The Louisiana Architecture Foundation (LAF), the Alexandria Museum of Art and AIA Central Louisiana will jointly host a screening of the award-winning documentary Ancestral Artistry: The Influence of Africans & Creoles of Color on Louisiana Architecture. The film, produced by the nonprofit LAF, will be screened in the museum’s third-floor gallery at 933 Second St. on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, at 7 p.m.

Ancestral Artistry examines the contributions made by early enslaved West Africans and free people of color to Louisiana’s 300-year building trade history. The film was named the 2025 Humanities Documentary Film of the Year by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH) and received the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation’s Louisiana Heritage Media Award and the Louisiana Feature Jury Award at the 2025 New Orleans Film Festival.

Documentation shows how most of the first enslaved Africans brought to colonial Louisiana came from regions of West Africa renowned for their artisanal guilds. Construction trades, such as carpentry, masonry, ironsmithing and plasterwork, were handed down within families across generations, shaping communities throughout Louisiana. Ancestral Artistry highlights the work and lives of three contemporary master craftsmen, Jeff Porée, Darryl Reeves and the late Theodore “Teddy” Pierre Jr., who preserve these traditional trades while training apprentices for the future.

The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with a private sponsor reception. Doors for general admission ticket holders open at 6:30 p.m., with the screening beginning at 7 p.m. A panel discussion will follow, featuring Edward J. Cazayoux, FAIA, architectural preservationist; Jonn Hankins, executive director of the New Orleans Master Craftsman’s Guild; and Dustin Fuqua, chief of resource management and chief of cultural resources at Cane River Creole National Historical Park in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

Historic plasterwork examples will also be on display. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Alexandria Museum of Art.

Established in 1996, the Louisiana Architecture Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting public awareness of architecture throughout Louisiana.