The Sculpture of Scott, Payton, Hayden, and Bechet
LSU Musuem of Art
Baton Rouge
Through Jan 25, 2026
If you walk to the left side from the welcome desk at the LSU Museum of Art, you’ll enter a room with sculptures in vastly different styles. A group of discarded steel sculptures cast shadows on the white walls. In stark contrast, there are a group of colorful rainbow painted aluminum sculptures sitting on pedestals that look like they could burst into movement at any moment, a set of wooden sculptures with religious iconography and a wall full of black mirrors cast out of paper.
Despite their differences, these are not random selections. The four artists, Frank Hayden (1935-1988), John T. Scott (1940-2007), Martin Payton (b. 1948) and Ron Bechet (b. 1956), have connections and shared experiences spanning five decades. Pieces by each of them are placed in different sections of the room, sitting in conversation with one another. Depending on how you browse the museum, it’s either the beginning or the end of the loop of art on display.
A introductory panel at the exhibit explains that the quartet were collaborators, mentors and colleagues who spoke a common artistic language. Martin Payton for example, was a lifelong friend and student of John T. Scott, who inspired Payton to become an artist. They often worked together, including on a public art project called “Spirit House” in New Orleans that was fabricated in Scott’s studio … which he shared with another artist featured in the exhibit, Ron Bechet. All four of them have ties to Xavier University, the only Catholic HBCU in the country, in fact, Bechet still teaches there.
The pieces are striking, and one can’t help but try to see the influence from one artist on another. Art, like other creative passions, still relies on people paying it forward and helping people find their own voice. In a world where AI concerns seem to loom above and around every conversation about art, creativity and information consumption, this legacy of human connection seems all the more precious. These pieces connect the artists and museum goers to different parts of history whether it be Black change-makers and heroes (Bechet’s mirrors) or the African diaspora more generally (Scott).
A striking piece within the exhibit is “Tagorean,” an undated wooden sculpture that is part of the Louisiana Art & Science Museum’s collection which sits in the middle of the room. It’s inspired by the spiritual poetry of Bengali Nobel Prize winner, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). The first five poems from his “Gitanjali” (Song Offerings) are carved into the wood emerging from the figure’s mouth, wrapping around and swirling on the back of his head. Tagore may not be as familiar to people as Mahatma Gandhi, but he played a leading role in the Indian cultural renaissance and is credited as one of the architects of modern India. The handcarved lettering feels raw, and the piece creates curiosity about Tagore.
Over the weekend, I spent time with teenagers who unironically debated if Helen Keller was real or actually blind and deaf. (Yes, that TikTok conspiracy is still making the rounds.) At risk of sounding like a panicked old person who thinks the kids are not alright, it’s alarming that the concerns about fake news have caused people who can vote in the next presidential election to start doubting legitimate history. Keller lived into 1968, a year before my mom was born. That wasn’t that long ago, and Keller is a figure that most people know. What will happen to the historic figures that most people don’t?
For creatives, there’s this romantic notion that your work is your legacy — it outlives you. In a world where videos have less than a second to grab your attention, everything might be fake, and our life histories are stored on the cloud, that feels less and less true by the day.
But the human connection that forms when someone takes you by the hand and shows you the ropes is not going away. There are no easy solutions for our current problems with AI and fake news, but I can’t help but think these connections points to people we know and history/historic figures like Tagore are part of it. These four sculptors had an impact on each other’s lives. They continue to impact their students and the students that will come after them through an investment in relationships and passing on their knowledge.
