Arthur Roger is the owner and director of the Arthur Roger Gallery, located in the Arts District of New Orleans. A native of the city, he worked at an art gallery in the French Quarter while attending college. In 1978 he opened the Arthur Roger Gallery which enjoyed early success and soon earned a national reputation as a leading art gallery in New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina, Arthur helped spearhead the renewal of the visual arts in New Orleans. In 2006 his gallery hosted a panel discussion that led to the art consultant Dan Cameron founding PROSPECT, now an international arts biennial in New Orleans. Throughout the gallery’s 45-year history, Arthur has made an effort to feature the work of artists of diverse backgrounds, race, and sexual orientation.
In 2017 Arthur donated his personal artwork collection to the New Orleans Museum of Art. The Museum displayed the work in a special exhibition titled “Pride of Place: The Making of Contemporary Art in New Orleans”.
Arthur has served on numerous boards and received local and national recognition for his philanthropic efforts. For several years he chaired the highly successful Halloween in New Orleans which has raised over $4.1 million over the years and is the largest cumulative donor to Project Lazarus, which provides healthcare and support services for men and women with AIDS. He began Arts Against AIDS in New Orleans which was one of the top ten fundraisers of the year. He chaired and organized Human Rights Campaign (HRC) fundraising dinners. He currently chairs The Greater New Orleans Foundation LBGTQ Fund. Arthur volunteered to assemble the art collections for the Human Rights Campaign Headquarters in Washington D.C. and the Greater New Orleans Foundation building. He recently arranged for over 200 pieces of artwork to be donated and installed in CrescentCare’s new community services healthcare building which assists the underserved.
Selected Awards:
Paul Plauche Award, 1995
Young Leadership Award, 1994
Junior Achievement Role Model, 2009.
Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Award, 2016.
A.I. Botnick Torch of Liberty Award by the Anti-Defamation League South-Central Region, 2017
Association of Fundraising Professionals – Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser, 2023
Selected Boards:
Greater New Orleans Foundation
Contemporary Arts Center
Louisiana Children’s Museum
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art
The Mayor’s Arts Commission
Arts District New Orleans
