MONROE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — On Wednesday, October 12, 2022, the City of Monroe announced the designation of a new Louisiana Certified Cultural District, the Divine Nine Cultural Arts District, and the expansion of the Riverside Monroe Cultural District. This statewide network facilitated through the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development in Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser’s Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism gains access to state historic tax credits and can exempt qualifying artworks from local sales tax.

The Divine Nine Cultural Arts District bears the distinction of being the first geography-based arts and culture district in the nation with the title of Divine Nine. The Riverside Monroe Cultural District expansion brings the National Register Garden District neighborhood boundary into alignment with the Cultural District boundary, and now includes Forsythe Park as a cultural asset.

It is an honor to bring this distinction to District 5. I am so thankful to the Divine Nine and the National Panhellenic Council of Presidents for allowing us to use a name that is so well-known nationwide. I am excited to see the good that will come from this Cultural District and the unity that it’s going to bring amongst local Divine Nine chapters.

Councilowman Kema Dawson