and "Captured by Spirit of the Universe" music, song, dance and poetry by Dr. K and the Chamber Orchestra and Dance Department of Caddo Magnet High School, inspired by the art works of Marlene Tseng Yu. 

The opening will feature RAF's first exhibition in Shreveport, "The Beauty and Spirit of Nature," featuring the paintings, drawings and stories from local and international artists. The Museum will also be housing its very first exhibition, "Forces of Nature," which is the fourth of the "Lucky 7s" shows. This exhibition will feature works selected from 35 different series over the past 50 years. The "Lucky 7s" is a series of seven different exhibitions at seven local venues in honor of Marlene's 77^th year beginning with her 70^th solo exhibition. The first took place at the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum, followed by the Robinson Film Center, Artspace, Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College, Bossier Arts Council and Sci-Port: Louisiana's Science Center.

The founder of RAF, Marlene Tseng Yu, and her family took over the former YWCA building in February to make it the headquarters of RAF and also open the brand new Marlene Yu Museum. They have been renovating the building that had been on a steady decline for the past 10 years and vacant the past four, in order to unveil the changes to the public right before Christmas. The highlights of the construction include the addition of a grand staircase going down into the Museum, the addition of a staircase from the existing veranda into the future sculpture garden, new floors and walls, the clearing of offices for the Main Exhibition Hall and Museum Shop and renovation of a cafeteria into the Young Artist Gallery.

For more information please call 318-717-9111 or visit www.marleneyumuseum.org or www.rainforestartfoundation.org. Preview Party tickets can be purchased online, by phone or at the door. 

Contact:
Iris MacLean
Public Relations Manager
Rainforest Art Foundation and Marlene Yu Museum
(318) 840-5213
Email

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SOURCE Rainforest Art Foundation and Marlene Yu Museum

Contact:

Rainforest Art Foundation and Marlene Yu Museum Web: http://www.rainforestartfoundation.org