Meet the Board – Kelsea McCrary

We’d like to introduce a new blog series…”Meet the Board”…get to know our board members from across the state of Louisiana.  First up in our Q&A series is Kelsea McCrary.

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Name: Kelsea McCrary

Current Occupation: Creative placekeeping through arts, culture, historic preservation, community & economic development

Hometown: Bastrop, LA

Current Town: Baton Rouge, LA

When or How did you realize you were a preservationist? At some point in my twenties I started to learn the vocabulary for the activities that I found myself engaging in, and that there was a whole field, group of people locally/regionally/nationally/globally that were engaged in the same activities, and realized that my natural bent towards that type of work wasn’t just a hobby or personality quirk, but could be a way of life and a passion at the same time.

What’s your favorite building or place in Louisiana? I love my hometown square – the beautiful courthouse as the anchor, the historic theater that faces it where my dance recitals were, and the old diner next to it where I spent many mornings in high school eating French toast. A healthy downtown feels like it evolves with you throughout your life, but really your life just begins to integrate into the different parts of it as you grow.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? Louisiana is full of mysteries to explore, whether outdoors or in, and those keep me busy.

Why did you choose to get involved with the Louisiana Trust? It was important to me to be involved with an organization that truly covers the state in the attention given to, development of, and restoration of our historical buildings.

What have you learned from your experience on the LTHP? That there is ever so much more to know, document, preserve, and communicate about than any of us could ever dream!

Why should others get involved with LTHP and the preservation movement in Louisiana?  To be connected with a network of people that are doing such worthy work around the state is a huge benefit of membership. We also have to consider that with every year that passes, more and more of our architecture “ages into” history, and without a focus on preservation we will lose the unique footprint of our culture in the built environment. The Trust is on the frontlines of that fight.

Check out this recent article by Kelsea here in Number: Inc.

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