From fine art to mud art, the Baton Rouge art scene is exciting, eclectic, and a little eccentric. The Shaw Center for the Arts is the centerpiece of contemporary visual and performing arts in Baton Rouge. The sparkling, state-of-the-art $55 million facility houses the LSU Museum of Art with over 3,500 fine and decorative arts from many cultures and periods. LSU School of Art Gallery, Brunner Gallery, the LSU Museum Store, the Community School for the Arts and the magical Manship Theatre are also part of the Shaw Center. BREC’s Baton Rouge Art Gallery is the area’s oldest art gallery and cultural center featuring contemporary exhibitions and special traveling exhibits. The Southern University Museum of Art is home to diverse galleries. For unique artistic expression, the Louisiana Mud Painting Gallery depicts nostalgic Louisiana using mud and clay as pigment. And, the annual Red Stick International Animation Festival draws artists and scientists to Baton Rouge each April. Artists draw and paint with computers and scientists relate complex theories of the color and motion to art.