SHREVEPORT YWCA

I used to joke that I’d need to either have a baby or an art show to get my parents to visit us in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Then we had Wyatt—and suddenly, the visits became more frequent.

My father, James Yu, with his background in real estate development and an eye for transformative spaces, started to look around. He began to wonder: Could Shreveport be a long-term home for Marlene Yu’s art? Not just a temporary exhibition—but a permanent, meaningful presence downtown?

He visited a number of buildings, but one stood out: the old YWCA, an all-woman-led project from 1954 that had later become a shelter for battered women and their children. Solid concrete, good bones, and even a Cold War-era nuclear fallout shelter sign still on the door. The building had history. Purpose. It deserved a new life.

In just six or seven months, through nothing more than love of family, art, nature, and Shreveport, we transformed it into the Rainforest Art Foundation’s new home—and into the early foundations of what would become the Marlene Yu Museum.

Marlene Yu’s path to Shreveport was a somewhat unexpected but heartwarming journey. She first came to Shreveport to visit her daughter (who had moved there) and was immediately charmed by the city’s atmosphere. Marlene often exclaims that “Shreveport is an artist’s paradise.” In her eyes, the city’s lush greenery and more relaxed pace harkened back to her childhood in Taiwan. She found the community’s warmth striking – she would smile recalling how strangers in Shreveport greet each other with nods or hellos on the street. In New York City, if someone made direct eye contact and smiled, Marlene would wonder, “Do I know that person?” In Shreveport, it’s just people being friendly. This genuine hospitality and the small-town feel made Marlene feel at home. It was such a refreshing contrast to the impersonal rush of New York. Marlene fell in love with the place and the people, seeing in Shreveport a community that not only reminded her of home but also embraced her vision. This love affair with the city played a key role in her decision to establish the Marlene Yu Museum there. Shreveport welcomed Marlene’s dream with open arms, and she, in turn, poured her energy into making the museum and foundation a gift to the city she had grown to adore.  She was invited by the then-Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, Jay Dardenne, to do a tour of the Gulf Coast and Atchafalaya swamps, learning that Louisiana loses a football field length of coastline every 45 minutes.  Her visit to flatlands unfettered by towering skyscrapers inspired two painting series: Purple Swamp and Silver Lining.